My new revolver.

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Coal Dragger

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Saint Nick (aka the wife..) decided that getting a promotion at work and completing the training program for the promotion (if you fail you get fired) was worth a much better than average Christmas present this year.

So now I once again own a revolver, and honestly there are probably not many that are much nicer than this one. I am shocked, and very pleased. Picked up ammo, dies, brass, primers, and bullets last night so I can work up some hand loads today. Hope to shoot it tomorrow with both factory and hand loads. Maybe if I think I can tolerate it, I will try to fill a mountain lion tag with it this upcoming January.



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Coal Dragger-- That thing is sweet!:what:

Mrs. Claus must really love you. My wife would have promoted me right out the window before she bought me a new gun. Is that a .454?
 
skidder,

Yes it is a .454 just finished up loading 50 rounds of relative powder puff loads, 260gr Speer jacketed hollow point over 10.0gr of Titegroup in Starline brass using Federal small rifle primers (non magnum). Hopefully that will give me a nice moderate shooting load to acquaint myself, and I also hope the Titegroup lives up to Hodgdon's claims that it ignites well in large cases and is not overly affected by powder position.

I previously owned a Dan Wesson .44 Magnum, I never minded the recoil but for the life of me I could not get it to shoot well. It was made just prior to Dan Wesson going tits up, and quality was lacking. Very lacking. So this is my second magnum big bore, but there have been several years in between them and I am going to work into full power loads slowly.
 
Coal Dragger-- Sounds like a nice load. I use 240 hard cast for my 44 with three different types of shotgun powders: 700x, Red Dot, and Green Dot (I'm a cheapskate :rolleyes:).

If you really want to be a cheapskate...I have my own wax bullet recipe I shoot in my basement (good practice for stance and grip), the wax bullets travel about 400 fps with just the power of the primer. Pick em up, throw em back in the coffee can, and reheat.:)
 
Congratulations on the promotion and for have a wife that is willing to purchase one of the finest revolvers on the market. I have never owned a Freedom Arms revolver but i have shot 2 and both were extremely accurate. They exhibit outstanding workmanship too..

Well done on all fronts Sir...
 
Well I finally got around to shooting the new cannon today, and I can report that it is one of the most accurate handguns I have ever shot. My lighter loads were fairly decent accuracy wise, and recoil was a non issue. I used these to more or less get on target with and did some "fun shooting", busting rocks and killing paper. I then decided to try the Winchester Super X 250gr hollow points that are advertised to be running 1300 feet per second, which is about .44 Magnum level power. These not only shot very very well, but recoil was completely tolerable, I could shoot these all day. I will be trying to duplicate this as a utility load. Once I got elevation and windage adjustments made I was able to take a seated position with my back against my rental car, my butt on the ground, and my forearms resting on my knees. This is an excellent field position that allows for pretty consistent shooting, and I was able to put 5 rounds into a 3.5"-4" blaze orange bulls eye sticker about 30-35 yards away with no problems. In fact three rounds were cutting the same hole directly in the center, and the other two were slightly to the left. I am a right handed shooter so I tend to push shots to the left if my trigger control is not perfect, plus it is an unfamiliar weapon and I frankly flubbed the shots. Total group size was still no more than 2" center to center, I just know that the 3 stacked on top of each other are more indicative of what the gun and ammo can do. I need to practice more to shoot up to this revolver!

Next up will be a session where I will shoot some full power loads. I am hopeful that they will be tolerable since the grip frame really seems to soak up recoil and just let the grip roll up in my hand instead of beating the **** out the web of my hand. I had heard that the grip shape of a Freedom Arms is specifically designed to manage heavy recoil and now I believe it, I have shot quite a few .44 Magnums that felt like they kicked a hell of a lot harder than this thing at the same power level.

Other observations:

The sights provide a nice crisp sight picture, but the front sight ramp does wash out a bit in some lighting conditions. A little better contrast would be good, and I may have to look into a brass bead, or fiber optic front sight (front sight blades are user removable/installable). The rear sight is extremely solid, but the windage adjustment is kind of a pain in the ass since you have to loosen a set screw then make your adjustment, and then re-tighten the screw.... and they don't use the same size screw driver blade.

