Recently tested some 260gr Nosler Partition HG's in my FA 83 .454 Casull with Win 296. The results were astounding! Here is a typical 50 yd group off sand bags. This is my first thread with a pic, so I hope you can see it.

Looks like you have a winner of a load.
How many grains of Win 296 to get 1950fps?
Have you tried any hard cast lead loads with your FA?

I have a Tarus Raging Bull 454 I know they are not made as well as a FA and probably cant stand up to the same pressure, but mine shoots better than I can see with open sights at 25 yards with all of the bullets touching. I have been thinking about putting a scope on the RB.

Photo came out great. Once you shoot a good sixgun you are amazed at the groups.

When I started working up loads with my SRH 480 I had to move out to 50 yds to see which was the best load, as 25 yd groups were one ragged hole.

I continue to be amazed at how accurate revolvers can be, especially with the bullet "jump" from cylinder to barrel. Many autos can't come close to that kind of accuracy, with no jump. To work up loads I will often mount a scope, and as stated above move back to 50 yards! My S&W 686 wears a Red Dot sight, and my S&W 629 wears a scope. Just amazing accuracy, yet the 1911 afficianados well spend $2000 on a custom gun to get that kind of accuracy!
Peter.

Swede44-
the load was 33.5 grains of 296 in Starline brass. It seemed fine in my gun, but cases were sticky in my father-in-law's Ruger SBH. A call to Ruger revealed that max loads often lead to this condition in their revolvers. Apparently, the steel they use, while more than strong enough, expands under the extreme pressure (65,000 psi), thus allowing the brass to expand. After the bullet exits the muzzle, the cylinder chamber contracts around the expanded case and holds it in place. Moral of the story: procede with caution.

Juggernaut, you see the benefit of owning an FA. They are just phenomenal revolvers, aren't they? As somebody once said, "You get what you pay for."

Very nice group. I would like to see another with 5 shots. We have been working with the Freedom guns in .454 and .475 and have found both like the lighter bullets. The twist is too slow for the real heavy weights.
I sure wish I could afford one for myself!

BFRShooter, what is the twist rate in the two FAs? I am just curious; my experience with my Model 654 (.41 Mag Silhouette) is exactly the opposite. It is a 1 in 14", and really shoots the heavy bullets well, all the way up to 300 grains.

I've shot Cast Performance 395gr WFNGC's with excellent accuracy. I believe the twist in my FA .454 is 1:18 and seems to do just fine with heavy bullets.

GOOD POINT! Its allways a good idea to post exactly which gun you are shooting. I know from experience that my alaskan wont take anywhere near that stout of a load.

quote:

Originally posted by Juggernaut76:
Swede44-
the load was 33.5 grains of 296 in Starline brass. It seemed fine in my gun, but cases were sticky in my father-in-law's Ruger SBH. A call to Ruger revealed that max loads often lead to this condition in their revolvers. Apparently, the steel they use, while more than strong enough, expands under the extreme pressure (65,000 psi), thus allowing the brass to expand. After the bullet exits the muzzle, the cylinder chamber contracts around the expanded case and holds it in place. Moral of the story: procede with caution.

With my 454 FA, I get similiar groups at 50 and 100 yards. I used 24.5 grains of Little Gun with a 360 hardcast lead with gas check. Groups shoot the same point of impact at 50 and 100 yards with a Leupold scope.

I didn't measure my friends .454 yet, but groups are tighter with the lighter bullet. The .475 Freedom has a 1 in 18" twist and my BFR has a 1 in 15". After thousands of groups with every bullet and boolit we could get, the BFR will not shoot super tight until 400 gr's is reached and this is where the Freedom starts to fall off. The Freedom shines with 325 and 350 gr's.
I am talking 5 shot groups at 50 yd's of 5/8" out of both guns with the bullets they like.
Don't get me wrong, all bullets shot decent from all the guns, but the quest for the one hole group keeps us busy. We have been real close to 1" at 100 yd's. The sighting equipment and the rests have been the biggest cause of missing the magic number.

7mm, what is the overall length on your load? We have trouble chambering a lot of the heavy boolits in the Freedom guns because of the shorter cylinders. We have had to trim brass or use .480 brass in the .475.

JN 76,

The factory test target that came with my FA 454 7.5"Premiergrade look just like yours. So did the groups with the Hornady 300gnXPT. I loaded 31gnWin296 behind that pill.
F.A.NTASTIC BIT OF MACHINERY THEY ARE. WORTH EVERY DOLLAR and MORE.
Gave it to friend causeshooting it got boring

Yes, I drool over the Freedoms everytime one of my friends brings them over. I have to sell 2 silhouette guns to buy one though.
I forgot to mention that both guns, the BFR and Freedoms, shoot so good with jacketed that we don't even bother. We are using cast boolts trying for the tightest groups. My Rugers shoot very good also. I just put 4 out of 5 boolits in 1-1/4" at 100 yd's from my old SBH.

I cant honestly say that FA's actually shoot better than anything else (certainly not $1200.00 better). I've seen some damn fine groups turned out with Rugers, Smiths, and Colts. Not to mention that none of the game I've shot with mine seemed to care where the bullet came from. I will say however, that I think FA's are easier to shoot well-whether it's due to the plow-handle grip or just the confidence inspired by such a well-crafted firearm, I cannot say. The truth of the matter is they all probably shoot better than most of us can. It's an awesome thing to know you can consistantly deliver a huge ammount of energy on target with this kind of precision. Sounds romantic doesn't it? At any rate, after last season I sold a pile of deer rifles.

