I like the BFR. I have shot a number of them. I used to do a show with a buddy that was the IMI rep. We would get in a number of them. 45-70, 450 Marlin (this one scared me, but I did shoot it) We found recoil with the 45-70 loads were opposite that of the rifle. The 300 grain Factory JHP that is cracky in the rifle was fun to shoot out of the handgun and the 405 cowboy loads that are light recoil in a carbine were a wrist twister. The 450 Marling is basically a 458 Win Mag special (I knowe the belt is thicker so the gun will not shoot a 458 my mistake) The 30-30 makes sense to me. Good use of the cylinder, power and recoil.
I find the 475 / 480 and the 454 Casull a waste of space. Even the 500 Smith has room to grow in the 45-70 length cylinder. Why have a cylinder with that much freeboard. If you want a BFR I would look for a 45-70 or 30-30. If you want a 475 / 480 and a single action I would look at another brand.
OH the show was a tourgure test and the 45-70's held up great. After a day of constant 500 S&W loads the screw holding the ejector rod housing broke. But again it was a full day of people wanting to shoot the big boys. We removed the rod and the housing and still shot the gun for another day. About 1,000 rounds a day of the 500 S&W. We had a package special where you got to shoot the 50 AE desert eagle, the 500 S&W and the 45-70 BFR and the 450 Marlin Guide gun. We had two people loading guns all day and a line of people 10 deep all day long to shoot the package.
