BFR vs. FA revolvers

[GL49]

I''ve been looking for a 475 Linebaugh revolver, but the price of the FA is out of reach right now. The BFR is affordable, but I have never held one or seen one. I own a FA 454, I'm looking for opinions, comments, etc. of FA vs. the BFR. If I do decide on a BFR, I would replace the factory rubber grips with wood grips, how do the grip frames compare? Any quality or tolerance issues with the less expensive revolver? Someone who has owned both, please comment. Thanks

[Lloyd Smale]

44man ill stay out of this if you will

[Whitworth]

I''ve been looking for a 475 Linebaugh revolver, but the price of the FA is out of reach right now. The BFR is affordable, but I have never held one or seen one. I own a FA 454, I'm looking for opinions, comments, etc. of FA vs. the BFR. If I do decide on a BFR, I would replace the factory rubber grips with wood grips, how do the grip frames compare? Any quality or tolerance issues with the less expensive revolver? Someone who has owned both, please comment. Thanks

I personally think the BFR offers the most bang-for-the-buck of any big-bore revolver on the market. They are very strong, and every one I have shot has been accurate.

Grip frame is essentially Ruger plow handle. I prefer the Bisley, and the FA grip frame is Bisley-esque. Hard to beat the BFR for the money. They're a little rough out of the box, but that is easy to address. My .500 JRH BFR shoots lights out. I have never owned a more accurate revolver.

44man will be along soon and tell us how the plow handle is the superior grip frame......

[44MAG#1]

I know that this is going to go badly. How many thinks it will go badly.
This will be a train wreck.

[Whistler]

The Ruger Super Blackhawk grips fit the BFR, but are a bit on the small side. If you could get them oversized and fit them yourself it would be fine.

I got the Paul Ferro wood grips and the factory rubber, but it was not until I put the SBH grips on that I was able to shoot the gun with pleasure. The .444 Marlin would beat me up, but with the SBH grips it rolls just like a SA revolver should.

[Whitworth]

I know that this is going to go badly. How many thinks it will go badly.
This will be a train wreck.

It doesn't have to......

[btroj]

I do not own either. Have never shot either. I can only say this- if the BFR is what fits your budget then get it. If you really "need" the FA then save up for one.
I bet the BFR at the lower price will be capable of doing anything you want done. The price difference may well be enough to make this decision for you.

[44man]

44man ill stay out of this if you will

I can't my friend!
I would leave the rubber grips on and not go slippery. Forget "roll" with the heavy recoil, get a grip, hold it tight and let the gun raise your arms. Roll can cut your finger in the trigger guard and makes a great head splitter.
I have to tell you about my friend, Whitworth. He loves the BFR grips and shoots them with ease. I know he can shoot 1" groups at 100 yards. I watch him do amazing things but I have no luck with the Bisley thing! He loves my guns and his BFR yet the Bisley record is cracked---Bisley, Bisley, Bisley, over and over!
A friend has a good shooting .475 Freedom with the beauty grips. It pounded both of us. He went home and ordered the rubber grips.
The .475 can be nasty. One friend came to shoot mine from sandbags. He split his forehead wide open and gave himself a huge shiner. And that was with the rubber grips. He might have killed himself with slippery grips.
Roll also throws shots in a long vertical string and overshoots everything.

[44MAG#1]

Whitworth:
Just sit back and watch. I t will turn out to be a train wreck for sure.

[Whitworth]

I can't my friend!
I would leave the rubber grips on and not go slippery. Forget "roll" with the heavy recoil, get a grip, hold it tight and let the gun raise your arms. Roll can cut your finger in the trigger guard and makes a great head splitter.
I have to tell you about my friend, Whitworth. He loves the BFR grips and shoots them with ease. I know he can shoot 1" groups at 100 yards. I watch him do amazing things but I have no luck with the Bisley thing! He loves my guns and his BFR yet the Bisley record is cracked---Bisley, Bisley, Bisley, over and over!
A friend has a good shooting .475 Freedom with the beauty grips. It pounded both of us. He went home and ordered the rubber grips.
The .475 can be nasty. One friend came to shoot mine from sandbags. He split his forehead wide open and gave himself a huge shiner. And that was with the rubber grips. He might have killed himself with slippery grips.
Roll also throws shots in a long vertical string and overshoots everything.

I don't "love" the BFR grip frame. I would be thrilled if Magnum Research offered a Bisley-type grip frame. For me (this is the key), the Bisley is easier to control under heavy recoil -- heavier recoil than the .475 which isn't so bad in my opinion.

[44man]

I don't "love" the BFR grip frame. I would be thrilled if Magnum Research offered a Bisley-type grip frame. For me (this is the key), the Bisley is easier to control under heavy recoil -- heavier recoil than the .475 which isn't so bad in my opinion.