I agree, if it wasn't for archery and revolvers, I would quit hunting. I too, sold my rifles! I kept a custom 6.5 Swedish I built with a cherry stock from my woods. Just too pretty.
Revolvers can be fantastic.

you got a good one there I would love a freedom but havent been abel to get one yet here is a group from my ruger redhawk 45colt 10 shots at 50 yds

Brian, YOU ARE THERE!

quote:

Originally posted by Juggernaut76:
I've shot Cast Performance 395gr WFNGC's with excellent accuracy.

At what range?
WFN's tend to do poorly at long range.
That's how they got the name "Won't Fly Nowhere".

quote:

Originally posted by Lloyd Smale:
I know from experience that my alaskan wont take anywhere near that stout of a load.

If you'd quit shootin' those sissy guns...
You comin' out west to brush up on that long range stuff in about 2 months?

That is just not true! I have shot them to 500 meters with no problems. They do drop like a rock, but have proven very accurate. Match the boolit and velocity to the twist and they will surprise you.

bfrshooter,
You missed the word "tend".

Please provide your info.
Gun, cal., bullet used, load...
I'm interested in more data.

BFR .475 linebaugh revolver, 411 gr WFNGC from my home made mould, 26 gr's of 296 and Federal 155 primer. I kept 4 out of 5 on a 6" swinger at 400 yd's and 4 out of 5 on a 12" swinger at 500 meters. (547 yd's.) I was shooting Creedmore.
BFR 45-70 revolver, 317 gr WLNGC (meplat is actually between a WFN and WLN.) from home made mould, 31 gr's of 4759 with dacron filler, Fed primer. I shot 3 into 3" at 500 yd's from Creedmore. Estimated drop is 26 feet from a 50 yd setting. I aimed at a fork in a tree top.
.44 mag SBH, 330 gr WLNGC from home made mould, 21.5 gr's of 296, Fed 150 primer. 12 out of 12 in a five gallon bucket at 400 yd's from Creedmore.
Same load from a SRH, pop can at 200 yd's.
Nuff said?
Most of you are just not having any fun shooting 20 yd's!

bfrshooter, sorry for the delay. Just been offline. The overall length was 1.68. Started with brass trimmed to recommended length and adjusted bullet seating depth. Starting with recommended load of 21.00 with a max of 25.5, I worked up loads to the max. But when I got to 24.5 the groups where great and recoil was easy to handle.

bfrshooter,
Do you ever make it out west?
I'd love to sit down with you and a couple of my shootin' partners and throw some lead down range.
How do you get a consistant hold over at 400 and 500 yards?
Please explain the "I aimed at a fork in a tree top" part. I'm missing something.

Juggernaut76 - Nice shooting! What barrel lenght is your FA?

Bigbores, I used a red dot sighted for 50 yd's on the 45-70 and it was almost deer season so I didn't want to adjust it. I figured the drop from my old Lyman book and estimated where to aim in the tree top. My friend spotted and walked me into the steel. As soon as I hit I knew where to aim and used my last two shots for the group. I wasted almost a box of shells shooting at trinkets and clays at 200 yd's before setting up a ram downrange.
The other guns had either a scope or red dot and I adjusted for the distance. I can't see the open sights anymore!

What barrel lenght is your FA?


7-1/2"

bfrshooter,
PM on it's way.

BigBores, I sent you a bunch of E mails.

I have two E mail addresses, one is bigbore and the other is bigbores. Which do I use. I sent them again, let me know if you get them.

Email sent your way.

quote:

I continue to be amazed at how accurate revolvers can be, especially with the bullet "jump" from cylinder to barrel. Many autos can't come close to that kind of accuracy, with no jump. To work up loads I will often mount a scope, and as stated above move back to 50 yards! My S&W 686 wears a Red Dot sight, and my S&W 629 wears a scope. Just amazing accuracy, yet the 1911 afficianados well spend $2000 on a custom gun to get that kind of accuracy!
Peter.

And i would doubt from just any custom maker; it is in all those moving parts...especially the barrel that goes a little way back and then actually changes angle so that the slide (which the sights are on) can go past it. Lots of little margins for error.

probably goes without saying, but i just could not help myself.

And i am not against autos as a rule, i love my SIG.

Brian: That's a great group from a Redhawk. Regular or super? Scope or irons? What was your load? Those of us who can't afford FAs gots to know ...

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Brian: That's a great group from a Redhawk. Regular or super? Scope or irons? What was your load? Those of us who can't afford FAs gots to know ...

I here you would love a FA
and yes a reg redhawk 45cot 7.5" with a 2x scope the load was 21.5gr of win 296 cci lp primers not mag starline brass 300gr gc lee cast bullet and it was shot at 50 yards any more ? just ask
by the way I had to have my cylinders reemed to 452.5 to make it shoot that good here is a group I shot yesterday with a 330gr cast

Brian: Thanks for the details. That's a mighty handsome group!

Hey Brian, was that my boolit?

well i didnt know it was you and yes them is your boolit