Magnum Research BFR

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Big Yac

New member
I"m looking into a Magnum Research BFR. The calibers I'm looking at are .475 Linebaugh, .444 Marlin or .45/70. Has anyone ever shot one of these? Whats it like? Do they compare to my .454 Casull? Is the Magnum Research BFR a good gun?
 
I saw one at a gun show and the damn thing needs a set of wheels & caisson to boot. But it doesn't feel too bad in the hands. If I recall right, it was like a Blackhawk on Steriods. Yet, I'd be weary of firing a 45-70 from a handgun.
BigYac: What the hell do you plan on shooting with that thing (That's a serious question with no "smartass-ness" intended)? Is it for fun or are you planning on fishing in Loch Ness? ;)
 
no, I'm not going after Lochness...Big Foot is what I'm trying for, we have a local Big Foot 'expert' who claims to have seen him all over the area :)
Actually I'd use the gun mostly for fun but I'd also use it for deer hunting too. We cant use rifles here in Ohio for deer, so its either shotguns with slugs, handguns (.357 or larger with a minimum 5" barrel) or bows/crossbows. I am actually new to the big bore handgun scene though I guess I really did jump in when I bought a Super Redhawk in .454 Casull for my first one. But I love the gun and now want some more big handguns :D
Also, Id have the gun then if I ever wanted to try and take something bigger like an elk or moose or whatever.
 
Heck, if you're gonna get it, go for the gusto and get .45-70! It's quite versatile if you handload, and even if you don't, there are a variety of factory loads, including the light cowboy loads, which are the ONLY loads *I* personally would shoot from such a beast. Course, I suppose the same is true of .444 marlin, but the availability is slightly less I think.
 
That's pretty wild. I hope you get it, it'll make a hell of a "toy". But if you get it you gotta post some pics of of you shooting it. I'd love to see the muzzle-flash off that baby.
Oh and make sure to give us your home address so those of us without handheld artillary pieces can go to your place when the Machines rise up like on the Terminator movies. ;)
 
Shot the BFR in 45-70. It was lame in comparison to the .454 Casull. You just don't get the juice with a short barrel......all that powder wasted!
 
I bought one a couple months ago in .45-70. Using a very mild load consisting of 26.0 grains of 2400/CCI-200/cast 405 grain FN bullet, I get just exactly 1400 fps out of the 10 5/8" barrel. I went up to 30.0 grains of 2400 with no pressure signs, but accuracy deteroriated slightly, so I dropped back and settled on the 26.0 grain load. Recoil with this load isn't bad at all, it's on par with a heavy 240 grain .44 mag load out of a SBH or somesuch, but not as sharp. Accuracy in mine is exceptional, with 5 shot/25 yard groups usually being a single big ragged hole. Even with open sights, it's easy to keep all five shots on a 9" paper plate at 100 yards. It will shoot better than I can see at that range. Mine shot several inches high, even with the rear sight cranked all the way down, so I scrounged through the parts bin and found a spare rear sight blade (Blackhawk maybe?), filed the notch a little deeper, and took a corresponding amount off the entire top of the blade to make a "heavy bullet" rear sight blade and keep the original for lighter/faster bullets.
I have two X-frames in .500, but didn't care for the chambering in the BFR simply because of the excess freebore in the cylinder using the shorter cartridge. There's just something about sliding one of those huge, loooong .45-70 cartridges into that cylinder that puts a goofy smile on your face before you even squeeze the trigger. :)

Lycanthrope has a point, kind of. Factory loads aren't made for a 10 5/8" barrel. Handloading is the only way to get peak efficiency out of the .45-70 in a handgun barrel.

The expression is that of a Bona-Fide gun addict who just got caught getting his periodic fix. :D
70BFRnM25_008.jpg
 
I shot one in 45-70 and it was a pussy cat with factory loads. I must say the gun was very accurate.
 
The calibers I'm looking at are .475 Linebaugh, .444 Marlin or .45/70. Has anyone ever shot one of these? Whats it like? Do they compare to my .454 Casull? Is the Magnum Research BFR a good gun?

I didn't thoroughly address the rest of your post. I'd skip on the .475 Linebaugh for the same reason I don't like the .500 in the BFR. Too much cylinder freebore. With the availability of .45-70, I'd also give it the nod over the .444. Neither caliber is factory loaded for a handgun, so handloading is almost a must. If you never have any intention of handloading, maybe the .475 would be the way to go, but factory ammo is pricy. All things considered, my recommendation would be .45-70. Is it a good gun? The fit and function of these things is coming close to that of Freedom Arms. They're not there yet, but they're not far behind either, and well ahead of Ruger, S&W, and many others. I just happen to know "someone" who makes a very nice holster for them too. ;)

70BFRleather_015-med.jpg
 
Of the choices you listed I would go with the BFR in 45-70. The primary reason is the wide cartrige selection avialable. The recoil is not as sharp as what you get with a .454, more of a big shove then a snap.

I have fired the 45-70 with fairly heavy loads (close to 444 power levels), without a problem. Nice gun for the money.
 
