Thank you all for the comments. I mulled over the options you guys laid forth for me and actually had a chance to get my hands on a FA 83 in .454 Casull owned my a friend of my uncle. Stopped my my local gun shop today to pick up my Mossberg 835 UltiMag for turkey season and placed an order for my own Freedom Arms Model 83. Ordered the Field Grade in .475 Linebaugh with 6" barrel. I was quoted around 100 days for delivery and was given a price a good bit below MSRP, so I was quite happy. I did appreciate the thoughts of all who said to buy the Ruger and start with a lower priced gun as my first SA, but I have a feeling I would've just ended up buying the FA in the end anyway. So I figured cut my losses and spend the bit of coin on the nicer gun in the first place!

Thank you all again for your experiences and advice. Now you just have to get me through the next 100 or so days of waiting!

Congrats! Now the wait begins.

And a fine decision you made! You won't be disappointed! Congratulations!

Smart move.
Don't buy something just have something. Save for what you really want and be well satisfied.

You'll be glad you did.

quote:

Originally posted by john113wyo:
Smart move.
Don't buy something just have something. Save for what you really want and be well satisfied.

You'll be glad you did.

Words to live by!

quote:

Originally posted by john113wyo:
Smart move.
Don't buy something just have something. Save for what you really want and be well satisfied.

You'll be glad you did.

If I adhered to that, I'd only have about 2/3 of the firearms I currently have (this being #36). Kind of mixed feelings about that

i've bought "close enough" several times .. and usually wind up losing money to sell what i didn't want

Stopped at my local shop today and my 83 should finally be in my hands next Tuesday! 6.5 months after ordering, but....

quote:

Originally posted by FFemt5287:
Stopped at my local shop today and my 83 should finally be in my hands next Tuesday! 6.5 months after ordering, but....

That's great news, Brandon! Be sure and post up some photos when you get it in your hands.

So finally got to pick up my long awaited 83 today. Feels really, really precise in its operation and I'm quite anxious to get out and shoot it! Unfortunately won't be able to do that until late next week with my work schedule and starting renovations on our new house. Thank you all for your input towards this decision as well as all of the photos of other's 83's in the interim to help keep my sanity!

Without further ado, a few pictures of my FA Model 83 Field Grade .475L:

Brandon, that is beautiful! Congratulations! You will not be disappointed I am sure!

Brandon - looks great!!! Of course I'm biased, as I have one just like it!

She's worth the wait, I'm sure...

Brandon, excellent choice. Great gun in a great caliber.

Thank you, guys! Going to be scouring the Internet tonight for a nice cross draw rig for it. I'll have to see if I can't get proficient enough with this over the next two months to give it a crack at some deer this year.

You made an excellent choice IMHO.

I really like my FA 475L.

Here is some info on factory 475 ammo.

The Hornady 400gr XTP does have less recoil than the Buffalo Bore ammo. It works great on pigs, deer, and black bear. It will just about shoot through a zebra up close.

Buffalo Bore ammo is excellent, I have shot a fair amount of their 350gr, and 400gr Jacketed and their 420 and 440gr hard cast.

Also one of their 420gr lead bullet load has velocity of around 980 fps. This load is very comfortable to shoot, is accurate and I have killed a turkey with it.

I fell into a few good deals on 475 factory ammo and I have not even used my 475 dies, yet...

Also in a pinch you can shoot 480 Ruger ammo.

450#2: I've a few boxes of the Hornady loads now at home. I've been eying those low vel Buffalo Bore 420's for a possible plinking load while waiting to get settled in the new house and get the reloading table all set up. How big of a POA/POI discrepency to you see between the Hornady's and the BB low vel's? Is it large enough to require an adjustment in sights for the two?

I did not find that much difference out to 35 yards or so. I hads my FA sighted in an inch or so at 50 yards with 420 Buffalo Bore heavy lead bulleted loads and I had no problems killing deer, pigs and bear with the Hornadys and a turkey at 25 to 28 yards or so with the light BB lead load.

BUT how you grip the handgun and control recoil can make a big difference in point of impact between different loads.

Usually in a handgun, with full power loads I find that lighter bullets hit lower for me.
Usually much lower even at 25 yards.

BUT many times with bullets of the same weight, lower and higher velocity loads hit pretty close to the same POI at 25 to 40 yards or so.

Thank you for the input. I'm going to order up a few boxes of the low vel BB's tonight if it ever quiets down here in the ER. Looking forward to doing some texting, hopefully next week.

Just remember a 475L is just like a 44 mag or a Corvette. You do not always have to shoot full power loads or drive 140+mph.

But when you need or want to you can...