What has been your experience with a BFR?

[Heavy C]

I'm considering a BFR in 454 or 460 and was wondering if you all had one of these in your collection?  How's the accuracy if you do your part?  Are they reliable enough that you would feel confortable buying a used one?

If I go with the 460; then I know I could run not only 460's, but 454's, and 45 LC.  

Any input you can provide on BFR's in general would be greatly appreciated

Thanks :cb1:

[2 dogs]

I have a 475 BFR.  It is accurate and for what I paid for it quite well finished.  I am very happy with it and would buy another.

[Redhawk1]

I have a BFR also, but it is a 500 Mag and I love it as much as I do my S&W 500 Mag. Very accurate and well made in my opinion. I have three 460 Mags in the X-Frame and the 460 mag is an awesome round in my opinion.  

[Lloyd Smale]

heres my opinion and i may get jumped on but its the way i feel. I bought a .480 bfr when they first did that chambering. I wasnt to impressed. The grip frame to frame fit was poor. The rubber grips (i think they were houges were the pits but thats not a bfr problem)  The thing was HUGE! and i didnt like the feel of it in the hand. I ordered the 6.5 barrel and it came 7.5 and the front sight was a plain stainless blade that washed out badly in sunlight. I bought this gun directly from bfr and when i contacted them and told them about the barrel lenght and sights this was there respose. They measure barrel lenght from the end of the frame instead of from the forcing cone like everyone else in the industry! The sights even though were pictured in there add as a black colared insert were stainless and they said there guns specs are subject to change at any time. I told nicely that i wasnt happy with the gun the way it is and asked if they could fix it to the way i ordered it. They got real rude like I was badmouthing there product and said theyd do it for 200 bucks. Few other things i didnt like about it. The base pin was held in only by a locking screw and no cross pin. The grip frame is held on by two screws in the back and doesnt have the ears that engauge the frame that ruger uses. The trigger had a 4lb break but had lots of creap in it. To me fit and finnish was about what an average ruger was. Better then some but not as good as say my accusport .44 is. Some things were good about it the cylinder locked up real tight better then most rugers and the cyl gap was better then most rugers. I guess what turned me off the most was the crappy way i was treated by there customer service dept. I never once bad mouthed the product of told them of its weeknesses. Just told them the barrel lenght and sights werent correct and the service dept actually got rude to me and told me that they new how to build them and i just didnt know enough about a handgun to know what i wanted!! Now the people here that know me know that i would be the last one to get rude with a service dept. I sold the gun three days after the call at a loss. ( they dont hold there value very well) The gun deal i traded it to sat on it for about a year! Seems like everyone that handled it commented that it was to big. It turned out to be a blessing as it got me to buck up and buy my first gun from John Linebaugh. Now i know what your going to say. They cost twice as much or more and they do. But you get a finely tuned weapon that has no faults, packs better and is backed up by an unconditional lifetime warantee. If it were me id buck up for the extra money and do it right. Sell guns sell cars sell your family. Whatever it takes. You will never regret it. If you absoulutley cant afford one buy yourself a ruger bisley and shoot the crap out of it while you save your money to do it right. Now i know redhawk and a few others are going to jump down my throat for this but ive handled a few other ones and was never impressed and theres just to many companys selling guns that will bend over backwards for you to deal with a company that wont.  To sum it up if i had my choise between a bfr and a super blackhawk and couldnt resell either id take the ruger have an action job done for about 100 bucks and still have half the money into it.

[Redhawk1]

Lloyd Smale, you know I am not going to jump down your throat, it is your opinion. I know the BFR did not compare to my FA either, but I did pay twice as much for the FA also. The hole thing about the BFR, it is chambered for the 460 and 500 Mag where the Ruger is not. Yea the factory grips suck, I replaced them with a new set of houge grips. Other than that the gun has always worked and function well for me. I have had this BFR in 500 Mag for 3 years now and have well over 2000 rounds through it. The front sight is a removable black blade and comes with different heights. I also sent my BFR to Mag-ma-port and had the barrel shortened to 6 inch from the forcing cone. Yes the cylinder is large, but I like it because I can extend my bullets further out.  To some guys an extra $1000 or $1200 is a lot of money. I have the opportunity to buy just about any gun I want, but sometimes I wonder is it really worth it. Now don't get me wrong FA and John Linebaugh make great handguns, but sometimes some people just can't swing the extra cash, which is understandable.  

