Birdshead Grips ??

Billy-The-Kid thought they were great. IIRC, he had small hands.

Here's a picture of an 1877 Colt Lightning in .41 (Not Billy's) that it is generally accepted that Billy used...

Depends... For me, I like the birds head grips for the less abusive chamberings. The smaller size and curve doesn't allow my hands to get as good of a hold as I prefer. For thsoe I like the Bisley grip. I have two birdshead .32 mags that i really like. Secondly for me, although it's purely visual, is the smaller birdshead grips just look too small proportionaly on the large frame models. BIG FRAME - small grip frame. Just looks awkward.
On the right configuration though, they lok quite nice. Was fortunate to get one from Ruger a while back - last one they had at that time - and it's to be sued on a special little project I've been pieceing together.

I have small hands and I built this to fit me

Beautiful gun. I keep trying to persuade my wife I need something like that.

I like them, I put a set on a anniversary NMBH.

Birdshead grips on the venerable single-actions have a certain "cool" and exotic look, that's for sure.

But do they really improve the handling and firing of the single-actions in any definite way ? Or are they just window-dressing ?

Click to expand...

This depends on the shooter. Birds head grips are normally chosen for better concealment of short barreled guns and that is what you usually see them on. But some shooters prefer both the look and the feel. Shooters choice.

Birds head grip is different from a round butt grip in that it is shorter. The double action Colt Lightnings shown in the pic above are round butts. The hump at the top of the back strap was placed there to aid in a da shot.

tipoc

Shawnee,

100 and more years ago folks carried sa wheelguns in shoulder holsters. Sometimes in addition to a gun on their hip. Birdshead grips were useful in these type shoulder rigs.

About the 1880s a number of states and localities passed laws outlawing open carry of firearms in urban areas. Texas was one such state. Birdshead grips on short barreled guns became more useful for many as they were more concealable.

tipoc

Shawnee
pick one out of these are my other BH

It seems better to me, just from a natural pointing standpoint. But it does wake you up with a full house load.

I much prefer the standard plow handle grip myself, but then I've got beefy hands, too. When I pick up a birdshead gun, it just leaves my hand feeling empty. Also, it's even harder to get a consistent grip, quickly, on a birdshead than a plowhandle. And a plowhandle's difficult enough, in all conscience.

~~~Mat

I shoot SASS/CAS matches and normaly shoot 1 hand unsupported . I put my little finger under the grip , it keeps the gun from rolling in my hand and I don't need to regrip the gun again for then shot .

I have always prefered the Birdshead and Bisley grip guns,they just feel more natural to me. Here's mine in 45 Colt

Ric - DANG! That's a nice gun!!!

TNGR - nice nice collection and thanks for the tip!

My first BHG was a 4.6" SS Vaquero in .45 Colt followed by a .357M version a few months later. I had to have a .44 Special BHG, but none were available. I bought a 4.6" SS SBH the same day as the .357M Vaquero BHG, hoping to swap gripframes. When that was a no-go, due to the wide variation in frame thickness, I ordered a QPR BHG frame & grip and fitted same to the SBH, making the gun below. I added a .32 H&RM BHG - all had black Micarta grips, SS, and 4.6" barrels. I sold the .357M to a friend, the other two - and a 4" .32M SP101 - to another guy, and my homebrew SBH was traded for a new unshot Seecamp .32, holster, ammo, & cash - for my wife. Within days, my Ruger collection was gone! I bought a new 627 Pro and a NIB trade-in 64 with my ill-gotten gains - and made my wife happy with the pocket piece she wanted.

I miss the SBH/BHG the most. A tad heavy, it was still fun with wimpy .44 Russians to regular Specials. Add some oomph, especially real Magnums, and that muzzle would point skyward afterwards, the ball like grip with slick Micarta 'rolling' in your hand. Not to worry - the SBH hammer digs into your hand, limiting the 'roll'.

BTW, I hate the BH hammer - love the Bisley. The SBH hammer is a drop-in and a nice hammer. The Bisley hammer has some non-functional backside metal to file/grind away before it'll fit the non-Bisley gripframes. Adapt the part, not the gun, of course. All but the .32 SSM got a free-spin pawl, the SSM getting a bit ground off it's pawl's leading tooth - see the Ruger forums for this. It was done during commercials while NCIS was on one night - with only the cylinder removed. Being a chicken heart, I had two spare pawls... just in case.

I thought I would miss my Ruger purge... thus far, only the homebrew BHG/SBH. I love my S&Ws, even the 617 I sacrificed my MKII for. YMMV.



The .458 Lott, a left-over from another Ruger purge (#1H in .458 Lott - beautiful furniture!) won't fit the BHG/SBH. Sigh!

Stainz

PS The BHG frame, like the shortened BH frame (The other SSM grip.), doesn't have room for that hammer lock Ruger uses now, probably why they are gone.

How in the world do you figure on a free spin saving 10 sec? A whole pistol run doesn't take but four or five, so I can't see a ruger go-round costing more than 2 or 3. Half-cocks are a better solution, IMHO.

~~~Mat

I said 5 to 10 sec , if you shoot unsupported is about a second per shot and you need to go around to the 6th chamber to pick back up . A season shooter will be at around 5 second . I've seen a few shooter take almost 10 sec to pick it up or I should say figure it out . Yes the 1/2 cock is great , but the cost of $157 each x 7 would cost me over a $1000 compared to $250 for the Power spin free .

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