Freedom Arms 454's -- your impressions?

[Matt in AK]

I'm considering selling off a couple of my 44's and buying a Freedom Arms 454.  Any of you who've owned, or now own, a FA 454 please chime in with pros/cons...
- Accuracy?
- Reliability?
- Field Grade vs Premier Grade?
- Barrel length?
- Customer service...if needed?
This gun's gonna cost more than my first truck  :wink: so I want to make an informed decision.
Thanks.

[Fiveshooter]

If I were only going to have one I would get a 6" barreled Premier grade with black Micarta gips.  The accuracy of these guns is very good. Probably the best you can get from a production revolver or custom alike.
 The finish on the Premier grade can be touched up to match the factory finish perfectly with the burgundy Scotch Brite metal finishing pads. If you get Field grade you will not be able to remove scratches in the finish when they occur.
 I recomend the black Micarta grips as they are not just nice looking, Micarta is about the most durable grip material in use today.
 As far as customer service I cant really comment as I have not needed it yet. I have ordered a few spare parts and accessories and they seem to be easy folks to deal with.
 If you buy the best you will rarely be dissapointed.

 Best Regards,
                    Billy

[Graybeard]

- Accuracy?
As good as any custom revolver is likely to deliver. They are line bored just like a full custom would be. You not the gun will likely be the limited factor in how it shoots. For sure if you use iron sights.

- Reliability?
As good as it gets. They are strong well made guns. A single action is about as simple as you can get in a repeating firearm. Unless you abuse it badly it will last.

- Field Grade vs Premier Grade?

Premier. Costs a lot more but carries a life time warranty.


- Barrel length?

I'd go with a 7.5" personally but not shorter than a 6" regardless. The .454 Casull needs some barrel length to make use of the case capacity it has and to help reduce the muzzle blast and concussion.


- Customer service...if needed?

Life time and as good as it gets IF you get the Premier. If you get the field grade only one year then you are basically on your own.

GB

[475/480]

i bought the 475linebaugh,field grade,the guns are top of the line,very tight fit,very accurate,i should have gotten the premier grade, warranty, adj sights etc..

[Lloyd Smale]

I dont own one but I have handled and shot a few of them and without exception they were very accurate well made guns worth every penny they cost. If theyd only make the little 5 shot .45 and 41 in a blued finish Id have to find the money somehow.

[Zeus]

I bought my first one last June.  I have a Premier 7.5" in 454.  I love it.  It is very well made and very accurate.  My first group at 100 yards was 1.5" with 3 of the 5 in one hole.  Scoped of course.  Metal to metal finish is perfect.  I agree with the post of the Micarta grips.  My rosewoods busted and I sent it back.  They charged me $33 for the upgrade to Micarta and John had it back to me within 2 weeks.  I would opt for the 7.5" Premier as an all around gun and if I were scoping it and were planning on keeping it scoped, I may get the 10".  A friend has a 10" and it is one of the best balanced revolvers I've ever held.  I'm planning on buying a 475 and when I do, it will have a 6" barrel because its going to be a holster gun.  the folks at FA are great to deal with and very helpful when you call.  As far as the barrel bushing, I wouldn't get that option.  When I talked to the people at FA, they made sense when they mentioned that if the bushing was worn out, it would cost you nearly $300 to have it replaced.  Well, you can change the entire barrel for like $260 so why worry with the bushing?  In my opinion, they are worth every penny that you pay.  GS

[MS Hitman]

I will echo most of what has been said in the previous posts.  However, light scratches may be removed from the field grade using a green Scotch Brite pad.  I have several of the revolvers in .454 and .475.  In my opinion, you are not going to find a better revolver and the money you pay on one is money well spent.  I hardly ever carry my .44s anymore.

To further what Greybeard said, you will have to REALLY abuse one of these revolvers to make it fail.  I have the micarta grips on all of mine.  The service from the factory is very hard to beat and quite possibly second to none.

[Jim L.]

All of the above, Finest built in my opinion. Go ahead and get the factory trigger job when you order it. If not shipping back later is gonna cost. Premier all the way!! Like Billy said you can touch up the scuffs or whatever and after its ten years old you can take 10 minutes with a scotch brite pad (burgundy) and make it look like the day is was brand new. They are an investment rather than just buying. You wont be sorry. I will agree with Mike C no doubt, Some of your other sixguns will sit for awhile after buying your first FA. I know some of mine do except the 5.5" SS Bisley.  Have fun with which ever you choose.
Jim

[Matt in AK]

Monte,
I've been meaning to get my kids out to Rabbit Creek so maybe I'll see you there Sunday -- love to try out a 454.  Got to sight in my rifle before my Feb caribou fly-out anyway.

