For those too young to remember when Freedom Arms launched (not many in this forum), Dick Casull was experimenting with hell-bent 45LC overloads at the same time that old Elmer was getting the 44M into folks hands.
Where the 44M was impressive when compared with the existing commercial calibers, there were a few folks who were pushing the envelope in ways that made Elmer Keith quake in his size 6 boots (Calm down, I'm actually a big fan of Keith, I'm just trying for a new level of hyperbole appropriate to the topic).
The one real success to make it over the horizon was the 454 Casull. Dick Casull started serious development on the round in 1957, and it was introduced to the world in 1959. For the next 24 years you could get a custom modified SAA or Blackhawk with an oversize 5 shot cylinder that would launch a 335gr bullet at 1600 fps.
Dick Casull spent a few years building capital by selling those silly little mini-revolvers, and then in 1983 started selling the FA 454 Casull revolver - The first "Commercially available" revolver capable of shooting a steady diet of these monstrosities. FA decided to follow a suicidal quality commitment: The gun will cost whatever it has to, to make it as good as it can be made. There was a famous test where a 454 case was filled with Bullseye and a slug was hammered in over it and then it was crimped solid and shot in an FA. Nothing interesting happened.
Some idiot shot himself in the foot yanking an FA out of a holster, and successfully sued FA for all the loose change that could be shaken out, nearly sinking the company, but they continue to chug along, and you can order a model 83 revolver in any configuration that you can describe, if your pockets are deep enough. FA's are a tremendous bargain on the used market.
