The best grips on BP (and other) revolvers

Status
Not open for further replies.
O

Onty

Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2003
Messages
957
In your opinion and experience, what is the best handling grip of all BP revolvers? How they do compare with other center-fire SA revolvers from Ruger, Colt and Italian clones?

I handled Ruger Old Army (I have it), years back very briefly Remington 1858 (Pietta I think), and also Ruger Bisley and Blackhawk. But never had a chance to handle any (BP and center-fire) Colt or Colt clones, and other SA revolvers.

I have medium size hand, and of all those, and for me Ruger Bisley grip is the best, all 3 fingers are comfortably on it. As for Ruger Old Army and Blackhawk, they feel OK, but pinky finger fits barely. Remington 1858 (if remembered correctly) was also OK. Feels bit different than Ruger-s, but lengths are close.

What intrigued me is that some members here made statements that grips on some BP Colt clones feel better than on Remington 1858.

It would be nice if somebody could post drawing with outlines of grips on BP revolvers, something similar to this drawing https://gunblast.com/images/Hamm_Ruger-SA-GripFrames/Drawings/Frames-ALL.jpg for Ruger SA revolvers.

Thanks
 
I would appreciate if you could check the length from bottom of the grip, to the relief behind trigger guard, on both 1851 Navy, and 1860 Army. I would like to scale pictures of both revolvers, so I can compare grips side by side. Thanks!
 
Onty said:
In your opinion and experience, what is the best handling grip of all BP revolvers? How they do compare with other center-fire SA revolvers from Ruger, Colt and Italian clones?

I handled Ruger Old Army (I have it), years back very briefly Remington 1858 (Pietta I think), and also Ruger Bisley and Blackhawk. But never had a chance to handle any (BP and center-fire) Colt or Colt clones, and other SA revolvers.

I have medium size hand, and of all those, and for me Ruger Bisley grip is the best, all 3 fingers are comfortably on it. As for Ruger Old Army and Blackhawk, they feel OK, but pinky finger fits barely. Remington 1858 (if remembered correctly) was also OK. Feels bit different than Ruger-s, but lengths are close.

What intrigued me is that some members here made statements that grips on some BP Colt clones feel better than on Remington 1858.

It would be nice if somebody could post drawing with outlines of grips on BP revolvers, something similar to this drawing https://gunblast.com/images/Hamm_Ruger-SA-GripFrames/Drawings/Frames-ALL.jpg for Ruger SA revolvers.

Thanks
Click to expand...
If only thinking about factory models my choices are the Ruger Super Blackhawk followed by Ruger Bisley, then the 1860 Army and last but not least the 1873 Colt Army.
 
This is a very subjective question. You're likely to get as many different answers as you get responses to the question. It largely depends on your hand size and shape.

For me, the Walker and Dragoons have the perfect grip. They fit my hand better than anything. Followed very closely by the 1860 Army. The Navy grip is too small for me. I hate curling my pinky under the grip. Feels silly and isn't comfortable. Same for the Ruger, as it's basically a Navy grip.

The Bisley is a weird one for sure. It curls forward at the butt and puts the gun at a strange angle. It was originally designed for the Colt Target guns that were used in Bisley, England. The "Bisley" grip on a Ruger, is noting like the original Colt except in name only.

Your best bet is try some guns. Head to the local gun store or a gun show in your area if there is one, and handle some guns.
 
ShotgunDave said:
This is a very subjective question. You're likely to get as many different answers as you get responses to the question. It largely depends on your hand size and shape.

For me, the Walker and Dragoons have the perfect grip. They fit my hand better than anything. Followed very closely by the 1860 Army. The Navy grip is too small for me. I hate curling my pinky under the grip. Feels silly and isn't comfortable. Same for the Ruger, as it's basically a Navy grip.

The Bisley is a weird one for sure. It curls forward at the butt and puts the gun at a strange angle. It was originally designed for the Colt Target guns that were used in Bisley, England. The "Bisley" grip on a Ruger, is noting like the original Colt except in name only.