[Boss Kongoni]

Matt - A few months ago I went to my local hunting & fishing store to pick up a few things for a deer hunting trip. I told myself not to even look in the used gun case. Of course I did and found a F.A. casull, Premier grade, 4 3/4 barrel, ported with the factory honed action to 3lbs and factory trigger over travel screw. Exactly what I've beening looking at on thier web site for the last year. They wanted $900 for it.

I know the mgr. and found that the guy that brought in carried as back-up on a fly-fishing trip in bear country, fired 5 rounds through it and didn't want anything to do with it anymore. He also told me he can easily sell .44 mag gun but, the casull is just taking up space. They had one in .475 that sat threre for over a year.

$2500 for this one new was just not in my toy budget. But, my two rugers in .44 and and $200 ca$h was. :^)

As others have said, it's one of the finest weapons you can buy, period.

I've only shot hot cor-bon .45 loads through it, and it's a pleasure. None of the indoor ranges will allow Casull rounds to be fired. And, outside of Alaska & Africa a  .45 p+ round is plenty

My primary use is for back-up on bowhunts in backcoutry. A shout gun would be better, but I won't carry one all day and it's useless baxck-up sitting in the tent. But, I will hike all day with a revolver. One trueism in man vs. beast is that reloading is not an option. Animals that don't want to play nice need to be hit hard.....real hard.

The one thing with big bore handguns people either master them or get rid of them. There are a lot more FA casulls out there that only have a few rounds through them, hence basically new.

Most of the gun auction sites always seem to have serveral.

A good read is John Taffin's artical, "Triple threat packin' pistol" it should be easy to find through your search engine.

Good luck in your quest.

[SIMO]

Matt,  I was in the same position a few years back. I was having a hard time trying to justify the cost of a FA. I had never seen or handled one, and my Ruger and S&W  44's & 45's shot fine. But after having trouble with some new Colt SAA's, not cheap themselves, I traded two of them back to the dealer and ordered a Premier Grade 454, with a spare 45 colt cylinder, factory trigger job and overtravel screw. Best trade I've made so far! I've purchased 2 more since then and they are all excellent shooters and very well made. Like someone said before, save yourself the trouble and get the Micarta grips for the extra $32. My first one had wood and they cracked this past summer from contact with the shooting bench. I upgraded to Micarta. By the way, all my Rugers, Colts, and most of my S&W's are gone now. My next gun? A FA model 97 in 45 colt.

[SkyDancer]

My first 454 was a Freedom Arms 454 revolver.  It could NOT hold up to the hard recoil.  The underlug screw kept coming loose every 2 or 3 shots.  I even used Loc-Tite and it still kept coing apart.  When I examined the screw and measured it I found that though there were perhaps a 4 to 5 threads it could only be held by the bottom most thread since the receiving hole was threaded to begin much to deep.

Also, the grip screw kept coimg loose as well.  And last but not least the rear sight set screws were always coming loose every few shots.

So I went to a Raging Bull and I have owned three of them since my FA days.  All of them performed flawlesly and all are as accurate as hell.
I have also ownedthe Magnum Research BFR 454 and this revolver was equisitely robust as well.   I'd take these two over the FA 454 any day of teh week.

[Lloyd Smale]

I have to dissagree with you on this one. I dont own a FAs gun or a Tarus but have shot and handled alot of them and own a few custom guns for comparison. The tarus is a good gun for the money you wont get an argument from me on that one. But I did own a bfr in .480 and I wouldnt trade you a ruger for another one. There not even close to being in the same league as a FAs gun. Just a big baseball bat with a hole in it in my opinion. Fit and finish is no better then a ruger at 1/3 the price. You had a very rare gun if you had problems with a fa gun. One thing that you have to do constantly with a big bore gun is check the screws I check the ones on my linebaugh built guns about every 50 shots and have got in the habbit of doing the same with all single actions as I have had to be a few ejector housing rods and springs that have flown off in the tall grass. If you had a serious problem with that gun Im sure that FAs would have taken care of it free of charge for you and made sure you were happy.

