Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns freedom arms revolvers???

Anybody ever owned or tried shot a freedom arms revolver?
I own a couple of 3 screw rugers.
Once handled a STI texican.

How do they compare?

If it was me I would check the number if pieces in the hammer.

Freedom Arms revolvers are top-notch. I don't know anything about STI, but an average FA will trump about any stock Ruger.

I've owned a Premier grade .454 Freedom Arms for the past 15 years. While Ruger's are well made and I like em, the FA is far superior. It had better be too, as the price is 3-5 times as expensive as a Ruger!!

+1

I own a premier grade model 83 in 454 Casull. A fine weapon. My Ruger does not hold a candle to it in either accuracy or quality of construction. Well worth the money, in my opinion.

I own the Freedom Arms in 454 and it is the best well made single action i have owned and fitted much better than my Rugers. The are not cheap but worth the cost if you have the funds to spare.

By the time you invest money in a Ruger to make it all it can be, you could've had a Freedom Arms.

I believe you may be right on that statement but I still like my Rugers.

Why is the gun so common in 454?

I own a smith 17 - 2 and 29 - 2.
The feel of quality is in the trigger, action, closing the cylinder. Even the sound.

I expect the FA to be a notch even better.
And unlike the smiths built like a hammer.

Please if you can describe what makes the FA single action better...

Because the 454 was what it was designed for.

I am not a gunsmith. But I will explain the best I can. I believe they call the process "line boring". They actually put the cylinder in the revolver then drill the cylinder. So they are aligning the cylinder up perfectly with the bore of the revolver. This is just one of the custom features they do when manufacturing the revolvers. You are basically buying a custom revolver. They are even a few steps above the Performance Center S&W's.

The 454 was their flagship cartridge. that is why so many 454's.

I had a Field Grade 454. It was a real dandy. 100 yard+ shooter with no problems.

Overall they are just a well made piece of American engineering.

The Ruger revolvers are also good revolvers. But you are not really comparing apples to apples. You are comparing custom manufacturing to mass production. Tom.

Line-bore chambering is accomplished by chambering each chamber in exact line with the bore, as the cylinder is locked as rigidly as it will be when the revolver is shot. The lock-up is achieved using the revolver�s own components. A slow process to be sure, but it does produce the most accurate revolver.
You are right, when you buy a Freedom Arms you are buying a custom revolver. No fair comparison when you compare them to the Ruger.

I've never handled a FA Revolver, but I hope I get to own one some day. Question about their micarta grips - are they big enough for a person with a normal sized hand to fit all their fingers, including their pinkie, on the grip? Or are they like Ruger's SA grips?

Didn't they split off from North American Arms? For a while, they were both making nearly identical guns, too.

I have two Model 97's and several Rugers. I like the Rugers a bunch, but the FA's are just built like a swiss bank vault. Extremely tight tolerance control, top notch materials and strong design. I bought one of them new, and it still had the prussian blue in the cylinder notch cutouts, from where they fitted it up.

I miss my FA Casull 454 sold it years ago when we had major medical bills to pay. The was without a doubt the finest revolver I ever owned.

What is the size difference between a 97 and a 83?

Like a blackhawk to a super blackhawk?

I'll jump in here..your size comparison analogy is as good as any..

Ive handled a number of Freedom Arms, and especially like the model 97s..

I personally regard their revolvers as the finest American Made Firearm Ive ever seen...JMHO..

Ingwe

The 83 is their original heavy duty frame and the 97 is more the size of a Colt SAA....but built MUCH stouter.

I had a 6" 83 in .454. Ended up selling it when I realized it was starting to damage my wrists and right elbow...and I wasn't even running "full" loads. About the time I decided to sell it someone on GunsAmerica put an identical one up for sale in .41 Magnum. The barrel had even been Mag-Na-Ported. As soon as the .41 was in hand the .454 was gone. The gun is a Premier Model with black Micarta grips. Didn't like the ramp front sight so I had Clement Custom Guns make a two bar Keith long range front sight blade....now it is perfect.

If you think the .454 can't hurt you, email John Tiffin some time. I emailed with him several years ago and he told me what the years of shooting these heavies has done to his hands, wrists and elbows...no thanks...

As to the quality..you just have to shoot one to understand. I call them Swiss Tanks....

Bob

The gripframe on an 83 is a little longer than a Super Blackhawk. You get a full 4-finger grip on the gun...

Bob