I've never owned a revolver with a Bisley grip and was thinking of picking one up. When I shoot a non-Bisley gripped 1873 clone I have to keep my pinky finger off the grip to lower my hand so I don't rub my shooting finger against the frame and push shots left. Will a Bisley grip allow me to have all fingers on the frame without pushing it left?
Howdy
First of all, let's address the shooting finger rubbing against the frame pushing your shots to the left. I am assuming you are right handed. Shots being pushed to the left are usually caused by too much finger on the trigger. Are you placing your finger so the trigger rests in the crease under the first joint of your trigger finger? Although this feels like a more natural way to pull the trigger, it can lead to pushing the shots to the left. Try pulling the trigger with the pad of the finger underneath the nail of the trigger finger. This will result in a pull that is more straight back and will tend to rotate the gun less to one side than pulling the trigger with the crease under the joint. It does not feel as natural, it is a skill that must be worked at, but it will probably stop your shots from going left. The the thing is, all you can do with your finger is curl it or straighten in out. It is next to impossible to pull it straight back. If you position your finger so the pad is pulling the trigger, you have a better chance of pulling the trigger straight back without rotating the gun.
The fact is that with any single action revolver I always curl my pinky under the grip. Not so much for trigger control as much as to keep my knuckle from getting whacked in recoil. I discovered a long time ago that trying to cram my entire hand onto the grip placed the knuckle of my middle finger directly against the trigger guard. And with any round with much recoil this caused the trigger guard to whack my knuckle. Which tends to cause flinching and hurt accuracy. I learned that by curling my pinky under the grip, my hand shifted down a bit on the grip, and a space of about 1/4" was opened up between the trigger guard and my knuckle. My knuckle does not get whacked anymore in recoil, despite the rather substantial recoil of my Black Powder 45 Colt loads.
This is how I always grip a single action revolver with a 'plow handle' grip. Notice the pinky curled under the grip and the space between the trigger guard and the knuckle of my middle finger.
This grip allows me to reach the hammer spur to cock it with no problem, still maintaining the space between trigger guard and knuckle.
As has been stated, the Ruger version of the Bisley grip is different than the original Colt Bisley grip shape.
This is a Ruger Bisley. Notice the grip is more or less straight up and down.
This is a Colt Bisley. Notice how the grip is a bit thinner. Notice too that it sweeps further forward than the Ruger version of the Bisley grip. The Bisley models made by Uberti feature this same grip shape.
Yes, the Ruger version of the Bisley grip is a bit longer than their standard 'plow handle' grip, and it is probably easier to cram one's entire hand onto the grip. When I first started shooting Black Powder in Cowboy Action Shooting, everybody told me I was going to need a Bisley grip to deal with the stouter recoil of Black Powder. So I bought a used Bisley Vaquero. I used it in exactly one match, and sold it. Did not like the grip shape at all. It turns out that by curling my pinky under a standard Colt (or Ruger) grip, I was able to deal with the recoil just fine. The gun rotates in my hand a little bit, and the pinky under the grip keeps the gap between the trigger guard and the knuckle.
It turns out with a Bisley Colt I grab the gun the same as I do with a 'plow handle' Colt. Pinky under the grip. This maintains the gap between trigger guard and knuckle.
The lowered hammer of the Bisley Colt is easy to reach with this grip.
At full cock, ready to fire, there is still a gap between the trigger guard and knuckle.
That's it in a nutshell. I recommend examining your trigger position on the trigger before looking to buy a different grip shape.
I will tell you that the swept forward shape of the Colt Bisley grip tends to make the gun point slightly down, so I have to be sure I am on target before pulling the trigger.
It has been too long since I owned that Ruger Bisley to remember where the gun pointed.
. Here's where it came from,nice little history lesson.
