Freedom Arms breakopen hand-cannons

[AJMD429]

Another single-shot on the market...



Specifications Sheet - http://freedomarms.com/ssret.pdf

At $1,495 vs. an Encore for half that price, they're more than I'd likely spend, but it is nice to see 'factory' offerings in .375 Maximum and in .375 Winchester...

Freedom Arms makes top-notch stuff, that's for sure; the video on their website indicates some nice 'better-than-Encore' features.

[Jeff Quinn]

The FA is much more comfortable to shoot, for me at least, than the T/C pistols. Very accurate as well, even out past 600 yards.

Details here, with video, from June of 2008:
http://www.gunblast.com/FA-2008.htm

[Mainehunter]

Another single-shot on the market...



Specifications Sheet - http://freedomarms.com/ssret.pdf

At $1,495 vs. an Encore for half that price, they're more than I'd likely spend, but it is nice to see 'factory' offerings in 375 Maximum and in .375 Winchester...

Freedom Arms makes top-notch stuff, that's for sure; the video on their website indicates some nice 'better-than-Encore' features.

375 Maximum? Never heard of that one or is it 357 Max? In any case I need to check this one out.

Mainehunter

[Buck Elliott]

The .375 Maximum was developed by the IHMSA boys, for taking down the big steel rams.

It is also the cartridge chambered in that ill-fated Seville-type revolver that blew up, years ago, in Jackson, seriously injuring the shooter. Not particularly the fault of the cartridge, but a design flaw in the gun.. That was the only revolver wreck I have ever seen or heard of, where the recoil shield/standing breech failed! The results were not pretty...

[AJMD429]

That was the only revolver wreck I have ever seen or heard of, where the recoil shield/standing breech failed! The results were not pretty...

I'd like to know more about that; do you have more info?

I do know the .357 Maximum is much higher pressure than typical .357 Mag loadings, and so it isn't just a 'ream a deeper chamber' kind of thing, any more than the .454 Casull is just something you can ream a .45 Colt into. Even the wrong Handi-rifle frames (the ones they often use for .357 Mag & Shotgun combo sets) won't work for it; you need the 'rifle' one.

[Borregos]

I had the opportunity to shoot one of the 357Mag prototypes at the 2008 IHMSA Internationals, very accurate and comfortable to shoot

[jkbrea]

I can't stand looking at Freedom Arms' website. I've wanted one so bad for so long. When I look at the one I want, a Premier Model 83 4" or 4 5/8 in plain old .357, it's all I can think about for weeks on end. I put it on my screen saver, print out photos and start checking for used ones. When people started posting pics of their FA's here, I was so jealous.
Someday.....

[Buck Elliott]

The .357 Maximum is listed at 48,000 CUP, while our old friend the .357 Magnum is held to 35,000 psi.

The .375 Maximum (aka "Ultra Mag") is a semi-wildcat cartridge, developed by Elgin Gates, for the Metallic Silhouette game, and was chambered in Dan Wesson and other revolvers, along with Contenders.. i don't know For sure what the pressure parameters were..

We never found out for sure if the gun that blew was a manufacturing anomaly, or if there were a bunch more just like it out among the shooting community.. The cross-section of what wss left showed only paper-thin partitions of steel holding everything together.. Visualize if you will, the cutout for the loading port, then the slot for the hammer, transected by the basepin hole, and adjacent to the raceway for the hand. Add to that the huge, deep hole for the firing pin and its retainer or "recoil plate," which was as big around as the cartridge rim.. In essence, there was not much standing behind the cartidge in battery, except for dubious pillars of "steel foil.." the only solid steel in the standing breech was far off, to the left of the hand slot, and not directly behind the cartridge In battery..

[Larkbill]

The Max aka Supermag is still one of my favorite barrels on my Contender. The basic concept was a cartridge that would shoot a 200 gr. bullet as fast as a Mag would shoot the 180. It did that plus some. I don't remember ever "ringing" a ram with it, though I did "turn a turkey" at the Missouri state shoot once. It's a really hollow feeling hearing a clank, seeing the bird disappear, then hearing my spotter say "that turkey is still up and he's looking at you".

[Thunder50]

larkbill, almost as bad as shooting a chicken and having it do a 360 degree flip and land back on the stand!!

[El Chivo]

larkbill, almost as bad as shooting a chicken and having it do a 360 degree flip and land back on the stand!!

Wow, wouldn't that be scored as a hit? A 360 flip is definitely off the stand.