Super blackhawk bisley owners?

Status
Not open for further replies.
"For me, I much prefer the Bisley frame. I have larger hands, and the bigger grip affords more room for my palm. It just makes sense to me that when I shoot some boomer round, I want 3 fingers holding the revolver, not just 2."

It depends on how you hold them. I was taught to always curl my pinky under the grip of a SA revolver, so the standard grip works perfectly for me.

My FiL doesn't like to put his pinky under the grip, so he prefers the Bisley.

(We both have very large hands.)
 
You misunderstood my lame attempt at humor. I was thinking that at some point in degree of recoil and barrel flip you are no longer able to have a preference. I suppose with a lot of experience with such cannons, one can better appreciate the subtleties.

Sorry!
 
Really? Hijacked? I think most (but not all) people who've shot "heavy" loads with both would agree that this Bisley is a far superior grip frame for handling recoil.

BFRs are available with Bisley grip frames too. :)
And there we are, discussing whether the Bisley grip is or is not a benefit in a heavier recoil revolver. The gun the OP asked about is not listed as available in any grip except Bisley. One guy saying he doesn't like the Bisley grip, believing a plow handle is better, and we have to stop and sort that out.

See post #7
 
I really like plowhandle grips on single actions, finding them more comfortable and more natural in general. At some point (heavy .44 loads and above) they start to get away from me though, rotating in my hand in a way that makes me feel a little out-of-control and worried about where the hammer spur is going to end up. For those guns, I turn to the Bisley grip. I personally would not want to fire a short .454 with the plowhandle, though I know of people who disagree.

Regarding Ruger single actions in general, my experience (a dozen or so of them, over the decades) has been that they generally work but are generally a bit rough around the edges. The fit of the various frame pieces, and the grip, normally will not be very good, as an example. This does not affect function, usually, but continually reminds the user that he is holding a $600 gun and not a $1500 gun. As Mr. Prasac remarked, the triggers are generally not great as well, and this does affect function. I find it much harder to hit with the typical rough, heavy, creepy Blackhawk triggers. In my experience, the common "poor man's trigger job" trick of lifting one leg of the return spring off of its post sometimes makes the trigger "good enough" for my needs, and sometimes doesn't. I guess the short version is that it probably would be safest to add the cost of a trigger job into one's calculations when considering buying one of these guns.

The tl;dr is that they are imperfect guns but well worth the cost, and take so well to gunsmithing that they can be taken to just about any level a person could want, assuming your checkbook can handle it. I guess my personal favorite revolver is a Bisley Blackhawk with just a few hundred dollars (and a dozen of my own hours) invested to make it just right for me. If I didn't own it, I'd buy one right away!
 
There are no rubber grip options available for Bisleys. That said, the one-size-fits-all wooden grips aren't very good, but a custom set made for your hand goes a long way towards making the experience pleasant. I have custom grips on my .454 SBH as well as my two .480 SBHs.

View attachment 876005

View attachment 876007

I made a misstatement as the 454 my friend has is not a Bisley grip it is the plough handle like my SBH 44 magnum. The wood grips he has on it are just nasty on my hand. He is younger than me and doesn’t seem to be bothered by it like I am.
Might also explain the post I made as well being younger that is!!
 
I made a misstatement as the 454 my friend has is not a Bisley grip it is the plough handle like my SBH 44 magnum. The wood grips he has on it are just nasty on my hand. He is younger than me and doesn’t seem to be bothered by it like I am.
Might also explain the post I made as well being younger that is!!

Did he put a plow handle grip frame on his factory .454 or is it a custom? They were only offered (from the factory) in Bisley configuration. Some folks simply prefer the plow handle. For me it's absolutely the wrong configuration.
 
I have a 4 year old Bisley Hunter in .44 mag. Has a bushnell 2x6 on top and is a dream to shoot. Regularly shoots 2" groups @100 and 4" @200. Killed a few deer with it. Fits my hand well and recoil is minimized with the weight of the scope.