Your best bet is try some guns. Head to the local gun store or a gun show in your area if there is one, and handle some guns.
Click to expand...

Im a great shot so long as i have my pinky curled under the grip. Without that i cant hit squat
 
I like the 1860 army the best. The Ruger, while not uncomfortable, makes my fingers feel crowded, and I don’t even have big hands. The Ruger Bisley is probably my second favorite. I don’t care for the original Colt Bisley.
 
Onty said:
I would appreciate if you could check the length from bottom of the grip, to the relief behind trigger guard, on both 1851 Navy, and 1860 Army. I would like to scale pictures of both revolvers, so I can compare grips side by side. Thanks!
Click to expand...
This also varies from maker to maker!
The best way to find one that fits is by handling the individual revolvers.
 
For most of my life I would have said the Ruger Bisley. (I have very limited experience with the Colt Bisley grip and utterly hated it.)

I still believe the Ruger Bisley grip is tops for heavy recoil, but as I've aged and begun drifting away from the hard kickers, I'm really starting to see the merit of the SAA grip. I still don't want to shoot one that kicks much harder than the traditional .45 Colt loads, but at that level and below, the SAA grip feels more natural and "pointable" than the Bisley version.

Cap guns? None of them are exactly perfect for me. I suppose the 1851 grip is closest, but the trigger on the gun isn't in quite the right spot for me. A very close second - and maybe first, depending on the phase of the moon - is the '62 Police. The grip is entirely too small, by modern standards, and feels sort of ridiculous when I first pick it up. After a few shots, though, it all kind of starts to make sense...
 
Considering what you posted here, and I found on other posts, seems to me that majority prefer 1851 Navy grip, with 1860 Army close second. Here is the picture with snapshots I lined up, so grips could be compared:

yl2denp.jpg

As you could see, I stretched 1851 Navy grip to be about the same length as 1860 Army. Looks like that I've got something that is somewhat similar to Freedom Arms 83 grip, consider by many as on of few best designed.

Thanks to all for valuable input
 
Yeah the pietta "tail" causes a lot of unnecessary angst but some original Colts had a similar grip. Depending on how long the "tail" is. Here's a quick video with a look at a Pietta and my original Navy. They look very similar to me.

4:37 here
 
Onty said:
Considering what you posted here, and I found on other posts, seems to me that majority prefer 1851 Navy grip, with 1860 Army close second. Here is the picture with snapshots I lined up, so grips could be compared:

View attachment 1057982

As you could see, I stretched 1851 Navy grip to be about the same length as 1860 Army. Looks like that I've got something that is somewhat similar to Freedom Arms 83 grip, consider by many as on of few best designed.

Thanks to all for valuable input
Click to expand...
This page has Taylor's "gunfighter" model which is an SAA but with a 1860 Army style grip, and has pics of them side by side FYI
https://taylorsfirearms.com/hand-guns/cartridge-revolvers/gunfighter/gunfighter-rev.html
 
Onty said:
Would you please specify which Dragoon model you have? I found on Uberti-USA 3 different models; Second Model, Third Model and Whitneyville Model https://www.uberti-usa.com/dragoon-revolvers . Whitneyville grip looks similar to 1860 grip.
Click to expand...
The Whitneyville has the Walker grip. The first/second/third model Dragoons have the same grips as each other to my knowledge.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
  • Locked
Classic BP revolvers everybody should have....
Replies
15
Views
1K
Boom-stick
B
S
  • Locked
Thinking about BP revolvers
2
Replies
32
Views
2K
PRM
PRM
S
  • Locked
Help me pick a BP Revolver
Replies
4
Views
2K
Gerald McDonald
G
J
  • Locked
BP Revolver Brand Quality Differences?
2
Replies
32
Views
4K
Crawdad1
Crawdad1
N
  • Locked
My First Two
Replies
3
Views
544
BHP FAN
B
Back
Top