Musing on the 454 platforms

[seancass]

What are your opinions of the current offerings in 454 caliber?

The other night, i had a chance to lay out the three top 454 caliber single action revolvers money can buy you today. I didn't take notes and we didn't do long range work, just a little fun plinking. We had a Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley, a Magnum Research BFR, and a Freedom Arms Model 83. All three were box stock. Roughly 6.5" barrels. Here are some of my observations as they come to mind(no particular order/importance)

Grip Frame. I Love the FA frame. It just works for me. I'm surprised how much I like it over the Bisley(which I also like!) I can't stand to look at the rubber grips on the BFR. I also can't stand to admit that they shoot very nice. I would like a bit less checkering, but others prefer it. The shape of the rubber grips really soaks up the recoil. Another shooter noted that the bisley trigger guard smacked his middle finger. My tiny girly-man hands have never had a problem with this.

The triggers of two of the guns were just fine. The FA and the BFR have perfectly good triggers. The Ruger trigger is a pretty poor SA trigger! It has enough creep to feel like a double action! The weight is fine, just a bunch of take up and then a bunch of creep before it finally breaks. This will probably need addressed in the future. I think that this Ruger has the worst SA trigger of any gun I've purchased. It's not unacceptable, just not very good.

The BFR has a free spin cylinder. What a joy that is. The cylinder on that gun is so slick, like it's riding on bearings. The FA has a Tight cylinder. It clunks thru each rotation like the precision instrument it is. Not slick, but smooth. This gun will start to get tight with dirt after a bunch of shooting. The Ruger cylinder is the same as any other. Just fine.

Ejector/Extractor. Ruger got this right! This really frustrates me about the FA. It was a blank slate gun and they didn't put a proper length ejector on it. WHY!? The poor BFR had something wrong with the extractor, it felt like it was filled with gravel. Hopefully the owner will polish that up. It needs help!

The poor FA needs a new front sight to shoot my current supply of 335gr bullets. The other two regulated fine.

The FA has TIGHT chambers. A case fired in the Ruger won't fit in the FA chamber. My FA has tight throats, won't fit certain bullets that do fit in the Ruger. Rounds that won't fit in my FA do fit in the BFR. Based on this, I give the BFR the win on chambers. I think the Ruger is going to wear out my brass fast.

On a separate range trip, I found the Ruger to be about equal to the FA in my hands in terms of accuracy. The BFR has also proven very accurate, but we haven't pushed it to long range. It's on the to-do list.

There's my random musings on the 454 platforms.

[Encore64]

I have those three 454s, plus a new Stainless SRH and a custom Reeder 5 1/2" Bisley. The chambers in my BFR are .001" smaller than my FA-83. The custom Reeder is even tighter. All work well with properly crafted ammo.

All the grip designs work, but the Bisley is best for me.

All my guns have features I like and dislike. I have learned not to complain as I consider myself very blessed to have such a variety.

Sounds like you have been doing some interesting things. Keep us informed, it's great reading.

[seancass]

Nov 21, 2015 14:35:09 GMT -5 Encore64 said:

All my guns have features I like and dislike. I have learned not to complain as I consider myself very blessed to have such a variety.

That was the main take-away that I forgot to write. I don't think you'd be going wrong getting any of these! I'm very blessed to have what I have, so I thought I'd share for those who might be shopping for their next toy, or perhaps their one and only big bore!

[Encore64]

AMEN.... And, for a young man you have some very fine guns. I was worn out when you were born.

Not a bad way to start.

[sportster]

Since someone may have mentioned photos, might have been me throwing you under that bus. Here is the BFR mentioned. Just your very average ugly gripped BFR with a ejector rod spring that may not get worked on for a while.

[Encore64]

Sportster, expect no sympathy from me. I absolutely love the BFRs and don't care what grips they wear.

They are great guns and great values. Not to mention everyone I have dealt with has been a shooter. Including the 454 Casull in my collection. It wears the factory base with an Ultradot 30 held in place by Warne rings.

You have a great gun.

[sportster]

Thank you but I hope to change a few things on it next year if the budget allows. I do blame seancass for all of this. If he never let me shoot his FA454 I would have never wanted the one I have now.

[seancass]

oh, well if we're doing photos, here's the other two.

[CraigC]

If you make some sand bags out of leather or suede, you won't have to worry about tearing holes in them.

[faca454]

[dvnv]

I can't warm up to FA rear sights...the early ones were ok, I wish they hadn't changed.
Can only compare it in 454 to a SRH which I thought a decent and accurate gun. I'd be happy with either.

[whitworth]

Nov 21, 2015 21:27:06 GMT -5 sportster said:

Since someone may have mentioned photos, might have been me throwing you under that bus. Here is the BFR mentioned. Just your very average ugly gripped BFR with a ejector rod spring that may not get worked on for a while.

At least that ugly gun can be carried safely with a full cylinder! Yeah, the rubber grips won't win any beauty contests, but they work, the guns are very accurate (usually), and there is something very attractive about their functional nature and the fact that they truly are built like a tank. Great bang-for-the-buck as far as I am concerned.

[shorty500]

Love my Bisleys and FA m83s. Eventually will pick up a BFR standard frame to compliment my .45-70. That said am very pleased that we have as many options as we do in factory format

[seancass]

[seancass]

Have I mentioned I don't have it all bad in this life?

Have I mentioned I'm a cheat? First, one of those isn't a 454. It's a 480.

The real difference in these guns is Grip and trigger. The grips are interesting and I hope the owner of the BFR contributes.

The BFR has been modified by Jack Huntington to fit his hand. It's a nice, fat grip that are perfectly fit and shaped. It is also amazing at soaking up recoil. The gun feels large! It's not quite like an X-Frame, but it definitely feels huge among the other two. The Ruger nearly feels svelte! Put that(bisley) grip on a shorter gun and you'd have a compact system. Nothing about the BFR feels small or compact. The Ruger and the FA are very comparable. The Ruger is a little more slim, while the FA fills the shooting hand. The BFR Fills Both hands! I'm a big fan of the FA grip. If I have to deal with some recoil, I'd want the FA. If I have to shoot a big round all day, the BFR's mass and grips soak up recoil like nothing else I've ever shot! It almost takes the fun out of the 454! It just eats big rounds for breakfast and then has another round for lunch! The Bisley has produced bothersome recoil at mere 44Mag levels. My FA 500JRH produces obscene recoil, but he grip makes it nearly tolerable. Nearly. I suspect that the mass and grips(original or modified) of the BFR would make that round or any other very pleasant to shoot.

The 480, in case you were wondering, never managed to make more than one hole in the target. No matter how many bullets i threw, they all went thru the same hole!

Edited to add: I forgot to mention triggers! The FA has a great trigger! It's a good field trigger, enough weight and creep to really squeeze off. The BFR with it's freshly tuned trigger caught me off guard! Wow that is a crisp trigger. Not terribly light, but it breaks Right Now! The Ruger, as mentioned above, has nearly a Double Action amount of Creep. That's literally how I shot it. squeeeeezebang! I know it's a bone stock factory trigger, but it's terrible! I guess it's smooth and not gritty, but it feels like it moves 1/4-inch before it breaks.

This was my first time shooting the 480. I kept it light and it's still a thumper! Only loaded with Unique and HS-6. I'll try it again and see if I can find a reason to own the stupid thing! It showed a lot of accuracy potential out of the box, but the trigger was one of the worst factory single actions I've ever felt. Honestly, my two Ruger 5-Shot Bisley have the worst SA triggers I've ever fired! Maybe I'll get around to working them over a bit. But hey, who's complaining about one-hole groups!?