What characteristics do the custom shop Anacondas have that the regular production guns not have? Would it be porting, Elliason sights, a lighter trigger pull? I ask because I just completed the pair, a .44 to match the .45. The 44 has the above mentioned features and the .45 does not. Both have the abominable grips that are out of place on such a finely crafted gun. My one Raging Bull has much better grips. [Tongue in cheek follows.] Of course, by common decree, it's a second rate piece of ca-ca. Amazing though, it is accurate and fun to shoot for a piece of ca-ca, I think I'll keep it till it detonates in my hand.

Two hours easat of me is a guy named Herrett, He makes grips based on a tracing of your hand, and they fit like a glove. The australian snakewood checkered deep and smoothed are great. I have a 4" 45LC.

Rich

A vastly overpriced gun that will never compare with the best of Colt. I will bet my Ruger will outshoot it! How about 1-1/4" at 100 yd's with cast boolits from a cheap Ruger?

bfr,

paid more for my bfr 45-70 than the anaconda.

Rich

I will be sure to shoot nothing but .44 Specials in mine, and cowboy loads in the .45. Oh lord, now I've got three handbombs. Can't I ever catch a break?

Rich, the BFR is a FAR superior gun and is even more accurate and stronger then a Freedom. Well worth the money. Colts have always been way overpriced. They charge more for the polish and name then the steel and work to build them. To choose between a pretty gun and one that shoots is no contest.

Tembo, ya got me to thinkin' so I did a little research.

Anaconda
width across cylinder 1.75"
cylinder chamber mouth width 0.50 to 0.53

Super Redhawk
width across cylinder 1.75"
cylinder chamber mouth width 0.48 to 0.51

Smith & Wessom Model 29
width across cylinder 1.60
couldn't find the chamber mouth measurement

Super Blackhawk
width across cylinder 1.73
again couldn't find the chamber mouth measurement

I am going to sleep much easier tonight knowing my handbomb is probably not going to splode any more likely than the other profiled handbombs. And I have put hundreds of rounds of my handloads through a .44 Super Blackhawk, which proves nothing but that I am not a novice when it comes to this class of weapon.

I don't put much significance on anecdotal evidence of guns destroyed by handloads; and Cor Bon, I believe, is in business to sell near max loads. Wouldn't take much of a loading error to put parts in orbit.

I do appreciate your concern for my well being, and if you ever find yourself with an Anaconda and are afraid to shoot it, I will take it off your hands for a small fee.

quote:

Originally posted by bfrshooter:
Rich, the BFR is a FAR superior gun and is even more accurate and stronger then a Freedom. Well worth the money.

Tembo,

Do you know the specifics of why the gun in your post blew the cylinder? If you do..post it. If not don't bother even mentioning it. They are many reasons why cylinders fail to contain a load and more often than not its the fault of the shooter, handloader or both since they may be the same person. Shooting hot loads seems to be what everyone wants to do these days. Its not so much that they want the most performance on game... its the bragging rights they seek. There is no shortage of people that want their 45 LC to perform like that of a 454 Casull. This mentality is what fuels companies like Cor-Bon and Buffalo Bore.

Woody

Woody, Since I am not able to determine what the cause was of the Anaconda kaboom picture that I posted, I took your advice and deleted it. I guess it never happened.

Gato, bring your Freedom's over to shoot against my BFR's! I think you will gain a new appreciation.

BFR,

Explain why you think it is stronger. Educate me. While I don't doubt your BFR is accurate, it is more likely to be an abberation than the norm. I always had this saying...you don't get a Caddillac at Volkswagon prices. Realistic thinking in todays business world is if the BFR was as good as a Freedom Arms they would want just as much for them. I have a Remington that shoots as good as a friends Cooper but the fact stands that most Coopers will outshoot most Remingtons. There are exceptions to everything. You have one of them.

