Mark Hampton and his Freedom Arms 44

Thanks for posting James! After receiving the Freedom Arms Model 83 in .44 Mag., I couldn't wait until fall hunting season to give it a spin. Early this spring Karen and I make a trip to Texas where I took a Texas dall, black Hawaiian ram, Rio Grande turkey, and hog. All game was taken with Hornady's 240 gr. XTP. The boar was not a wild hog but some of the strain our outfitter had brought to his ranch. It weighed over 400 pounds and I wanted to see how the 240 gr. XTP would perform. The boar was broadside around 50 yards when the XTP hit him just behind the shoulder. The bullet broke one rib going in, went through both shoulders, broke one rib going out, and lodged in the hide on the off side. The recovered bullet weighed 216 grs and looks almost as if it had been shot in to gelatin. Overall I'm more than pleased with the 10 inch FA and can't wait for fall hunting season.

Dang it! I try not to be jealous of other people's success but...DANG IT!!!

Those are great looking animals and a gorgeous revolver. I can't quite tell from the pictures, but is that an octagon barrel on your .44?

Wow! Impressive shooting , gun and photos of some nice trophy's.

Yes, octagon barrel.

Wow! That?s a dandy FA?s - great way to break her in, Mark.

Those 10" Freedom`s are an almost perfect hunting handgun...

nice pistol and thanks for sharing your adventure

MARK: VERY NICE. LOOKS LIKE YOU HAD AGREAT TIME.

Very nice trophies Mark. I've seen that FA 44 & it's a beauty with that Octagon barrel. Congratulations!

Dick

Beautiful trophies Mark..that boar is something special! Looks like the XTP'S worked perfectly.

Wow, another great trip. Just how bad does that 44 tear up a turkey though?

Teep, Not as bad as I anticipated.

Nice trophies. Seems people have a lot of different opinions on the 240 and 300 XTP's. Looks like they did fine for you. I have had great success using them on big whitetail deer.

Very nice. Congratulations!

Nice gun and nice shooting

Beautiful gun! great shooting,great trip!! If you don't mind me asking-what was the M.V. on those XTPs?That hog is impressive!

Hornady factory ammo 240 gr. XTP -- five shot average in FA 10 inch barrel -- 1496 fps.

Mark, I see your getting 2 1/2" MOA which about the same size group I got with my two 10" FA`s in 41 and 475.. Dick Casull told me how he shot one of his long barrel 454`s against another shooter with a 30-30 lever action at 100 and he outshot the rifle all day... All Freedom`s can shoot but there`s something special about a ten inch barrel...

James, I really like the 10 inch barrel. Someone who can shoot a revolver well could really make this FA shine.

I have also been bitten by the 10 inch F.A. bug!I pick up my new 10" .454 monday or tuesday, it takes 13 or 14 days now for the Ca. DOJ to process the background check because firearm sales megadrupled the last two months or so.

Bizzmo, That should be an excellent hunting revolver for anything on this planet. Enjoy

you keep using my gun james.please take care of it.

Is this the "Grail Gun" in the article of American Handgunner? Great article and congratulations on your successes. Many more to come I am sure!

It is the Grail gun in the article. It's off to Rob Rowen for dall sheep grips - with a dall ram I took, making it more special for me. Thanks!

And the grips take up less room than taxidermy while still keeping the memory of the trophy fresh! Since this the Grail Gun, it also requires American Bison grips, Alaskan Moose grips, Antelope horn grips, and on and on..... Best of luck to you!

Good Shooting Mark!,

A ten incher is on my wish list.

I noticed it looks like yours is Magna-ported. Whats your opinion with Magna-ports having used them? like anything else you read reviews on the internet and there are a lot of opinions, but folks with real world experince trump internet opinions!

PS just bought your book Handgun Hunting: How to Travel the World in pursute of wild game. Good Read!

ALL 5 OF MY FA MODEL 83 454's ARE MNP'ed, I REALLY THINK IT HELPS.

BBWheelgunner, Glad you enjoyed the book. I've written two since that first one -- Addicted to Altitude and Handguns in Wild Places.

Regarding Mag-Na-Port, lately I've been shooting the dual-trapezoidal porting on revolvers. I believe it does reduce some of the muzzle rise. Perhaps not as much on felt recoil but overall - I do feel it helps. I have a FA in .41 & .44 Mag. and both have Mag-Na-Port dual trapezoidal porting. You can shoot both of these guns all day without issue.

I have "Dual Traps" on most of my big revolvers. My 30/06 Encore was somewhat unruly with heavy bullet loads, so Ken Kelley recommended what he called Linebaugh Porting, which is Dual Traps with the addition of a single rifle port between the traps. Tamed it right down.

I have two FA's 8 3/8" bbls, same as my Mdl 29, and they have the rifle porting, this was 30+ years ago so the double trap may not have been thought of yet. Ken is one of the good guys for sure.