FREEDOM ARMS MODEL 1997 .45 COLT/.45 ACP

...JOHN TAFFIN

Good things definitely come to those that wait. Patiently. After fourteen years of producing the premium single action sixgun of all times, the .454 Casull revolver, also available in .44 Magnum, .357 Magnum, and .50 AE, Freedom Arms introduced their "90% gun", the smaller, and thus easier packin', easier shooting Model 97. The first guns offered, of what came to be known as the Mid-Frame, were true sixguns with six- shot cylinders in .357 Magnum and offered with either fixed or adjustable sights and with 5 1/2" or 7 1/2" barrels.

As soon as the .357 Magnum arrived, we all began trying to guess what the next chambering would be. A .32-20? Maybe .44 Special? Dare we even hope for a .45 Colt? Well the next chambering is now available and it is a five-shot .45 Colt. The most compact single action .45 Colt ever factory produced. For 125 years the Colt Single Action Army in .45 Colt has been the best balanced sixgun ever offered to the single action sixgunners. The .45 Colt Model 97 from Freedom Arms is one ounce lighter than a 5 1/2" Colt SAA at 38 ounces, two ounces lighter than the same barrel length in the Colt New Frontier. It also has the same natural feel and pointability as the Colt. There all similarity ceases. The grip shape of the M97 is longer and straighter than the Colt SAA and could easily be argued to be an improvement over the finest grip shape ever devised, or discovered, by man.

With its light weight, the Model 97 does exhibit some recoil with 255 grain bullets at 1,000+ fps, and although it is not an ancestor jarring nor even unpleasant recoil, it is one that takes its toll when hundreds of rounds are fired in one session. Nothing like the same amount of .454's full house style from the large framed Model 83, but enough to leave some soreness in the shooting hand.

The Model 97 is a thoroughly modern sixgun made of stainless steel, factory custom hand fitted parts, extremely close tolerances, and having a modern action with a transfer bar. Unlike the Model 83 which has a safety that must be engaged by placing the hammer in the safety notch, the Model 97 has an automatic safety that places a bar of steel between the hammer and the firing pin when it is lowered.

Personally, I never put my trust in a sixgun with a safety that must be engaged but rather always carry such a sixgun with an empty chamber under the hammer. This includes the Colt SAA, all replicas, Ruger Flat-Tops and Old Models, and the full size Freedom Arms Model 83. Out of habit, and even though it is equipped with a transfer bar safety that engages automatically, I usually carry the Ruger New Model with an empty under the hammer also. The five-shot Model 97 45 Colt will be safe to carry fully loaded with a round under the chamber but old habits are hard to break for this sixgunner.

By the way, every single action including the Freedom Arms Models should always have the hammer fully cocked and then carefully lowered. If the hammer is lowered from the half cock notch, it is easy to lock up the action and put the sixgun out of commission temporarily.

The Mid-Frame Model 97 revolver adheres to the same high quality with the same painstaking attention to detail and the same precision found in the Freedom Arms full size five-shot sixguns. Model 97 .45 Colt barrels are exactly the same stock as used on the full-sized Model 83. Each gun is made of stainless steel, cylinders and barrels are line- bored, that is, the cylinder is locked in the frame and chambered while it is in what will ultimately be the firing position.

Size wise I compared the Freedom Arms Model 97 .45 Colt with three other .45 sixguns, A Third Generation Colt New Frontier, an Old Model Ruger .45 Blackhawk, and the Freedom Arms Model 83 .454 Casull. Using the Hornady Digital Caliper, I came up with the following measurements:

A check with the calculator shows that the cylinder wall thickness of the .45 Colt Mid-Frame is about 50% that of the Model 83 .454 Casull, 70% of the Old Model Ruger, and 92% of the Colt Single Action.

The .45 Mid-Frame sixgun is slightly smaller than a Colt Single Action, quite a bit smaller where it counts than the Ruger OM .45 Colt and Freedom Arms .454 Casull. It is a standard sized sixgun for standard loads. The .45 Colt Mid-Frame Freedom Arms revolver with its five-shot cylinder allows more metal between chambers, almost 90% more than a Colt Single Action and, unlike the Colt with its near paper thin walls, the Freedom Arms Model 97 has the cylinder bolt slots between the chambers rather than underneath them exactly as on the Large-Framed Freedom Arms revolvers. To my sixgunning experience this says the Freedom Arms Model 97 .45 Colt Mid-Frame is stronger than a Colt Single Action or New Frontier but, nowhere near, certainly not in the bank vault strength area of the original Freedom Arms M83 .454 Casull.

Its five-shot cylinder, may, only may mind you, make the Model 97 as strong as the Ruger .45 Blackhawk, however, I have no intention of using the heavy .45 Colt loads tailored for the Ruger in the Freedom Arms Model 83. My max loads for the .45 Blackhawk are 300 grain hard cast bullets at 1100-1200 fps; for the Model 97 I will stay with 255 grain bullets at around 1,050 fps. Nothing scientific, just fly-by-the- seat-of-my-pants experience. None of my 300 grain loads will fit the short cylinder, 93% as long as the Ruger, of the Model 97. When bullets are seated properly they protrude through the front face of the cylinder preventing cylinder rotation.