I absolutely would take the same in the 454. The recode be Stout for sure but the Bisly grip really seems to handle it well. At least mine did before the addition of the scope which really tamed it down.
 
Did he put a plow handle grip frame on his factory .454 or is it a custom? They were only offered (from the factory) in Bisley configuration. Some folks simply prefer the plow handle. For me it's absolutely the wrong configuration.

I’m waiting to hear from my friend to find out just what it is. It was nothing like my SBH Bisley and much more like my SBH 44 plow handle but grips were bigger and wider. It really hurt my hand when shooting it.
 
OP Bisley is the way to go in the mag. Had one in .44 mag years ago and the grip style saved my knuckles.
I now have your revolver in .44 spl and love it.
Enjoy!
 
Did he put a plow handle grip frame on his factory .454 or is it a custom? They were only offered (from the factory) in Bisley configuration. Some folks simply prefer the plow handle. For me it's absolutely the wrong configuration.

Max finally got this figured out. It is a Freedom Arms that he bought in 1984. Why I thought it was a Ruger I don’t know.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to kick it around a bit. Whenever this time of year comes around i get excited and i think of all the options then i end up finding something i can't live without. Really looking forward to my new single action, haven't gotten a single action revolver since 2006 - back then my options were very few due to finances, things are much better these days and i can get pretty much whatever i want, so life is very good.

I want to add that my .454 SBH is looser than a goose after the bench abuse I subjected it to when endurance testing a few years ago.
Thats not good. Anything out of the norm, or was it just a few hundred rounds that rocked her world? I really value your experience and appreciate the knowledge. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist commenting on a big bore revolver thread, thanks.
Either way i go i plan on keeping things moderate with this gun (500jrh or 454 casull) just want the option to turn up the heat if i'm feeling spicy. I use my SRH for the loads that really kick hard so i don't need it to be bomb proof, but the guns i buy now will be with me until i expire and hopefully that will be a very long time from now. So i want to buy right and have to regret it until next year when i do this dance again.
 
I have the 6.5" SBH Bisley 454. It's a good gun, I had to clean it up a little. From the factory the trigger is a bit heavy so I put in some Wolff reduced weight springs. Overall for the features and size of the gun, it's about perfect from that perspective. I will say, I think it makes for a better 5 shot .45 colt than a 454 Casull, I bought mine with the full intention of it being 45 colt only, maybe a 454 from time to time but I don't need anything more than 45 colt anyways. The Bisley grip is great for big recoil, I'm very thankful for that.

That being said, I'm not real thrilled with the accuracy, not to say it's bad but mine doesn't seem to shoot that well (perhaps it's just picky). Maybe I need to break it in more, but the first strings I shot through it were more like patterns not groups. The cylinder throats are oversized, not exactly sure how much but .452" jacketed and lead bullets fall through them effortlessly. I'm not so sure that hurts accuracy, I've heard Ruger does it to relieve some pressure. Mine seems to like warmer loads a bit better, from an accuracy perspective, but I'm really hoping it starts grouping all 5 tight. I'll have two or three pretty tight but then the next two or three are off in la-la land for some reason.

I've had several BFR's too, the 6.5" Bisley grip 454 was the last one I had. The BFR is definitely a nicer gun, not that the Ruger isn't nice, but it's BIG and heavy. To me the BFR is better but it's a lot to carry around, the 6.5" SBH is lighter and cheaper while still being a good gun, and for me it's a better overall package. I thought about a 500 JRH but until brass becomes available, for a reasonable price, I don't think I'll ever have one, but it's a helluva cartridge.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to kick it around a bit. Whenever this time of year comes around i get excited and i think of all the options then i end up finding something i can't live without. Really looking forward to my new single action, haven't gotten a single action revolver since 2006 - back then my options were very few due to finances, things are much better these days and i can get pretty much whatever i want, so life is very good.