[Heavy C]

Thanks guys.  I'm not married to the idea of a BFR so it was good to get some honest feedback both positive and negative.  I work in the customer service industry so when I hear of experiences such as yours Lloyd it truly bothers me.  I just purchased a SBH in 44 mag a couple of weeks ago and will be sending it to Magna-port very soon to have the "Predator" conversion done on it.  While spending more money on a John Linebough or FA is not ideal it's not out of the question.  The BFR's have had my eye for quite sometime and wanted to get some real opinions from real people versus what you read in the articles (ads) of the monthly gun rags.  I'm going to try and find a local range that might rent me one just to try out.  I got to do that with the SW X-frame in 460 - it was a blast, but it didn't quite convince me to buy the thing.  Plus I prefer a single action when the calibers start getting this big.  Thanks again for your help.  

Chuck :cb1:

[Redhawk1]

Thanks guys.  I'm not married to the idea of a BFR so it was good to get some honest feedback both positive and negative.  I work in the customer service industry so when I hear of experiences such as yours Lloyd it truly bothers me.  I just purchased a SBH in 44 mag a couple of weeks ago and will be sending it to Magna-port very soon to have the "Predator" conversion done on it.  While spending more money on a John Linebough or FA is not ideal it's not out of the question.  The BFR's have had my eye for quite sometime and wanted to get some real opinions from real people versus what you read in the articles (ads) of the monthly gun rags.  I'm going to try and find a local range that might rent me one just to try out.  I got to do that with the SW X-frame in 460 - it was a blast, but it didn't quite convince me to buy the thing.  Plus I prefer a single action when the calibers start getting this big.  Thanks again for your help.  

Chuck :cb1:

Chuck, I had a FA and sold it when I got my S&W 460 Mags. It became a safe queen and I don't like guns sitting around. My BFR in my opinion is a shooter and works great. I know several other guys with the BFR and they love them also, that is what made me go with the BFR in the first place.

Good luck in your quest and let us know how you make out.  

[DakotaElkSlayer]

heres my opinion...

Thanks Lloyd!  I was also considering a BFR without ever handling anything besides their .45-70.  Guess now I am going to stick with my economical Rugers...

Jim

[Boxhead]

I have only recently fiddled with (not shot) a couple of BFR's and it appears that they are a well made piece these days, better than in the early years as I understand it. Interesting the mention of lifetime warrantee. I had one as well on my Texas Longhorn Arms #5 until they went under... I will agree that, like most things, one gets what one pays for, eventually.

[Golsovia]

The BFR is certainly "Biggest" as in "B." The "F" part: "Finest" is overstating things. They are well made revolvers in many respects and they shoot well. They are big though even with the "short" frame. Mine is a 480/475.

I special ordered mine from a dealer who is also a good friend. In this small community, he is a dealer as, kind of, a civic benefit so doesn't added a huge mark-up to the already significant cost of shipping. My BFR did not arrive in a condition most people would accept in a bigger store. The front of the frame on mine is way overbrushed while other edges are very sharp. More importantly, mine was not properly timed and could be fired perhaps 0.080" out of battery. They are big though.

If Ruger ever gets off its duff and does their own namesake right, I'll dump the BFR in a heartbeat. A 400 grain bullet doing 1100-1200 is a formidable obstacle. It doesn't need a huge platform like the BFR. They are just plain big.

[winchesterbr]

Does anyone have a BFR in 30/30 I am looking to  get one

[lapetit]

I don't own a BFR 30/30, yet, but I played around with converting a 45/70 BFR to 7.62X39. The muzzleblast is close to a "religious expierence" and I don't say that in jest. If you are not a fan of flash, flame, smoke, recoil and concussion don't touch one off.
I have been told that the 30/30 in just as bad as the 7.62X39.
If you order one don't even shoot it until it has had a trip to Magna-Port. Save your wrists, elbows, shoulders and forehead the trauma.

I wonder if the BFR could handle the 25/35?  That would be fun!

Lapetit