My favorite single action, my favorite sixgun in fact, is a .44 or .45 with a 7 1/2" barrel. I started with a pair of 7 1/2" Colt SAA's in Fast Draw as a teenager and the love of this style sixgun has stayed with me and simply grown stronger and more dedicated over the years. When I was informed by Freedom Arms that the .45 Colt version of the Model 97 was to be available, I could have easily opted for the 7 1/2" length. I did not. A small sixgun as big bores go, the cylinder diameter is smaller than a Colt Single Action Army by .075", this is a sixgun that would carry easily in a shoulder holster on a weekend camping or fishing excursion. It is light enough to be welcome on a hiking trip. My wife is the fisherman in the family and she could very easily pack this sixgun for several days in comfort. This is a sixgun for enjoyable times. For plinking with the kids and grandkids, hiking in the Idaho mountains and forests, close range varminting, and if the chance presented itself, a deer at close range. Very close range. An awful lot of game such as coyotes, deer, and black bear, have been taken with the standard .45 Colt load including the old original black powder loading. The Freedom Arms Model 97 is right at home with this type of load, namely a 255 grain bullet at 800 to 1,000 fps.

To maintain its easy packin' qualities, I went with a 5 1/2" barrel and to complete the picture ordered adjustable sights and black micarta grips. As with all Freedom Arms revolvers, the Model 97 is all steel, stainless steel. The right side of the frame is marked in two lines with "FREEDOM ARMS" and "PREMIER GRADE". One the left side of the barrel one finds two lines signifying "FREEDOM ARMS MODEL 1997 .45 COLT" and "FREEDOM, WYOMING U.S.A." There are no lawyer driven warning labels.

The Model 97 is made even more versatile with the addition of the .45 ACP cylinder allowing a whole range of target and defensive loads being employed. With its interchangeable front sight system on the adjustable sighted models, if necessary, the height of the front blade can be easily changed as one goes from 185 grain jacketed hollow point .45 ACP's to 260 grain hard cast .45 Colt loads.

The size of the Mid-Frame Model 97 .45 Colt with adjustable sights allows it to adapted to leather made for the Colt Single Action Army or Ruger Vaquero. I have been using two fine pieces of leather for carrying the Freedom Arms Model 97 .45 Colt. A Tom Threepersons holster from Jake Fillmore made for the 5 1/2" Colt Single Action Army and a cross draw rig for the Vaquero by Terry Tucker. Both are excellent examples of the leathermakers art and fill the bill quite nicely.

I am not one who prefers a light trigger pull on any sixgun or rifle and the trigger pull on the Model 97 measures out at 3 1/2 pounds on my RCBS Premium Trigger Pull Scale. This is just about perfect for a single action workin' sixgun. The action is smooth, the cylinder locks up tightly, with almost no movement of the cylinder either fore and aft or side-to-side. The barrel/cylinder gap is almost imperceptible, and the entire sixgun is closely fitted. Just what we have come to expect from Freedom Arms.

Double action sixguns chambered for the .45 ACP round are recommended to be used with full or half moon clips for reliable ignition and the best possible accuracy. A single action sixgun such as the Model 97 can not accept the cylinder clips designed for use in the World War I era Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers chambered for the .45 ACP way back in 1917. Instead, the ledge at the front edge of the cylinder catches the mouth of the rimless .45ACP case and provides the headspace. All .45 ACP rounds used in testing the Model 97 with the auxiliary cylinder in place functioned perfectly except misfires occurred with Cor-Bon's 165 grain Plus P Jacketed Hollow Points. A call to friend Terry Murbach at Cor-Bon confirmed that the 165's did have a kiss of a crimp and this was causing the problem in the Model 97 ACP cylinder.

The Model 97 was tested thoroughly with both .45 Colt and .45 ACP loads, both factory and handloads, with more of the latter in the .45 Colt and more of the former in the ACP cylinder. Excellent groups abound with both cylinders and using both iron sights and a Leupold LER 4 power scope mounted with an SSK base and rings. The rear sight assembly of the Model 97 removes easily by loosening two screws. It is then lifted out of its recess in the top of the frame revealing three drilled and tapped holes, the SSK mount is put in its place and snugged down. I am a slow typist to be sure, however, it takes less time to do all of this then for me to type it. The rear sight assembly and scope mount capability of the Model 97, as the Model 83, are both very reliable as the sights fit in, not on the top of the frame.

Favorite loads for the Model 97 .45 Colt style definitely include Hodgdon's H4227 and 250 grain bullets. With RCBS's 45-250FN, a deadringer for the original .45 Colt bullet of the 1870's, or Oregon Trail's 255 SWC and 20.0 grains of H4227, muzzle velocity is 1,000 fps and group size is right at one-inch at a distance of 25 yards. With the 4X Leupold in place, groups under one-inch at 25 yards were commonplace. Complete results are in the accompanying table.

Every sixgun seems to come with a certain amount of built-in frustration just to keep everything interesting. This Model 97 was no exception. I tried several powder combinations using 255 grain SWC machine cast bullets and none would work until I got to the above mentioned load of Oregon Trail's 255 grain bullet over 20 grains of H4227. This powder has never failed me in the .45 Colt. When all else fails reach for H4227. If the gun doesn't shoot with 18.5 to 20 grains of H4227 and a 255 grain bullet, it never will work with anything.

Switching to the .45 ACP cylinder, again all loads being fired both with the adjustable sights and Leupold 4X scope in play, showed this .45/.45ACP sixgun to be no slouch in the little brother department. With Winchester's 185 grain FMC Match, four shots cut one ragged little hole at 25 yards that measured 3/8". From a revolver. A single action revolver. Without moon clips. Again, all test results using the .45ACP cylinder are in the accompanying table.

All groups are four shots at 25 yards. Leupold 4X Long Eye Relief Scope used for shooting scoped groups.

Freedom Arms has another winner in the Model 97 five-shot .45 Colt. In 1997 we were presented with the first Model 97 in a six-shot .357 Magnum. For 1999 it it is the five-shot .45 Colt, and 2000 brings the .41 Magnum. I am hoping for a .32-20, or even better a new cartridge, the .32 Freedom Arms with a full Magnum length straight- walled case instead of the tapered .32-20 or too short .32 H&R Magnum, followed by the .44 Special.