Revolver Review: Freedom Arms' Model 97 Custom Engraved
- 2 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Some guns are built to be used. Some are built to be admired. And then, every once in a while, someone commissions a gun that is meant to do both.
This custom engraved Freedom Arms Model 97 in .45 Colt is that kind of gun. A 3.5-inch barreled, round-butt, five-shot single action with full coverage scroll engraving on a platform that was already, before anyone touched it with a chisel, one of the most precisely built production revolvers in the world.
--
The Foundation: Freedom Arms Model 97
If you are not familiar with Freedom Arms, here is what you need to know. They are a small outfit in Freedom, Wyoming, and they have been building what many consider the finest single-action revolvers available since 1983. The original Model 83, chambered in .454 Casull, put them on the map. The Model 97, introduced in 1997, scaled the platform down by roughly 10 percent, creating what John Taffin famously called the "Perfect Packin' Pistol." It is a mid-frame single action built entirely of stainless steel, with hand-fitted parts, tolerances that rival custom shop work from any era, and a transfer bar safety mounted in the hammer that allows all five chambers to be safely loaded.
The .45 Colt chambering in the Model 97 is a five-shot configuration, and there is a reason for that. The five-shot cylinder allows significantly more metal between chambers than a traditional six-shot Colt SAA, roughly 90 percent more by some calculations, with the cylinder bolt slots cut between chambers rather than beneath them. The result is a .45 Colt revolver that is stronger than a Colt Single Action Army, strong enough to handle the hotter factory loads from makers like Buffalo Bore, and built with the kind of barrel-to-cylinder gap that makes other revolvers look like they were assembled by feel.
Every Model 97 ships from the factory having been test fired and targeted. These are not mass-produced guns. They are essentially bespoke revolvers that happen to have a model number.
This Particular Gun
What we have here is a Model 97 Premier Grade in .45 Colt with a 3.5-inch round barrel, non-fluted cylinder, round-butt grip frame, tan Micarta wood grips by Freedom Arms, adjustable rear sight, and an action job from the factory. The 3.5-inch barrel is a custom option that turns the already compact Model 97 into a true carry revolver, short enough to ride comfortably on the hip all day without the bulk that longer barrels inevitably add. Freedom Arms developed a clever shortened ejector rod assembly for this barrel length that swings out around the cylinder base pin, keeping the gun fully functional despite the reduced real estate.
And then there is the engraving.
The scroll work on this revolver is extensive. Full coverage American scroll engraving flows across the frame, barrel housing, trigger guard, grip frame, and loading gate area, with the kind of density and consistency that only comes from skilled hand work. The scrolls are tight, organic, and deeply cut, with traditional floral and vine motifs that complement rather than compete with the brushed stainless surfaces. The non-fluted cylinder is also generously engraved, providing a complete picture wherever you look.
The tan Micarta grips are a particularly thoughtful pairing. A darker wood or an aggressive checkered grip would fight the engraving for attention. These grips, with their warm, muted tone and subtle grain, sit quietly against the scroll work and let the metalwork speak. The round-butt profile softens the overall silhouette and gives the revolver an elegant, almost bird's-head proportion that suits the compact barrel length perfectly.
More Than Decoration
It would be easy to look at a gun like this and assume it is a safe queen. Something to be displayed and never fired. But that would be a misunderstanding of both the platform and the intent. The Model 97 underneath all that engraving is still a Freedom Arms revolver, which means it still locks up like a bank vault, still carries the same hand-fitted internals and wire-tight tolerances, and still shoots with the kind of accuracy that has made the platform legendary. Reviewers have consistently put the Model 97 into sub-2-inch groups at 25 yards with factory ammunition, even from short barrels with iron sights. The action job on this particular gun would only improve on that.
The .45 Colt chambering makes it a practical field revolver as well. With the right load, this is a gun that can handle everything from casual range work to backcountry carry, handgun hunting at reasonable distances, or simply the quiet satisfaction of owning something that was made the way things used to be made, by people who still care about getting it right.
The Bigger Picture
Custom engraved revolvers have a long and storied tradition in American gunmaking. But the guns that carry that engraving have not always deserved it. You see scroll work on mediocre firearms all the time, and it never quite sits right. The engraving asks you to look closely, and when you do, the underlying gun does not hold up its end of the bargain.
That is not the case here. The Freedom Arms Model 97 is one of the very few modern production revolvers that genuinely earns this level of embellishment. The fit, the finish, the mechanical precision, the materials, the engineering philosophy behind the design. All of it stands up to the scrutiny that ornamental engraving invites. When the scroll work tells you this is something special, you pick it up and the gun confirms it.
Final Thoughts
I keep coming back to the balance of this thing. Not the physical balance, although that is also very good, but the balance between artistry and function, between tradition and modern engineering, between a gun that looks like it belongs under glass and one that would be perfectly at home on your hip in the backcountry. This custom engraved Model 97 is not trying to be two things at once. It is simply one thing, a Freedom Arms revolver, elevated to a level that most shooters will never encounter in person. And for whoever commissioned it, that is probably exactly the point.
FREEDOM ARMS DEALERS
Shop the Model 97 Custom Engraved!
Comments