mikeyp
NES Member
In the "F-U" category of revolvers
I believe that every family needs a cool cousin who lives life to the fullest. In our family, it's Cousin Steve. He's built a monster truck, hand-stitched his own mountain man buckskin clothing and is currently cobbling together a black-powder 4-Bore rifle (it will fire a 1.05" diameter lead ball that weighs a quarter pound, just in case you were wondering). In his youth, he set out to own the most powerful handgun he could find, which ended up being a bolt-action Remington 700 pistol chambered in .458 Win. Mag. Needless to say, I look forward to our conversations.
A few months ago, Steve and I were enjoying plates of barbecue at a family dinner when the subject of discussion turned to the venerable .45-70 Gov't. cartridge. He mentioned that a friend of his had an American Derringer M-4 Alaskan Survival model chambered in .45-70 Gov't. that produces a level of felt recoil which takes one's breath away. I said I hadn't shot anything that small, but I did like shooting the 7.5" barrel Magnum Research .45-70 Gov't. BFR. It can be a handful, but it's certainly much more pleasant to work with than a derringer.
Then came that magical phrase (I can't remember who said it for sure) from which so many great ideas have been born, "Wouldn't it be cool ..." which was followed by, "if you could try firing .45-70 Gov't. out of a snub nose revolver to see how it performs?" We instantly warmed to the idea, since both of us like big-bore handguns, and neither of us had ever seen a short-barrel revolver in this caliber before.
Then came that magical phrase (I can't remember who said it for sure) from which so many great ideas have been born, "Wouldn't it be cool ..." which was followed by, "if you could try firing .45-70 Gov't. out of a snub nose revolver to see how it performs?" We instantly warmed to the idea, since both of us like big-bore handguns, and neither of us had ever seen a short-barrel revolver in this caliber before.
Soon after this conversation, I gave Jim Tertin at Magnum Research a call. About 20 years ago, the company purchased the rights to the D-Max revolver, which the BFR (Big-Frame Revolver) is based on. Jim was the one who redesigned it for production. I learned two things from the phone call. First, they will trim a 10.5" or 7.5" BFR barrel down to just 3" if you're willing to sacrifice the ejector assembly (which is 5.5" long). They had done it before for other customers and a 3" barrel is the same length as the cylinder, so the proportions work out nicely.
The second thing Jim told me is that we didn't have to hash through all of the various custom features over the phone like we used to. Instead, Magnum Research now has the custombfrrevolver.com website. It provides a menu of features for both the short- and long-cylinder models and starts you off with a basic model, like this one:
As you pick the features you want, the site modifies the image to show you what the gun will look like when it's finished. What some folks don't know is that every BFR revolver that leaves the factory is a product of the company's custom shop. Although you can order 'stock' models with a set of predetermined features, any model, new or used, can be modified with a variety of finishes and features. The website just makes it easier to explore them. A few options are not listed on the website and have to be ordered 'off the menu' (more on that later).
Just to show you how different a custom BFR can be, here's a standard, off-the-rack 7.5" barrel long cylinder BFR (TOP) next to the 3" 'Thunder Snub' ordered for this review.
The BFR is a 5-shot, single-action revolver with a transfer bar safety and a frame-mounted firing pin. This allows it to be carried with all of the chambers loaded. Opening the loading gate allows the cylinder to turn freely in either direction for easy loading and unloading. In this case, the extractor rod is not mounted to the gun, but the port for it has been left on the frame to act as a guide hole. The top strap is drilled and tapped for a scope mount.
The custom BFR site menu starts you off with your choice of a short frame or long frame. The .45-70 Gov't. version is a long-frame model. Although BFRs have only been available in a brushed stainless-steel finish in the past, the company now also offers black-nitride and color case-hardened finishes for the cylinder and grip frames to spice things up. I opted to stick with the all-stainless appearance.
Barrels in various lengths are available in round, fluted and octagonal profiles. I thought the octagonal looked sharp and would look particularly good at a short length. The cylinder can be unfluted, fluted or pentagonal (five flats), with a choice of silver, black and black-nitride finishes. This revolver has the pentagonal cylinder.
The grip frame for this gun is the Bisley grip with smooth, black micarta grip panels instead of the rubber plowshare grip frame. With hard-kicking handguns, a lot of folks think the rubber grip will cushion the recoil better. I prefer rubber grips for many applications, but not this one. When a handgun kicks this hard, the smooth, hard grips and the curved shape of the Bisley frame allow the gun roll up and back in your hands. Thus the recoil moves in an arc instead of being driven straight back into the tender wrist joint.
