I'm pleased so far with the 1854, with the caveat that I haven't taken it out the range yet, and if it shoots foot groups at 50 yards and jams, I'll change my mind about it.
It seems solid and well made. Nice and light, and handy. Excellent sights. I've not seen a gold bead front sight before, but it really does catch the light, even low light. The ghost ring in the back is excellent too - I'm no good anymore, or really ever, with leaf rear sights - can't really focus on where the front sight is in it, so the ghost is far better.
Trigger pull is excellent. I can feel 4 distinct phases - the initial take up, then a sear engagement, then a bit of movement, then solid until the break. I don't have a trigger gauge, but others on YouTube have it 3-4 pounds.
The removable tube magazine would make it easy to unload without working the action - though I don't know how often you'd use it.
The action seemed smooth, and I didn't bang my finger too much on the lever. Though it's much better with the 550 cord wrapped around it.
I like the scope rail that only covers the receiver, instead of the much longer one on the Marlin Ruger. Just a looks thing.
One reviewer on YouTube said several of the screws holding it all together were loose, so I checked all of them. Most at T20 torque bolts (the bigger ones in the reciever), with a few T15 and T10 ones too. None of the T20 ones were loose. A few of the smaller ones, like the ones for the scope mount, the front sight, and the handguard, could be tightened up. There's no torque value given for anything so I just tightened them till it seemed they torqued up and there was good resistance.
One thing that is unusual about it is the floppy trigger. Hammer up or down, the trigger isn't held in place by spring tension, so it sort of flops back and forth. It's not a big deal but it's something I've not seen before on a firearm.
I set mine up with a leather shell carrier off Amazon. Lots of them list 308 and 30/06 shells, and those are about the same size in the main case as a .44. So any of those will work. I bought a buffalo hide slide off Amazon too - a model I'd bought before and works and looks nice. I had some old QD sling mounts in a drawer and used those.
It has M-loc slots at the 3, 6, and 9 O'clock positions, but be aware that they are very short, and a 5 slot Magpul rail won't fit in it. Which I found out after buying one. So I ordered a 3 slot model and will see if that fits.
I also bought a Hughes Precision crossover to use with .578" x 28 TPI muzzle devices and cans, and it works well. Cost like 20 bucks or so. I also got one of their muzzle brakes, threaded for the same 11/16" pattern as the rifle comes with, and it looks good on it. I'll see how much it reduces recoil when I fire it, and what the rifle sounds like with .44 Special subs.
I paid $1180 for it on GB, which seems to be about the going rate you can find pretty easily, along with lots of $1500 ones too.
The instruction manual talks about the .357 and .45 Colt version of it, and what ammo to use for those. So it looks like S&W will be selling versions in those caliber as well, and just went ahead and included that info in the manual, to be able to print up one version and have with all the models.