We will never agree. That's OK. But you just shoot too good with the hog legs.
Everyone needs to understand that the rubber grips do alter the recoil over the wood panels, less roll and more inline push without Bisley force in the palm. Even good rubber grips on a Bisley changes hold and feel.
Admire and show off fancy, shiny grips but shoot ugly ones. There is only one screw holding the grips on. I have a bunch or Ruger wood panels in my drawer. I can flash them at people, but I don't shoot them.
Alter the hog leg towards the Bisley and also alter the Bisley towards the hog leg. That is what shoots.

[wiljen]

Truth of the matter is, when purchasing a car, you usually don't compare a Honda Accord to a Mercedes CL or the BMW 760. Truth is also that all three cars are perfectly capable of getting you from point A to point B.

The same is true with this comparison. FA guns are generally some of the best made, tightest tolerance guns on the market and the price reflects the same. BFRs are designed for the masses, don't have the tolerances of an FA in general but have provided a large number of us with perfectly acceptable service at a price point that is much more in the range a common person can afford.

Just as you will find some who say they would rather buy 4 Accords as have a single CL or 760 and others that say I'd rather have a single CL as 10 Accords, you'll find the same opinions floated on this.

For me the 45-70 BFR has been a spectacular performer consistently proving that I am the weak link in the chain by shooting groups I know are the limits of my capability with a handgun. For others, the FA has done likewise. And like everything else, both factories have made a few real duds over the course of their production runs and customer service stories vary as much as the opinions on the guns do.

I really like my BFR, but for me it was an easy call. FA doesnt make a 45-70 and I didn't have the $1900 to buy one if they had. The $749 I spent was well worth it to me.

Your mileage may vary.

[subsonic]

Get what you want, but the BFRs are not as cheap as they once were.... prices are nearing bottom-end FAs now. I know - I'm trying to find one!

[Whitworth]

Truth of the matter is, when purchasing a car, you usually don't compare a Honda Accord to a Mercedes CL or the BMW 760. Truth is also that all three cars are perfectly capable of getting you from point A to point B.

The same is true with this comparison. FA guns are generally some of the best made, tightest tolerance guns on the market and the price reflects the same. BFRs are designed for the masses, don't have the tolerances of an FA in general but have provided a large number of us with perfectly acceptable service at a price point that is much more in the range a common person can afford.

Just as you will find some who say they would rather buy 4 Accords as have a single CL or 760 and others that say I'd rather have a single CL as 10 Accords, you'll find the same opinions floated on this.

For me the 45-70 BFR has been a spectacular performer consistently proving that I am the weak link in the chain by shooting groups I know are the limits of my capability with a handgun. For others, the FA has done likewise. And like everything else, both factories have made a few real duds over the course of their production runs and customer service stories vary as much as the opinions on the guns do.

I really like my BFR, but for me it was an easy call. FA doesnt make a 45-70 and I didn't have the $1900 to buy one if they had. The $749 I spent was well worth it to me.

Your mileage may vary.

Don't quite agree with you analogy. The fit and finish may not be to the standards of the FA, but they certainly perform alongside them if not better. Plus, there are some advantages the BFR enjoys over the FA like a longer cylinder and the transfer bar system. I do prefer the way the FA looks and I like the grip frame a whole lot better, but I don't think it is twice the gun the BFR is even though it is twice the price. JMHO.

[wiljen]

I didn't say it was twice the gun. I said some people would tell you that.

[wiljen]

Get what you want, but the BFRs are not as cheap as they once were.... prices are nearing bottom-end FAs now. I know - I'm trying to find one!

A quick search of the auction sites turned up several BFR with buy it nows between $800-900 new. The same search didn't turn up any New FA for under $1400. Not sure where you are shopping but either FAs are cheaper there or somebody jacked the price on the BFR on you.

[white eagle]

44 No wonder you dislike the Biz so much
O Whitworth has been singin its Praises so long
you grew tired of it
but seriously grip frames are very personal thing it seems
I do like the Biz and would not hesitate to buy another
I have not yet moved into the BFR but i will have one sooner or later

[Whitworth]

but seriously grip frames are very personal thing it seems

Yes they are! 44man is one of the 2% of big bore revolver shooters who prefers the plow handle to the Bisley and he NEVER fails to remind anyone who will listen -- or anyone who doesn't want to listen.......

[Lloyd Smale]

since i dont have to stay out of it ill side with witworth. I would just as soon be smacked in the head with a hammer as shoot a 475 without a bisley grip frame and especially one with rubber grips on it. They tear skin off my hands with big recoiling guns. i agree that its not fair to compare them to FA guns as they cost half what one cost. A fairer comparison is to compare one to a ruger which there closer in price to. There a bit to big and blocky for me and i dont care for that grip frame like i said so ill pass on them but guys who have them like em and thats all that counts.

[Whitworth]

Amen Lloyd!