page_title: Dick Casull
section_title: Single-Action Revolvers
hierarchical_section_title: Dick Casull / Freedom Arms / Single-Action Revolvers
caption_attribution_description: English: Freedom Arms 454 Casul revolver with ivory grips
context_page_description: Richard J. "Dick" Casull was a Salt Lake City-born gunsmith and wildcat cartridge developer whose experiments with .45 Colt ammunition in the 1950s led to the creation of the .454 Casull cartridge. Casull's passion were six-shooters, and he was determined to create a high velocity round for the .45 Colt. His goal was to achieve a muzzle velocity of 2,000 feet per second with Colt .45 rounds fired from a single-action Army-style revolver with a ​7 ¹⁄₂inch barrel. This proved impossible due to the tensile strength of the Colt .45 cylinder, so he set out to develop his own casing and bullet.
  Casull began his career as a wildcat cartridge developer after having contact with Elmer Keith in the 1940s, an Idaho rancher, firearms enthusiast, and author. Keith was instrumental in the development of the first magnum revolver cartridge, the .357 Magnum, as well as the later .44 Magnum and .41 Magnum cartridges. Keith was instrumental in the development of various wildcat cartridges, a few of which were later adopted as factory rounds.
  Casull also worked with Oregon-based gunsmith P.O. Ackley, the famous wildcat cartridge developer.
context_section_description: Casull began building a number of 5-shot prototypes on Ruger Super Blackhawk frames. The Freedom Arms Model 83 single-action revolver chambered in .454 Casull was introduced in 1983. This model is still manufactured today as the Model 83.
  A number of variants upon the Model 83 have been produced, all with five-shot cylinders. The first was a .45 Colt in February 1986, followed closely by a .44 Magnum version. In 1991, Freedom Arms introduced the Model 252 in .22 long rifle and in 1992 the model 353 in .357 Magnum. In 1993 the Model 555 was introduced in .50 Action Express. .41 Magnum and .475 Linebaugh chamberings were introduced in 1997 and 1999 respectively. Freedom Arms introduced their own .500 Wyoming Express in the Model 83 .500 WE in 2005.
  The Model 97 design, with a Model 83 frame of reduced size, was introduced in 1997, originally with a six-shot .357 Magnum cylinder (.38 Special cylinder available). A five-shot .45 Colt chambering was introduced the following year, as was a five-shot .41 Magnum in 2000. Six-shot .22's are produced with .22 LR sporting and match-grade cylinders available, as well as .22 Magnum, from 2003. A five-shot .44 Special chambering came in 2004.
  The Model 2008, introduced in 2010, is a single-shot pistol with interchangeable barrels, most in rifle chamberings.
  Other gun manufacturers have since began manufacturing single-action revolvers chambered in .454 Casull.
caption: Freedom Arms M83 Revolver
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