Jbar4Ranch, you say something about cylinder free bore. I've never heard this term but am I correct in assuming that cylinder freebore is excessive room in front of the cartridge while in the cylinder?
Also, I think I am going to follow everyone's advice and go all out for the 45-70, Like I said before, I like big handguns and theres not too many bigger than the 45-70 I dont think and heck who wouldnt like a revolver with a 10 in barrel? :D What is the muzzle flash like on one of the 45-70's?
Now I can hear all of those people who think I'm just getting a big gun to try and show off to other people. Well my answer to that is no, some people like small guns and some people like big guns, I happen to fall into the latter of the two(actually I like about any gun). Darn it, this is America where we can have all the big trucks, big motorcycles, big pizzas, big women, and big guns that we want :D
 
Yes, the extra unrifled area ahead of the shorter cartridge in the cylinder is what I'm referring to as freebore. Results and opinions are mixed on this, but common sense dictates that the longer the bullet has to travel to the rifling, the faster it accelerates, and when it slams into the rifling at a higher speed, there has to be some stripping before it grips the rifling and spins up.

Muzzle flash depends greatly on the powder being used. A slow rifle powder won't burn completely in the ten inch barrel, and can cause flash from unburned powder. Most all powders will give off a muzzle flash though. Even with the proper powder, even though the powder may be completely burned, the gases created have used all the available oxygen and are still combustible in themselves. They are heated past their flashpoint, and when the projectile clears the muzzle, and the gases come into contact with oxygen, they flash and burn.

The recoil of .45-70's in this thing is somewhat comparable to a big-bore black powder pistol. A big push and plenty of "kick", but not sharp like a conventional revolver cartridge such as the .475 or .454. There's a lot of room in that big case and pressure builds up slower, but it's still not a problem to safely propel a 405 grain cast bullet to over 1500 fps in the 10" barrel. I was definitely spooked the first time I shot mine, but it's certainly no worse than midrange .500 loads out of a compensated X-frame, or heavy .44 mag loads out of a SBH.

The original FF black powder load propelled a 405 grain bullet to 1325 fps, or a 500 grain bullet to 1250 fps... from a rifle barrel. I can safely top this by 200 fps in a 10" revolver barrel! :eek: Of course, even this pales when compared to velocities that can be achieved in a Marlin Guide gun or other modern .45-70, but still...
 
Get the MRI 45-70 with the 10 inch barrel. It is one very accurate handgun with recoil being primarily straight up rather than back. If you use trapdoor reload data to make your own reloads or buy over-the-counter 45-70 loaded for trapdoor then yes it is a pussycat. However if you reload using the reloading data for a T/C 45-70 it is no pussycat and is comparable to a 454.

The MRI BFR is made to withstand the high-pressures associated with reloads using T/C 45-70 reload data. The only drawback I have heard about but never experienced with my BFR is that the cylinder gate could actually bend from very high pressure escaping out the back. Personally I believe this may have actually only occurred because some folks reloaded above the max T/C data. I pushed my reloads to the max limit and never had the bending gate problem.
 
How in the world does high pressure "escape out the back" without catastrophic failure of the cartridge case or cylinder?? I'd have to personally see it to believe it.
 
To JBAR4Ranch:

I have never seen it happen either though it has been reported to have happened to one or two BFR 45-70's.

I can say that I once had a revolver that when I fired it on one occassion some of the back pressure force went down through the cylinder lock opening on the bottom portion of the frame and completely stretched to ruin a trigger mechanism spring that was encased deep inside the frame. It had to be replaced. There was no cartridge or cylinder failure with my occurrence.

Given this I can see it might remotely be possible that a cylinder gate get bent..but I doubt it probable since I have NOT heard of it happening other than the isolated occurences.

BTW I don't know if there was or was not any associated cartridge or cylinder failure with the reported incidents.
 
I'm missing something here I guess. How does back pressure get out of a sealed breech without failure of either the cartridge case or the cylinder?? Extremely light loads, such as CAS loads, often won't seal properly, but it just can't happen with normal or heavy loads unless the case or cylinder suffers a catastrophic failure. Without a cartridge or cylinder failure, how does gas pressure get out, other than a tiny bit at the b/c gap and the muzzle? Gas escaping at the b/c gap isn't contained by anything, and so there is no pressure buildup as it escapes. Where is this back pressure coming from?
 
This is just thinking out loud here but maybe that's it....maybe its not the b/c gap or gas back pressure per se .....maybe instead the breach seal is working just as it should.....so maybe we must consider that the cartridge or cylinder are not the only points of possible failure.

If the case and cylinder don't fail then maybe the stresses are being conducted through them to the weaker surrounding parts (i.e gate, springs, etc) and the transferred stress is sufficient enough to cause fatique in the weaker parts catching the vectored stresses?

Maybe we should consider that b/c seal integrity is maintained as a "sum of the parts thing" rather than just by the individual cylinder and case?
 
You fellas have me a bit confused here. I was looking to possibly get one of the BFRs in 475. You keep mentioning the "freebore", yet on Magnum Research's web site, the 475 is shown chambered in the Maxine model. Significantly shorter cylinder than the rifle-cartridge versions. It doesn't appear to have any more freebore than any other single action in the last 150 years or so. What am I missing? :confused:
 
Mea culpa, you are indeed correct. The .500 is chambered in the longer cylinder, but the .475 is chambered in the shorter Maxine cylinder. :o
 
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