Thats not good. Anything out of the norm, or was it just a few hundred rounds that rocked her world? I really value your experience and appreciate the knowledge. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist commenting on a big bore revolver thread, thanks.
Either way i go i plan on keeping things moderate with this gun (500jrh or 454 casull) just want the option to turn up the heat if i'm feeling spicy. I use my SRH for the loads that really kick hard so i don't need it to be bomb proof, but the guns i buy now will be with me until i expire and hopefully that will be a very long time from now. So i want to buy right and have to regret it until next year when i do this dance again.

Endurance testing for Ruger, but the round count was a fraction of what I subjected the .480 to. That said, all was shot off the bench which concentrates the abuse on both gun and shooter.
 
I have been kicking around the idea of getting one of these as well.

I have had a Ruger BH .45 Colt for 20+ years. It does great with “Ruger only” loads, up through 250 gr. bullets. I find with warm 300 gr. bullets, the gun will spin so hard in my hand, the frame smacks the bone at the base of my thumb. Not terribly pleasant. This is with the plow handle grip.

I haven’t shot a heavy recoiling gun with the Bisley grip, but it’s supposed to be better for recoil. It would be nice to try one out, but finding one at a rental counter seems to be not that common.
 
For me, the Ruger Bisley is preferred for handling recoil but it has to have custom grips. The factory grips are terribly shaped and fit poorly.

IMHO, the SBH .454 is the best .45Colt Ruger has ever produced and I would treat them as such. They do not have the hand fitting of the custom guns and I suspect that’s why they loosen up in a few thousand rounds. If that’s what I wanted, I’d shoot it until it needed work and then have it fortified like the custom five-shots.

There is this weird misconception floating around that “magnum” cartridges need a certain barrel length or they’re just a waste of powder. Untrue. The same powders that yield peak velocity out of a carbine will do the same out of a 3” sixgun. There will just be less of it. I also disagree that longer barrels are more pleasant to shoot and short barrels less so. It’s the opposite. Longer barrels yield more velocity, which increases recoil and they also have greater leverage against your hand/wrist. Shorter barrels are just louder and people perceive them as nastier.
 
<snip> I also disagree that longer barrels are more pleasant to shoot and short barrels less so. It’s the opposite. Longer barrels yield more velocity, which increases recoil and they also have greater leverage against your hand/wrist. Shorter barrels are just louder and people perceive them as nastier.
My understanding is that longer barrels have more weight ahead of the center of gravity and flip significantly less than short barrels. The wrist snap is then more associated with the short barrel. The leverage argument would make sense if the axis and barrel inertia was the same for all barrel lengths.
 
If all else is equal (excluding barrel length), the one that generates higher velocity will kick more. That said, the shorter barrel may seem worse because muzzle blast and noise may increase.
 
"My understanding is that longer barrels have more weight ahead of the center of gravity and flip significantly less than short barrels."

That's the way that it feels to me, too. Admittedly, that's a purely subjective observation.

Maybe the weight and balance of the revolver are more important than the velocity with regards to the felt recoil?
 
I chopped my beater 44 mag Blackhawk from 7.5 to 5" to make it more usable and packable as a utility revolver. It snaps more now due to being physically lighter weight, but the recoil impulse is lighter too. My raging Bull I used to have was ported and about the same weight as my 44 redhawk, and the recoiled about the same, but the raging Bull sure made a bigger fireball. Sure wish it hadn't been ported, I'd probably still have it. I am not afraid of the greater recoil it would cause.
 
I got the SBH in 4 5/8. The only thing that was off setting was the hammer had a tendency to hang up on cocking but has since smoothed up to be a non issue. I also had to open up my sizing die to .477 as .476 caused bad leading. I've only got 335 rounds on mine so far but I'm enjoying it. The balance is really nice at 4 5/8. Not sure I'd want the longer barrel. And from someone who previously shot nothing hotter than a 357 in a 6" 686, the Bisley grip frame is well worth it.
 
I have revolvers from 7.5 down to 2.5 and for me the sweet spot is 4.625. The exception being if I can find a FA 97 - 45 in 3.5 for packing. One of my 7.5 is a FA 454 with a scope and it will reach out and touch someone.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top