Ejecting spent brass is also pretty easy, just pull the hammer back to half cock, open the loading gate, and rotate the cylinder until each chamber lines up with the gate. The chambers are really really tight and the cylinder is really really strong, so brass can't expand much so 90% of the time empty cases simply fall out of the chambers if the muzzle is up. I at no time experienced any sticky cases. Also nice is that I don't have to chase spent brass with a revolver, and as a reloader that is really nice.

The only thing I can seriously criticize is that the trigger could be a bit lighter. I have gotten used to triggers in the 2.2-3.5lb range, and this one is closer to 4.5-5.0lbs. Freedom Arms does offer a trigger job package, and I will be having one done at the same time I get my accessory .45ACP cylinder made and installed.

I might also like a slightly longer barrel than the 6" that is on the gun right now, but that will have to wait for awhile. Maybe if I manage to shoot this one out, I'll have a 7.5" installed. Then again as well as it balances and shoots right now, maybe not.
 
I don't know of any others that come close, let alone match or surpass that one. You're a very lucky man indeed, quite a reward.

I have a 7.5" .475 and wish it had the 6" barrel, I think it's the nicest balancing version I believe.

As far as the Winchester load, it's my absolute favorite, plenty of power and very enjpyable to shoot.

Good luck and good shooting with that well earned prize.
 
Sounds like a winner! I'm glad the range report was a positive one.

Personally, I would keep the 6". If you take it hiking or camping you will appreciate the shorter barrel, and it already shoots like a champ.
 
"Here kitty kitty kitty..." That should fill that lion tag. Congrats on a great revolver and an even better choice in women. I have been reading several posts on the brass VS gold bead choices and based on that, I would suggest this pistol deserves the gold over the brass. You want to catch as much light as possible in low light conditions.
 
It's a decent promotion, and now I get profit sharing so depending on how business goes I can see 8% of my gross earnings as an additional bonus. Not huge thing, but hopefully a nice change once I have the seniority to work in the promoted status year round. Should be soon since we have a lot of guys retiring this year and next.
 
No, the grip frame is evidently proprietary to Freedom Arms. It seems to have a similar angle to a Bisley style grip but not quite the same, it allows for a bit more roll up in your hand after the initial back thrust kind of like a conventional Single Action Army grip frame. The Bisley is supposed to offer more strait back thrust and less roll than a Single Action Army, and the Freedom Arms seems to split the difference. Rolling up in the hand is not a bad thing with heavy recoiling loads since it gives that energy an outlet that doesn't involve smacking your palm every shot. One easy visual difference is that the Freedom Arms still has the traditional second hump on top of the frame, where I Bisley is just a continuous arc all the way to the top. Like the Bisley the trigger guard shape is well rounded and seems designed to keep the rear edge off of your knuckles, which is nice. Compare the Bisley, and Freedom Arms trigger guards with a Ruger Super Blackhawk and you'll see what I am talking about.

It differs from the Single Action Army grip frame in the fact the curvature of the grip is not as pronounced, and the grip itself is longer allowing all of the shooters hand to make good contact and get a grip. I find that a Single Action Army grip frame, or a Ruger Super Blackhawk grip frame leave my pinky more or less hanging out in space or on the bottom edge of the grip. This doesn't feel very nice when the gun wants to snap up in a roll and your pinky finger is right on that edge.

So far I am pleased with the way this revolver handles recoil, although it should be noted that I have only fired .44 Magnum/+p+ .45 Colt level loads to this point. At that power level I could shoot them all day long with no discomfort, which I can't say for the last .44 Magnum I owned which weighed more, and had a not very effective muzzle brake. Now I am fairly certain that the box of 240gr Hornady XTP's at 1900fps that I have on hand are going to be different animals completely. I don't expect them to be pleasant. Not one bit.
 
