Well after about 20 rounds I decided almost to sell my Freedom Arms 454 with arthritis in my wrist even mild loads are painful. I plan to take it to the gun show in Louisville this weekend. I hate it because I always wanted a FA and to handgun hunt.

Are you hunting whitetail?
A 357 Mag will work at distances with the right bullet about where a lot of guys are comfortable hunting at.

MD - sorry to hear about your arthritis. Don't throw in the towel quite yet - What mild Casull loads are you shooting? Reloading is your friend in this quest...

And Ernie is absolutely correct if all recoil flares up "Arthur", it doesn't take a Casull to take them down - I used my FA's in .357/.41/.44 to take the majority of my deer and hogs for the past several years, and mostly with factory fodder. So perhaps you trade that 454 for a lesser recoiling boomer?

Boy, I feel for you on two fronts; arthritis and having to part with your FA!

One day when an unknown rich relative dies or I hit the Lotto I'll have one. Wife be darned.

Try a 255 grain SWC or similar slug over 11 grains 231/unique in 454 brass. It's an incredibly accurate round and makes it fun to shoot. Sort of like having the worlds most accurate 45 Colt. That load will do about 1150 from a 7.5" FA and feels like a 38 special or less when it goes off.

Think if you could trade the 454 for a 41 you will do fine. I'm kinda aged myself and went back to 44 from 454 and I'm thinking 41 would have been better for me except for the big bears all around here.

Can ya get a 45 Colt cylinder for it? You can load the 45 Colt pretty light.

You can but it's expensive by the time you ship both ways and buy the cylinder. Cheaper to load down in the 454 brass

Thanks for the reply I am 60 and the miles from my 22 years in the military are catching up to me. I just got 500 255 SWC from Missouri Bullet works. Might try the down loaded 454 A set of Pachmary would help and I am still looking for a set so maybe I will hold on to her for awhile

I hope you find a way to hold on to your dream there! I wanted a Freedom Arms for over 20 years, finally got to the position where I could afford one, now 2 years later, I am hoping that I don't need a 325gr or 300gr bullet going 1500+ fps to take down an elk. I find the milder loads to be very manageable, I shoot a lot of 290gr SWC over HS6 or Unique and they are still very comfortable to shoot.

Mad Dog, don't give up just yet. I have two ideas that I think will really work for you. First, I would really look into a Taurus Raging Bull in 44 Mag. This is a heavy, ported revolver with a insert in the grip that really makes it very comfortable to shoot. I know a lot of guys don't like the Taurus', but I really liked mine. Secondly, you should look into picking up a single shot in 300 Whisper. The recoil may equal a 38 Special, if it is that hard. I have killed a bunch of WT deer & exotics with mine. You have other options, just don't be discouraged enough to give up.

Just run some light loads. I have many thAt will recoil less than a 45 acp outmof a standard 1911 and still are hunt worthy!

MD...downloading the .45 line will allow you to tailor a hunting round to meet your physical needs while still enjoying the FA platform. Often load development is half the fun....don't give up. Thanks for your service to our country.

I never cared for the packys on the FA. Get straight behind the grip on that gun and it will roll nicely. Those light loads will help a ton!

Load it down and shoot 'em up. You don't need a 454 to kill a critter.

How about a .44 Special? We use them quite a bit in adition to our cannons. A 255gr over 8.6grs U-Clays in a new Ruger Flat top is easy to shoot, accurate and kills deer fine. I used that load to take a doe at 112 laser measured yards. reflex264

You have the FA already (which happens to be on my bucket list). Beautiful gun and accurate as all heck.

I will recommend that you load it down as well. Just because it can be loaded up to the point where you could hunt a rhino does not mean you have to. The 454 can be downloaded as well as any other cartridge and get you to a point where you are comfortable with the recoil but don't have to give up your FA.

Mad Dog, you've always wanted a FA so don't give up on it just down load. I'm 64 years old and shoot .45 Colt through my .454
all the time and wouldn't hesitate to take deer or black bear size game with the following loads. Try these before you sell the FA. In my 5.5" FA with 10.0 grains of Unique and a 300 gr. LFNGC I'm getting 1030 fp. with a spread of only 28 fp. In my S&W 625 with a 4' barrel and 13.0 of HS6 with the same bullet I'm getting 918 fp. Recoil is very mild compared to full .454 loads and I have no problem shooting .45 colts through my .454 just clean the cylinder good. Really hate to see you give up on the Freedom Arms.

I did the same several years ago.
But I kinda wished I kept it and loaded warm 45LC thru it.

Definitely try out a few mild loads before you decide to sell it.