Freedom Arms value and quality.

[potatojudge]

Field grade 7.5 inch 454 is I believe the most common configuration and so the most affordable FA, though as said above gives up nothing in performance to the most decked out $4500 FA.

In years past you'd find them, rarely, in the $12-1300 range but now those guns are $17-1800+ on the used market- those are good prices for those who watch the right boards and most are listed for $2k+. I might be off a bit because this is from memory rather than searching the boards and GB finished auctions, but I think they're close.

I finally ended up with a FA in 454, a 10 inch ported gun. I started my FA collection with a 44 mag and for my recoil tolerance, it gives a good balance of power and recoil so I can shoot longer strings of fire. A 45 Colt or ACP cylinder would serve the same purpose in your gun.

If you get a chance to handle or buy a FA 97, I think they're about perfect. Plenty of power in a much smaller package.

[pacecars]

Thanks guys! When I carry it hunting it is a 4 shot with the hammer down on an empty chamber which being paranoid I check about 20 times. I love the gun and even with the Mag-na-porting it recoils more than my .500 Linebaugh with full house loads. I guess I should say it recoils a lot faster which makes it seem like more. They both end up at the same height when fired. I would think it would be worse without the porting. I have other guns to hunt with but will wait until hunting season is over before sending it in. I was also thinking about having the sling mounts installed.

[CraigC]

I feel compelled to say this as a self-respecting and responsible enabler, if I was sending a Field Grade back for the firing pin update, I'd get some ivory micarta put on it too!

[pacecars]

Mine is a Premier Grade and has some Desert Ironwood from Chig’s Grips

[babills]

Thanks guys. It's gonna be a long week waiting to pick her up. Now to find brass and lead.Dies are. On order For 454. Gonna keep recoil lower as I'm sick and old. Lol but I'm gonna try. This one will be a pleasure to pass to my son. He is excited too. Not about me dieing, lol but the gun. Is it better just to load 45lc hot loads in casull brass? Or get 45lc brass as well? Thanks.

[sixshot]

Shoot that gun where you're comfortable! Enjoy it every time you take it out, no need to beat yourself up. Let your son do that Just because you own a muscle car, no need to break the speed limit.

[shorty500]

The FA guns just can’t be beat for across the board quality or accuracy!
Only ever sold or traded off 2 guns both .454 field grades that I bought
or traded for used and enjoyed for 3-4 years each. Still have my 1st gun dating to ‘86
It’s a 4-3/4 pre-model # , pre- premier grade marking etc 4 cylinder set-up. Never an issue
or repair. After reading so much Ross Seyfried etc it’s been tortured immensely!
Zero issues or repairs! It’s my go to gun for silly fun plinking even at extended range with
the ACP cylinder, on rare occasions I’ll shoot the WinMag cylinder. The .454 cylinder is treated
rather poorly as it’s main life is a chronograph record of what loads do in shorter barrels.
The .45 Colt cylinder has uncountable rounds fired thru it & my primary go to load is a heavy charge
is w296 under R.Seyfrieds olds bone-cracker Gould styled slug he designed for his original Linebaugh
Seville. With water dropped wheel weights my mold drops 362 grains, my load hits 1390fps in that short
tube and kills on both ends lol.
No cape or Asian Buffalo on my trophy wall not even an American bison but it did defeat an invading
longhorn steer the neighbor couldn’t keep fenced when said steer in edged my property during deer season.
Reminder to all don’t charge an old redneck with arthritis- well just stand our ground and shoot you

[bigbore5]

It still amazes me how most of the posts I see about Freedom Arms sing the accolades about their superior quality, yet in the same post point out the firing pin problems that even a High Point doesn't suffer from!

I'm not hating on Freedom Arms. My 353 is a tack driver, but so are my Ruger Maximums. The factory trigger job is great, but it's an extra cost option that is on par with my BFR's factory standard triggers. My custom shop BFR actually feels better. To me they are over-priced for what you get if bought new.

That's what makes the used ones so good if you can find what you want without it being priced silly by a dreamer!

The only FA I would still like to add to the stable new is maybe a 41mag 97.

