Well, I survived my outing with the .475 Linebaugh BFR.
I used a bicycle glove because I didn't know what to expect. It would have been fine without the glove for limited shooting, but it was nice to have after the first 20-30 rounds.
Recoil was stiff, but not as bad as I expected.
The range had a firing rate rule of two seconds between shots. While it wasn't like an automatic where it is hard to slow it down that much, I still had to wait for a second between shots.
The accuracy was not that great, but I blame myself. The trigger pull was a bit stiff and I think that threw me off. I tried dry firing it later with one leg of the trigger spring hanging free and that made the trigger feel much better. I'll have to try that at the range next time.
I had three different types of ammo, all from Hornady. 325 grain, 1350 fps .480 Ruger, 400 grain, 1275 fps .480 Ruger and 400 grain, 1300 fps .475 Linebaugh. The 325 grain was definitely the lightest recoiling, but the 400 grain loads were a toss up. That tells me that the Linebaugh probably has quite a bit more potential than the Hornady ammo. (velocity was from the box, I did not test it)
I did have a little ejection difficulty with the 400 grain loads. Most of the shells dropped out fine, but one or two of the cylinders would take a little persuasion, the shell would come out about 1/8" then stick. I'm going to have to get a small hole bore gauge set to see if those cylinders are bored a bit too large.
Over all, the gun functioned flawlessly, no misfires, no loose screws. The quality of the machining looked good. There are a couple of surfaces that were left as cast, but you can't see it unless you pull the cylinder out. The cylinder had very little play to it and the gap to the barrel was very small. As others have noted, the 6 1/2" barrel actually measures about 7 1/8", I may change that later, but for now it's fine.
My only complaint is the grips. They are made for a super Blackhawk grip frame and the BFR has a different shape trigger guard, so it does not match up well. Also, when cocking the hammer one handed, the pressure on the side of the middle finger against the grip did create some lasting soreness. I'm sure that is common for a single action, but I think if the shape of the grip had a more gentle radius below the trigger guard, it could have been reduced.
If I can improve my accuracy with the gun to anywhere near the 2" @ 50 yards that Taffin recorded, I will be very pleased and will say that the BFR was worth every penny.