Woody

I have two BFR revolvers. There is more meat on them then on the Freedom guns. Freedom does not rifle with the correct twist on some of their calibers so they will only shoot one weight boolit good. The cylinders are not long enough on some calibers to make use of all boolits available. Magnum Research scales the frames, rifling and cylinders for each caliber, Freedom seems to use the same frame for all of their guns, just tiny differences.
Yes, they are pretty and fit tight but Freedom puts a lot more labor into "Pretty" then into accuracy.
I have shot a pile of them because all of my friends have a bunch. (.454's, .475's and .357.) They will not equal the BFR's in accuracy and they have all been worked with every load imagined. My friend John was just out with a beautiful new scoped Freedom .357. I expected some great 50 yd groups and was very dissappointed in it. Groups were just horrible. All either of us could do was 6".
The BFR looks like a "plain Jane" but I outshoot the Freedoms every time with any load and boolit. (Or bullet.) I have many 5 shot, 50 yd groups with my .475 that measure 5/8" with cast boolits. I have an empty paint can down on my range with 5 shots in one ragged hole at 100 yd's, shot from my 45-70 BFR from sandbags. I use a red dot, not a scope with crosshairs and beat the daylights out of scoped Freedoms. I have no trouble hitting pop cans at 100 yd's where my friends can barely hit them at 25. I have put three shots in 2" at 500 yd's with the 45-70 and kept 4 out of 5 shots on an 8" steel swinger at 400 yd's with the .475.
Sorry, but after thousands of shots from both guns, I will buy only BFR's.
I still challenge anyone to come out and outshoot my BFR's! For that matter, outshoot my SBH! 50 yd's and as far as you want to shoot, forget 25 yd's!
The Freedom is only a status symbol for the ritzy guy! Something to show off in the gun room.
Yes I would like to own one for that reason, but would never fire or hunt with it. I know what the BFR's will do in the field and have a pile of deer to show for it.
I get a kick out of the gun rags when they boast of super accuracy of 2" groups at 25 yd's. Who in the world buys a magnum to shoot 25 yd's?
I will never forget the guy that came to the public range with his SBH .44. He asked us to stop shooting so he could put up a target. I expected him to walk downrange but he set up a huge paper target at 12 yd's and shot several cylinders full without a single hole in paper. I asked if I could shoot it. I put my loads in, clicked up the sight and punched six holes in a gallon milk jug at 200 yd's from creedmore position, open sights. Have any of you seen eyes as wide as saucers? He had the wood grips and never smoothed the sharp edge off the trigger guard. My middle finger was a mass of blood but I never missed the jug.
Some of you do not know what a revolver can REALLY do, I outshoot a lot of rifles. It is not ME, I am getting old and my sight is not as good. It is the accuracy of the guns. I was hitting small targets with a model 29 back in 1956, at 200 yd's, when nobody thought it could be done. (Other then Elmer.)
I will give you my address, come over any time.

After that post I think you could teach all of us a few things. Hell, I might just take you up on your offer...I might learn something and it would be worth the trip. BTW, how old are you if you were shooting handguns before I was even born?

I am 69 and have been shooting handguns since I was 16. 44 mags since 1956. Have owned 7 or 8 44's and countless other calibers and my SBH has just gone over 57,600 rounds. I put 4 out of five in 1-1/4" and a fifth called flyer 1/2" out at 100 yd's, a few weeks ago. Can't wear it out! A cast boolit from a home made mould too.
I won Ohio State big bore IHMSA silhouette with it with 79 out of 80, years ago, when I could see. The same year I won .22 State with 57 out of 60 with a Ruger Mark II and no sight settings. I missed the first pig, turkey and ram but my spotter seen where I hit so I could adjust. I also cleaned the 100 yd shoot off targets.
I shot so many 40's with the XP 100 I had, my MOA and Witchita that I can't count them. My MOA 7BR has shot many 3/8" groups at 100 yd's with a scope. I have kept 10 out of 10 shots on a 2"X3" steel swinger at 150 meters with my Witchita 7R from Creedmore with open sights.
Never discount how a handgun can shoot!
I am a part time gunsmith and have had so many handguns come through the shop and brought to my range that I could not even begin to count them.
I have never been impressed with the accuracy of the Freedom. Most S&W revolvers will make them look sick even though they are grip sensitive. I can make any run of the mill Ruger shoot better. The BFR's will do it without touching a thing except making the trigger lighter.
A friend was out yesterday with a new Ruger .44 hunter and a new red dot. I sighted it for him and took two shots between adjustments. Each two shots were touching at 50 yd's. Bring on those Freedoms! If they are so good, show some group pictures.

