Rugers will hold about any .45 LC cartridge you stick in 'em, unless it's a New Vaquero. Get the original model if you want to hunt black bear with heavy Colt loadings.
I think I would reco only the Ruger if you will be reloading for hunting.
For Cowboy loads, you have no problem with any of the three companies.
Except for the .45C New Vaquero, the Rugers have long enough cylinders to allow you to use heavier hard-cast bullets. Most Rugers have decent throat diameters, but some older ones were substantially less than nominal .452" diameters, forcing you to ream them to .453 or so. And some older 3rd Gen Colt New Frontiers have throats that are .455", which can be tough on accuracy. Use larger diam bullets to fit the throats, NOT the bore diameter. I use .454 bullets with .455 throats.
To reload the Colt, I buy "special" bullets which run a bit less than throat diam and nose-to-crimp distance of 0.365" or less. The F.A. bullets are about the same, but you may wish to use Beartooth Bullets of 0.310" nose to crimp distance for either the F.A. or the Colt .45 New Frontier. Talk to Marshall Stanton for technical advise. He is super. He is usually available and has taken elk with his .45C Blackhawk.
Both John Taffin and John Linebaugh have good loading data available for the .45 Colt New Frontier, if that's your caliber.
Of course, the Freedom Arms is a much stronger gun than the older Colt, but the model 97 probably should be held to lighter loads than the Rugers in general.
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