The Magnum Research BFR: Frame Sizes, Calibers & the .45-70

The Magnum Research BFR: One Revolver, Two Frames, and Just About Every Big Cartridge Made

If you've spent any time around big-bore wheelguns, you know the Magnum Research BFR. The letters stand for Biggest, Finest Revolver, and it wore the “Big Frame Revolver” name for a stretch too, which fits just as well. It's a single-action, all-stainless revolver built right here in the USA, and it's about as stout as a handgun gets, which it has to be, because it does something almost nothing else on the market will: chamber everything from heavy handgun rounds to full-on rifle cartridges.

I build a lot of leather for these guns, and I carry a couple myself. I've got a short-cylinder 5" .44 Magnum (a six-shooter) and a long-cylinder 7.5" .45-70 (a five-shot), so there's one of each frame sitting in my own safe. That's a big part of why folks ask me about them all the time. And the first thing worth understanding is that the BFR isn't really one revolver: it comes in two frames, and which one you want depends entirely on what you plan to feed it.

The Two Frames: Short Cylinder vs. Long Cylinder

This is the part most folks trip over, so here's the plain version. The BFR is offered with two different cylinder lengths:

• Short Cylinder: built for traditional big-bore handgun cartridges.
• Long Cylinder: stretched to swallow the longest magnum rounds and rifle cartridges that won't fit in a normal revolver.

That long-cylinder trick is the BFR's whole claim to fame. A revolver that shoots .45-70? That's this gun. And here's a detail that surprises people: the smaller calibers hold six (my .44 Magnum is a six-shooter), while the big bruisers (the .45-70, the .500s, and the like) run five.

Short Cylinder Cartridges

The short-cylinder BFR runs the heavy-hitting revolver rounds you'd expect from a gun this size:

• .454 Casull
• .480 Ruger / .475 Linebaugh
• .500 JRH
• .500 Linebaugh
• .44 Magnum
• .357 Magnum

The short-cylinder guns are also the only ones offered in the handier 5" and 6.5" barrels, if you want something a little easier to pack. (My .44 Magnum is a 5-incher: a handy, hard-hitting woods gun.)

Long Cylinder Cartridges

The long cylinder is where the BFR gets wild. It stretches to fit the longest S&W magnums and honest-to-goodness rifle and lever-gun cartridges:

• .45-70 Government
• .450 Marlin
• .444 Marlin
• .30-30 Winchester
• .350 Legend
• .360 Buckhammer
• .460 S&W Magnum
• .500 S&W Magnum
• .45 Long Colt / .410

Here's a neat piece of trivia: the .45-70 and .450 Marlin share the same bore, so a single BFR can shoot both. You just swap out the cylinder to switch between them. It's two cylinders for one gun, not both rounds fired from the same cylinder.

Long-frame guns come in 7.5" and 10" barrels. Either way, these are big, heavy revolvers (roughly 3.7 to 5.3 pounds depending on the model), and that weight is your friend when you touch off a full-house load.

One thing worth noting: everything above is Magnum Research's standard catalog lineup. Their custom shop will build a BFR in other chamberings and barrel lengths beyond this list, so if you've got a one-off gun in an oddball caliber or a barrel you don't see here, don't sweat it. That's exactly the kind of gun I make leather for.

The .45-70: The One I Sell the Most Leather For

Out of all of them, the .45-70 Government is the one people ask me about most, and it's the BFR I build the most holsters for. It makes sense. The .45-70 has been dropping big game on this continent since 1873, and having it in a revolver you can wear on your chest (instead of a rifle slung over your shoulder) is a genuinely practical thing for a hunter or a backcountry guide. It'll handle elk, moose, big bear, even African plains game, and let's be honest, there's just something right about a .45-70 wheelgun.

My own is the 7.5" .45-70, so I'm not just selling you on it. It's the one I'd reach for myself. If you're buying your first BFR and you want the one that does the most, that long-cylinder .45-70 is hard to beat. That's the direction I'd point most folks.

Why a BFR Wants a Chest Holster

Here's where I come in. A BFR is a heavy, long revolver. Carry one on your hip in the backcountry and it'll beat your leg up, snag on brush, and fight your pack belt all day. A chest holster fixes all of that: it carries the weight up on your chest, out from under a pack, and keeps the gun where your hand can find it fast.

I build a lot of BFR rigs, and I've got the molds to fit them right: short cylinder or long, with barrels out to 10". My Draekan Leather Chest Holster is the one most BFR owners go for; if you'd rather ride on the hip, the Outdoorsman Hip Holster is cut for big wheelguns like this too. Either way it's wet-molded to your exact gun, because a revolver this special deserves leather that actually fits it.

Carrying a .45-70, or one of the big S&W magnums, into the high country? Head to my Custom Draekan Chest Holster page, pick your BFR from the model dropdown, and I'll build it for your gun. Running an odd barrel length or a wildcat chambering? Reach out to me directly first. Those take a little extra to get right, and I want to make sure it fits perfectly.

Bottom Line

The Magnum Research BFR is one of the most versatile big-bore revolvers ever built. Pick the short cylinder for classic magnum punch, the long cylinder for rifle-cartridge reach, and the .45-70 if you want the one that does just about everything. It's a serious gun, and it earns serious leather. Whatever you land on, I'll have the rig to carry it.