My first 454 was a Freedom Arms 454 revolver.  It could NOT hold up to the hard recoil.  The underlug screw kept coming loose every 2 or 3 shots.  I even used Loc-Tite and it still kept coing apart.  When I examined the screw and measured it I found that though there were perhaps a 4 to 5 threads it could only be held by the bottom most thread since the receiving hole was threaded to begin much to deep.

Also, the grip screw kept coimg loose as well.  And last but not least the rear sight set screws were always coming loose every few shots.

So I went to a Raging Bull and I have owned three of them since my FA days.  All of them performed flawlesly and all are as accurate as hell.
I have also ownedthe Magnum Research BFR 454 and this revolver was equisitely robust as well.   I'd take these two over the FA 454 any day of teh week.

[SkyDancer]

But I did own a bfr in .480 and I wouldnt trade you a ruger for another one......One thing that you have to do constantly with a big bore gun is check the screws I check the ones on my linebaugh built guns about every 50 shots....

Every 50 shots is one thing...every 3 shots is another.  So I disagree with you.  If FA is going to charge $1272 for their .454 [at that time] then their quality assurance process should have been good enough to catch the lemon.  I shouldn't have to wait again while they take their time trying to ascertain their QA problem.  :x

As for your BFR .480 and not trading a Ruger for another one....according to MRI all BFR's are designed from modified Ruger Blackhawk frames.  I owned the 45-70 BFR and 45 Colt P+ BFR and I would take the robustness of the entire BFR line anyday over the FA.  :?

[Lloyd Smale]

let me show you a direct quote that was in gns and ammo Big Bore Handguns in 1999 in an article on the 4570bfr wrote by Wiley Clapp

"First the one piece grip unit comes loose in as few as maybe 10 rounds"
"Of even more consern is the lossening of the screw on the very front of the trigger guard. Its a hex head and the only means of fastening the triggerguard to the frame at the front. When it works loose the frame and the trigger guard want to part company. We found that you needed to check and re-tighten this screw afeter ever shot. Over the course of three shots this relativly smal screw loosens as much as two complete turns. At best it will cause vertical stinging at worst the gun may literally come flying apart."

and I delt with the service dept. when i had troubles with mine and got nothing but excuses and a runaround. I know that FA would have at least corrected there mistakes and the biggest joke was when I went to sell that thing after i gave up on it I had it for sale everywhere for about 6 months for $700 and couldnt sell it ended up swapping for a Ruger Super Redhawk and selling that.

[MS Hitman]

I own three Freedom Arms revolvers and have loc-tited the grip frame and ejector rod housing screws on all three.  One simply can not have the amounts of power these revolvers are capable of generating without some sort of trade-off.  This just happens to come in the form of being a bit more vigilant in maintaining the weapon.  Having said that, I also loc-tite the grip frame screws of some of my S&W and Ruger revolvers.  Loosing these in the woods can ruin a hunt, so I choose not to take chances.  If you are having problems with loc-tite, I'd question if you are using either the correct formula, or not using it properly.  Loc-tite type adhesives must be allowed to set up for 24 hours or there abouts to function properly.  If loc-tite is applied and one returns to firing before it can set up, then the product is not going to function as it supposed to.

Freedom Arms has a QA control and service department that many others would do well to emulate.  

Skydancer, you and I do not share the same enthusiasum for the BFR revolvers, but that's the reason different models of weapons are made.

[SkyDancer]

For those FA enthusiasts...

I have owned 454 in Ruger SRh, FA,  MRI BFR and Taurus Raging Bull.  Of all of them only the FA had loosening problems with the screws.  None of the others have and I have ben firing them for overa year now without a need to tighten up any screws.  And yes I check with each session to make sure.

As for QA, I have had to send my RB and BFI back for problems unrelated to their power affects and I have received brand new guns in each instance.  That is more than I can say for FA.

Sorry folks...I will never purchase another firearm from FA as long as there are other companies maing the same caliber in what certainly appears to me to be more robust in their construction.

I just wonder how much of the hype about FA is based on buying the "label" rather than on a true apples-to-apples comparison of quality and perfomance.

 :roll:

[SkyDancer]

For those FA enthusiasts...

I have owned 454 in Ruger SRH, FA,  MRI BFR and Taurus Raging Bull.  Of all of them only the FA had loosening problems with the screws.  None of the others have ever loosened and I have fired at least 2000 rounds through them without a need to tighten up any screws.  And yes I check with each session to make sure.

As for QA, I have had to send my RB and BFI back for problems unrelated to their power affects and I have received brand new guns in each instance.  That is more than I can say for FA.