[bearskinner]

I have switched to a 41 mag 10”FA83 for most of my primary hunting use. I am amazed how great it shoots, even after using other FA’s for almost 40 years. A hot 41 with a heavy bullet is a pea shooter for recoil, I’m loving that and the accuracy

[contender]

"Is it better just to load 45lc hot loads in casull brass? Or get 45lc brass as well? Thanks."

FA doesn't recommend using .45 Colt brass in the .454 cylinder. Remember,, tight tolerances. To avoid the potential "burn ring & making the chamber even tighter,, I just use .454 brass for all my loads. From mild to wild. Easier all around. If I wanted to dedicate it to .45 Colt shooting,, I'd get the spare cylinder built.

[stubshaft]

I got my Premier Grade FA-83 from Freedom Arms in 1984. At the time I had my FFL and was a working gunsmith, so I ordered it with all the "bells and whistles" including a tungsten insert at the back of the barrel to eliminate erosion. My standard load is 33.0 WW296 behind a 300 gr. LBT LFN bullet that I had Veral cut for me. I kept fairly accurate records of my shot count until I moved and lost my logbook about 15 years ago. At the time I had gone through 9,500 rounds and to date the pistol is just as tight and precise as the day I got it. I have used it to harvest hogs and sheep and it has accounted for 47 animals with exactly 47 rounds. I have never been able to find a bullet in any of the animals I've harvested even though some of them weighed over 300 lbs.

It is the absolute LAST gun I would ever sell.

[Odin]

Oct 27, 2023 16:58:26 GMT -5 babills said:

Thanks guys. It's gonna be a long week waiting to pick her up. Now to find brass and lead.Dies are. On order For 454. Gonna keep recoil lower as I'm sick and old. Lol but I'm gonna try. This one will be a pleasure to pass to my son. He is excited too. Not about me dieing, lol but the gun. Is it better just to load 45lc hot loads in casull brass? Or get 45lc brass as well? Thanks.

If you haven't already, cruise on over to the Freedom Arms website and scroll aalll the way down to the bottom of the page where you'll find a link for 454 load data straight from FA (or just CLICK HERE). Along with standard and "Ruger only" 45 Colt load data, plus 454 Casull data that you can find in most load manuals, the FA recipes will give you a good idea of the kind of mild-to-wild range that's available in the Model 83, 454 Casull.

[bigbrowndog]

The High Point has enough things to suffer from without firing pin issues. Even H&H, Kreighoff, Heym, and Ferlach guns need firing pin care, it doesn’t make them inferior. I will gladly suffer a small nearly inconsequential consideration for a good product, from a good company. To the best of my recollection I’ve never been 100% satisfied with any product, custom or mass produced, there is always some detail not exactly pleasing. However I can be overall pleased and ecstatic with a product or company despite this one seemingly inconsequential “flaw”.
I personally did not have any issue with converting my FA to a replaceable FP, I was willing to leave it as it came to me. The “ounce of prevention beating pound of cure” theory is what caused me to go ahead and convert it. Having once listened to a FP dance through a shotgun barrel after being dropped on an empty chamber, after having traveled to Scotland for an epic grouse hunt. Now no longer having a double barrel, and the fellow that pulled the trigger without realizing the consequences feeling very embarrassed and truly sorry. The offer of a loaner allowed for a good hunt, but I’d traveled with my own gun to make my own fond memories. That chance was now lessened a bit, by a seemingly innocent act of swinging a bird gun and dry firing it.

Trapr

[bigbore5]

Not saying that a Freedom Arms made gun is a Hi Point. I merely pointed out that their biggest and only glaring fault isn't insurmountable before they ship out guns costing several thousands of dollars.

The firing pin problems should have been addressed long ago. An equally good trigger shouldn't be standard on a revolver that costs a third as much. The FA trigger job they charge extra for should be an embarrassment to them that it's not the standard.

I did not say that they aren't amongst the top four revolvers and the top single action amongst factory guns. They are. But that's a real shame they haven't addressed the two simple things that hold them back.

I also didn't say I don't own them already, nor that I wouldn't buy more. Only that they are not worth more bought new than what the used ones go for, if that.

[Odin]

To me, there are a number of "practicality issues" with the Freedom Arms guns, but there are also custom smiths and craftsmen out there who can build you out of those issues, should your paycheck allow. So you pick your tool and you pay the price. In the end many still find that there truly is no Perfect Packing Pistol, there is just the gun that rides on our hip today...