Well today I had a session with the Hornady Custom 240gr XTP loaded to a claimed 1900fps. They were not a lot of fun. A friend who was with me commented that some of them were louder than the others, but that is kind of subjective. They shot considerably lower than any of the previous ammo, and also needed a windage change so I got to mess around with that again. When you only have 20 rounds it makes a really good sight in with iron sights tough to do. Especially when you know every shot counts and you maybe focus on the front sight a little too much and forget to lock your elbows and your wrists.... let's just say that the edge of the top strap hitting you in the middle of the forehead.... twice.... will draw blood and give you a new scar. Strangely this experience didn't result in a flinch and I actually shot better after this, I also remembered to maintain a very firm grasp and keep some muscle tension in my forearms, elbows, and triceps. Maybe that helped accuracy as well. These rounds did not shoot as well as my 260gr handloads, or the Winchester Super X 250gr loads, so maybe this barrel favors heavier bullets, or maybe the fact that they are no fun to shoot affected my performance. Perhaps both. At any rate the recoil was not too hard on my palms, wrists, or elbows even from a seated position. Shooting standing was quite a bit more comfortable. Also helpful was wearing a pair of leather work gloves to absorb just a little of the sting, definitely helpful versus wearing no gloves. I just need to remember that I can not under any circumstances relax my wrists, or arms at all shooting full power loads from a seated position. I will work back up to full power as my comfort and skill levels allow. No point in beating on myself needlessly if I can't effectively obtain good hits.

Next up I have some handloads to test out consisting of a 300gr Speer Deep Curl bonded core hollowpoint (Gold Dot) over 21.2gr of Alliant 2400 in Starline brass ignited by a Federal small rifle primer. This should get me to around 1250-1300fps or so, and with any luck will be accurate, easy to shoot, and reliable.

I don't see any reason to pursue the earlier load using the 260gr jacketed hollowpoint and titegroup, accuracy was acceptable but not great and I think I can get better accuracy with a powder that more completely fills the case. Furthermore, I feel the power level can be upped a bit with no discomfort.
 
Next up I have some handloads to test out consisting of a 300gr Speer Deep Curl bonded core hollowpoint (Gold Dot) over 21.2gr of Alliant 2400 in Starline brass ignited by a Federal small rifle primer. This should get me to around 1250-1300fps or so, and with any luck will be accurate, easy to shoot, and reliable.
Click to expand...
Considering Alliant lists a Max charge of 27.0gr 2400 with that bullet weight I agree it will be an easy shooting round. Don't forget the range report when you fire the reloads...
 
ArchAngelCD,

Funny my Nosler manual has 23.0gr listed as a max charge under a 300gr bullet, and 21.0gr starting load. I have seen the higher max listed elsewhere but decided to go with the more conservative manual I have on hand.
 
Finally caught a nice day while I was home, and managed to shoot the hand loads I made up with Speer 300gr Deep Curl bullets. I worked up two different loads, one over the above mentioned charge of Alliant 2400 and the other using IMR4227. The Alliant 2400 loads shot OK, but didn't seem to be as consistent as the IMR4227. The IMR 4227 load consisted of 28.0gr of powder for what should be right around 1300-1350fps according to the Speer manual. I got very very good accuracy when I could do my part. After making a sight adjustment most rounds were cutting same hole at 50 feet standing. Backed off to 30-35 yards shooting sitting on the ground with my back against the tire of my rental car, wrists resting on knees I placed three shots into around an inch and the other two went into basically an elongated hole three inches higher than the rest of the group. Not sure what I did to get the two flyers, but I was shooting more or less as soon as the sights got back on target and may have squeezed the trigger before I cleaned up my sight picture as well as I should have. At any rate at least I did it wrong exactly the same way twice!

Recoil with all of these loads was stout, but not nearly as sharp as the 240gr Hornady XTP factory ammo. Lot's of push back and rolling up, but no need to wear gloves, no stinging palms, and no opening cuts on my forehead. The Alliant 2400 loads were not as stout recoil wise as the IMR 4227 loads but I had a feeling they would be on the light side.

I will be loading more of these to verify performance, they are clearly powerful enough to flatten anything I am likely to shoot at but still controllable.

I need to order some heavy hard cast bullets with gas checks to see what those are like. Anyone have any experience with the Cast Performance 370gr, or 395gr bullets?
 
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