Sorry folks...I will never purchase another firearm from FA as long as there are other companies making the same caliber in what certainly appears to me to be more robust in their construction.

I just wonder how much of the hype about FA is based on buying the "label" rather than on a true apples-to-apples comparison of quality
and perfomance.

And yes we will always agree to disagree on this matter because my experience is based on actually owning and firing ALL of the firearms in question...not just owning one and / or reading reviews about them in the gun rags by someone who tested any in a limited capacity.

 :roll:

[MS Hitman]

I've either owned or shot all but the BFR.  The bulk of my testing has been  shooting game animals in Africa and several states in the US.  I am interested in not only what the guns will do, but also what they won't do.  I no longer give any credence to Guns & Blammo or most any of the other gun rags available.  Based on my experiences, Tarus is the best double action going in a .454, but the Ruger is easier to scope.  Also, based on my experience, my FAs don't hype, they just do the job I need them to do.
 
Ruger kept sending me the same revolver back every time I returned it for work.  I finally had to just get rid of it, because it never worked to a level I was comfortable at.  

Nothing to be sorry about.  We're just going to agree to disagree on this matter.  What other cartridges do you shoot?

[SkyDancer]

What other cartridges do you shoot?

I shoot the following:

               MRI BFR 45-70
               MRI BFR Colt .45P+
               Taurus RB .480
               Taurus RB .454
               MRI BFR .454
               Ruger SRH 4.54
               Taurus Raging Hornet  .22
               Ruger M77 Mark-II 30-06
               Ruger M77 Mark-II 300 Winchester Magnum
               Desert Eagle .50 AE
               InterArms Virginia Dragoon .44 Magnum
               Browning Buckmark Bull-Bore .22
               Browning Hi-Power 9mm

 :grin:

[SkyDancer]

What other cartridges do you shoot?

I shoot the following:

               MRI BFR 45-70
               MRI BFR Colt .45P+
               Taurus RB .480
               Taurus RB .454
               MRI BFR .454
               Ruger SRH .454
               Taurus Raging Hornet  .22
               Ruger M77 Mark-II 30-06
               Ruger M77 Mark-II 300 Winchester Magnum
               Desert Eagle .50 AE
               InterArms Virginia Dragoon .44 Magnum
               Browning Buckmark Bull-Bore .22
               Browning Hi-Power 9mm

 :grin:

[BER007]

For those FA enthusiasts...

I have owned 454 in Ruger SRh, FA,  MRI BFR and Taurus Raging Bull.  Of all of them only the FA had loosening problems with the screws.  None of the others have and I have ben firing them for overa year now without a need to tighten up any screws.  And yes I check with each session to make sure.
As for QA, I have had to send my RB and BFI back for problems unrelated to their power affects and I have received brand new guns in each instance.  That is more than I can say for FA.
Sorry folks...I will never purchase another firearm from FA as long as there are other companies maing the same caliber in what certainly appears to me to be more robust in their construction.
I just wonder how much of the hype about FA is based on buying the "label" rather than on a true apples-to-apples comparison of quality and perfomance.

My goal isn't to hurt you, and normally I don't like to interfer in such as "supermarket discussion".  You should better to pin all of your guns     I have never seen a guy like you with so many problems with his guns!!!!

I can confirm you that my FA .454 and my Ruger New Blackhawk have Loc-Tite on all srews except srew for the base pin on my FA.  Before the Loc-Tite I controlled the srews every 40-50 shots now I controlled the screw when i clean my guns every 150-200 rounds.

I also own a Taurus Rb .454 and a Desert Eagle .50 AE, the 2 models are "pinned".

I can tell you that FA is the top of the top compare to other factory built handuns.  I love also my Taurus RB but the only common point is the caliber nothing else.  For FA : accuracy, quality, tooling, material used are the best you can find in gun field.  I have handle on time a BFR 10" .444 marlin that I want to buy in Belgium.  $999 for this gun is overpriced for the gun I saw 2 years ago.  My gun dealer had sent the gun back to MRI and don't want to do business with them anymore!!!

Of course I'm not an expert, but I have some friends who own fine guns like custom built or FA, they have like me and 99.99% of FA's owners ANY problems with the FA.  And rate the FA as the top in handguns field.

As I'm very happy with my FA .454, I'll get my next in April (.50 AE) and may be an other one next year in .475 Line.

You can see at gun's auction website a used FA worth nearly the same than a brand new FA.  If this isn't a proof of quality.  

I would be very happy to change a little bit your mind about FA.