You'll notice that there's no trigger job or trigger upgrade on the menu. That's because every BFR is shipped with a tuned trigger. This BFR trigger was smooth and clean with a 3-lbs., 1-oz. trigger pull. The fully adjustable rear sight and the fixed-blade front sight are standard features, although the front sight can be replaced with a fiber-optic tube if you so choose. The hammer was shipped with a 28-lb. spring to ensure proper ignition with a variety of cartridges.
Depending on which caliber you choose, an extra cylinder in another caliber can be added. For the .45-70 Gov't, cylinders are available chambered in 450 Marlin, .458 SOCOM and .45-90 Win. I did order a second unfluted cylinder, but that's a story for another day. I also checked in with the good folks at Simply Rugged Holsters to request a custom Sourdough Pancake leather holster and a 5-round cartridge slide for the company’s comfortable Chesty Puller rig. It’s one of the most practical ways to carry a handgun this size and weight.
What features had to be ordered off the menu? The most noticeable change is the 3" barrel. Shortening the barrel beyond a standard length adds $50 to the cost of the project. I also wanted some custom engraving on the frame with '.45-70 Gov't.' on the right side and '.45-70 Thunder Snub' on the left. The cost of engraving is worked out on a case-by case basis, depending on the number of characters and location on the gun.
I had a good idea of what to expect from what I saw on the BFR website, but the finished gun is even better than I hoped for. The octagonal barrel and 5-side cylinder look great together and the Bisley grip adds to the unique profile. The fit and finish throughout are top notch and the frame engraving provides the tasteful final touch I was looking for. The nips and tucks to the barrel and cylinder give the Thunder Snub a svelte unloaded weight of just 3-lbs. 6.7-oz. The loaded weight goes up by another 7- to 9-oz., depending on bullet weight of the cartridges it's stoked with. It ran flawlessly at the range with no mechanical issues.
An Official Journal Of The NRA | Review: Magnum Research 'Thunder Snub' BFR In .45-70 Gov't.
A snub-nose revolver chambered in .45-70 Gov't.? Is such a thing possible? With Magnum Research's customizable BFR line, it is. Check out our results here.
www.americanrifleman.org
I believe that every family needs a cool cousin who lives life to the fullest. In our family, it's Cousin Steve. He's built a monster truck, hand-stitched his own mountain man buckskin clothing and is currently cobbling together a black-powder 4-Bore rifle (it will fire a 1.05" diameter lead ball that weighs a quarter pound, just in case you were wondering). In his youth, he set out to own the most powerful handgun he could find, which ended up being a bolt-action Remington 700 pistol chambered in .458 Win. Mag. Needless to say, I look forward to our conversations.
A few months ago, Steve and I were enjoying plates of barbecue at a family dinner when the subject of discussion turned to the venerable .45-70 Gov't. cartridge. He mentioned that a friend of his had an American Derringer M-4 Alaskan Survival model chambered in .45-70 Gov't. that produces a level of felt recoil which takes one's breath away. I said I hadn't shot anything that small, but I did like shooting the 7.5" barrel Magnum Research .45-70 Gov't. BFR. It can be a handful, but it's certainly much more pleasant to work with than a derringer.
Then came that magical phrase (I can't remember who said it for sure) from which so many great ideas have been born, "Wouldn't it be cool ..." which was followed by, "if you could try firing .45-70 Gov't. out of a snub nose revolver to see how it performs?" We instantly warmed to the idea, since both of us like big-bore handguns, and neither of us had ever seen a short-barrel revolver in this caliber before.
Then came that magical phrase (I can't remember who said it for sure) from which so many great ideas have been born, "Wouldn't it be cool ..." which was followed by, "if you could try firing .45-70 Gov't. out of a snub nose revolver to see how it performs?" We instantly warmed to the idea, since both of us like big-bore handguns, and neither of us had ever seen a short-barrel revolver in this caliber before.
Soon after this conversation, I gave Jim Tertin at Magnum Research a call. About 20 years ago, the company purchased the rights to the D-Max revolver, which the BFR (Big-Frame Revolver) is based on. Jim was the one who redesigned it for production. I learned two things from the phone call. First, they will trim a 10.5" or 7.5" BFR barrel down to just 3" if you're willing to sacrifice the ejector assembly (which is 5.5" long). They had done it before for other customers and a 3" barrel is the same length as the cylinder, so the proportions work out nicely.