BFR,

I don't own any FA but I shot several. I own 8 custom revolvers smithed by Gary Reeder and Hamilton Bowen and many standard revolvers, some Taurus but mostly Rugers. I also have a few custom Encore handguns. I know my revolvers will shoot better than I can due to a variety of reasons...some poor technique I would guess but a little to not finding the load it really likes. I am working on finding good loads for them but I have to give up the near max. load mentality. I think once I get that crap out of my mind those guns will shoot much better. I certainly don't shoot as well as you do though. Probably never will either. Thanks for posting your handgun shooting capabilities. Now I know where you are coming from when I read or comment on your posts and you on mine. You gave me a bit of confidence that I could shoot better. Thanks.

Woody

I have had several BFR revolvers and they shoot great. I have one in 50 alaskan and it handles all the buffalo bore ammo I shoot through it. So it is definately strong. I have only one freedom arms in 454 casul,it is smaller and handles easier than the BFR. With heavy loads, the frame screws do work loose from time to time. Both are accurate guns.

We have had several of the Freedom guns shoot some decent groups. They are very picky about boolit weight and seem to only shoot very tight groups with one boolit. For instance, the .475 will not group at all with boolits over 350 gr's and shoots best at 325 gr's. Starting at 400, the Lee boolit just fits and has to be crimped very high in the crimp groove and any creep will tie up the gun. Most heavier boolits just won't fit unless they have a WLN and high crimp groove so more of the boolit goes into the powder space. The 1 in 18 twist is too slow for the heavy boolits anyway so the guns power and boolit selection can't be fully utilized.
The BFR has a longer cylinder, 1 in 15 twist and will shoot like crazy with any boolit from 400 to 440 gr's. The lighter boolits still shoot OK but not as tight as the heavy ones. One of the most accurate boolits is the Lee 400 gr.
Freedom seems to think the boolit jump has to be very short, this is a fallacy and has no effect whatsoever on accuracy.

BFR,

Damned, I think FA needs you on their Pro-Team. I almost bought a BFR in the 475L but went up to a Reeder 500L instead. I still have a hankering for a 475L though. I will however, probably go right to a 475L Max. in Reeders stretch frame model. Thanks for sharing the knowledge you gained over years of shooting handguns.

Woody

when the anacondas first came out i was in line to buy a 4in and a 6. as much as i loved my old pythons I hated these colt 44s,,, would not group with my favorite loads, would not fast fire over 12 rounds,, sent back to colt and was informed of no problem. sent the 4 in back and requested that they try to shoot 18 rounds with a fast reload . they sent it back to me with increasedclearance between cylinder and forcing cone which further decreased accurcy.. the worst of it was that i sold a nice scoped super redhawk to finace the 6 in

bfrshooter:
How many BFRs does one see on the IHMSA line verses FAs these days? Honest question...

I don't think BFR and FA use the same metal, so, unless proven otherwise, won't accept the BFRs as being stronger because they have more beef.

You sure your BFRs are representative and not a couple of extra accurate ones?

6" at 50 yds doesn't jive with the 383s I have seen. What load were you trying?

I have some Rugers that shoot pretty well, but have never had a problem getting a FA to do better. But then again, I use iron sights and can't shoot as fine a group as you. So...maybe you're right...but I still think you are selling FAs a little short and BFRs a little long.

dvnv

Give it up, guys. BFRshooter thinks his revolvers hung the moon. I have seen his claims of shooting 1" groups at 100 yards with a 2MOA red dot sight. Think about that a minute...

FAs are the epitome of a single action revolver. My 654 shoots anything I put in it, from 210 grains to 295 grains. And that is from a .41! Yes, the cylinder is a bit short, but what does that matter? I get 1800 fps out of a 295-grain SSK bullet. How much more do you want from a handgun?

Any of you ever shoot IHMSA? If so, do you think YOU could shoot 57 out of 60 w/o sight settings? Come on... Just how lucky can one person be?

You guys can worship at the man's feet if you will. I consider him someone who has done a lot, and to that I tip my cap. But he continues to trash the FAs, and I know for a fact they shoot like a house afire. I believe he has a hard spot with somebody from Freedom, although I suspect we will never know exactly what...