The second thing Jim told me is that we didn't have to hash through all of the various custom features over the phone like we used to. Instead, Magnum Research now has the custombfrrevolver.com website. It provides a menu of features for both the short- and long-cylinder models and starts you off with a basic model, like this one:
As you pick the features you want, the site modifies the image to show you what the gun will look like when it's finished. What some folks don't know is that every BFR revolver that leaves the factory is a product of the company's custom shop. Although you can order 'stock' models with a set of predetermined features, any model, new or used, can be modified with a variety of finishes and features. The website just makes it easier to explore them. A few options are not listed on the website and have to be ordered 'off the menu' (more on that later).
Just to show you how different a custom BFR can be, here's a standard, off-the-rack 7.5" barrel long cylinder BFR (TOP) next to the 3" 'Thunder Snub' ordered for this review.
The BFR is a 5-shot, single-action revolver with a transfer bar safety and a frame-mounted firing pin. This allows it to be carried with all of the chambers loaded. Opening the loading gate allows the cylinder to turn freely in either direction for easy loading and unloading. In this case, the extractor rod is not mounted to the gun, but the port for it has been left on the frame to act as a guide hole. The top strap is drilled and tapped for a scope mount.
The custom BFR site menu starts you off with your choice of a short frame or long frame. The .45-70 Gov't. version is a long-frame model. Although BFRs have only been available in a brushed stainless-steel finish in the past, the company now also offers black-nitride and color case-hardened finishes for the cylinder and grip frames to spice things up. I opted to stick with the all-stainless appearance.
Barrels in various lengths are available in round, fluted and octagonal profiles. I thought the octagonal looked sharp and would look particularly good at a short length. The cylinder can be unfluted, fluted or pentagonal (five flats), with a choice of silver, black and black-nitride finishes. This revolver has the pentagonal cylinder.
The grip frame for this gun is the Bisley grip with smooth, black micarta grip panels instead of the rubber plowshare grip frame. With hard-kicking handguns, a lot of folks think the rubber grip will cushion the recoil better. I prefer rubber grips for many applications, but not this one. When a handgun kicks this hard, the smooth, hard grips and the curved shape of the Bisley frame allow the gun roll up and back in your hands. Thus the recoil moves in an arc instead of being driven straight back into the tender wrist joint.
You'll notice that there's no trigger job or trigger upgrade on the menu. That's because every BFR is shipped with a tuned trigger. This BFR trigger was smooth and clean with a 3-lbs., 1-oz. trigger pull. The fully adjustable rear sight and the fixed-blade front sight are standard features, although the front sight can be replaced with a fiber-optic tube if you so choose. The hammer was shipped with a 28-lb. spring to ensure proper ignition with a variety of cartridges.
Depending on which caliber you choose, an extra cylinder in another caliber can be added. For the .45-70 Gov't, cylinders are available chambered in 450 Marlin, .458 SOCOM and .45-90 Win. I did order a second unfluted cylinder, but that's a story for another day. I also checked in with the good folks at Simply Rugged Holsters to request a custom Sourdough Pancake leather holster and a 5-round cartridge slide for the company’s comfortable Chesty Puller rig. It’s one of the most practical ways to carry a handgun this size and weight.
What features had to be ordered off the menu? The most noticeable change is the 3" barrel. Shortening the barrel beyond a standard length adds $50 to the cost of the project. I also wanted some custom engraving on the frame with '.45-70 Gov't.' on the right side and '.45-70 Thunder Snub' on the left. The cost of engraving is worked out on a case-by case basis, depending on the number of characters and location on the gun.
I had a good idea of what to expect from what I saw on the BFR website, but the finished gun is even better than I hoped for. The octagonal barrel and 5-side cylinder look great together and the Bisley grip adds to the unique profile. The fit and finish throughout are top notch and the frame engraving provides the tasteful final touch I was looking for. The nips and tucks to the barrel and cylinder give the Thunder Snub a svelte unloaded weight of just 3-lbs. 6.7-oz. The loaded weight goes up by another 7- to 9-oz., depending on bullet weight of the cartridges it's stoked with. It ran flawlessly at the range with no mechanical issues.
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