Ruger Bisley Vaquero questions

[goon]

I have been thinking about looking for a Bisley Vaquero .357. IIRC, they stopped making the Bisley now that they have moved on to the new style Vaquero.
I have some questions.
I am going to try to find a 5.5 inch one and I am wondering about how much I should be looking to spend. Also, I have shot some other single actions, particularly Blackhawks, and they generally always roll in my hand and bang the hell out of the knuckle of my middle finger when they recoil. For those of you who have had this problem, do you also have it with the Bisley?
I don't want to buy a gun only to find that it hurts my hand when I shoot it.
I would like to have this for general plinking but I would like to eventually get started in CAS shooting. Any opinions on that?
Thanks.

 

[420Stainless]

I paid $412 + tax at a LGS for my .45 Colt 5.5" Stainless Bisley Vaquero 2 years ago. Don't know what the .357's run or how the supply/demand affect on price is now that they are out of production.

I haven't shot alot with plow handles, so I can't answer your question about the knuckle busting except to say that I haven't had that problem with mine. However, I haven't fired anything stronger than 225 gr. Winchester Silvertips (423 ft. lbs.) out of mine so far. These give a fairly mild recoil and control is very good with the bisley grip frame. I would think the weight of the weapon alone would tame all but the harshest .357 loads.

 

[Jim March]

All the reports I've seen say that first, the Bisley grip is seldom a knuckle-buster for anybody as it rolls just a bit less. Second, I know of few people who had knuckle-busting problems with BOTH Bisley and plowhandle (various types) grip frame.

If you're buying a shooter, you might try shopping used as gunsamerica, gunbroker and the sassnet.org classifieds.

If you're looking for minty-condition "collector grade", prices are rising. I think these are a poor long-term investment as far as appreciation/investment goes as just too many were made .

If you can't find what you want, and can afford an extra $250 or so max over the cost of a New Vaquero, the New Vaq can be completely "Bisleyized". Brownell's has a Bisley parts kit that will drop in, plus you need grip panels.

What you'll get is something Ruger hasn't made (at least not yet, possibly not ever). While the New Vaq isn't as Godzilla-strong as the previous Vaqs built on a 44Magnum-capable (and more!) larger frame, the build quality on the New Vaqs has been very good and as an SAA-sized frame in modern metal it will handle all possible factory 357 just fine.

What the old frame really gave you was the ability to radically rechamber to monster loads and in plain 357Mag a major safety margin for the newbie reloader or those looking to push the envelope. It's really more strength than most people need.

 

[.38 Special]

As far as I am concerned, the whole point to Ruger's Bisley-style grip is recoil management. I consider traditional SA grip frames to be entirely unsuitable for heavy recoil while the Ruger Bisley-style grip frame is unmatched by anything else.

There's a reason why the great majority of 5 shot .45 Colts and .475/.500 Magnums -- not to mention the Freedom Arms .454s -- are built with the Bisley-style grip frame.

 

[Jim March]

Well for one thing, John Linebaugh was an early proponent of the Bisley for big recoil . He's the one that really got people thinking along those lines.

But yeah, that is it's reputation...at least for most people.

For those that don't dig the Bisley, the other choice is any of the SuperBlackHawk larger plowhandle variants that do NOT have the "squareback" trigger guard. Which means either a squareback has been custom re-shaped, or it's the "Hunter" type with round triggerguard but otherwise larger SBH grip, or the BFR grip frame functionally identical to the Hunter.

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

I have a Super Black Hawk 44mag Bisley. I shoot 300gn Sierra's through a 7 1/2" barrel at 1250fps and don't bust my knuckles. Now, the longer barrel reduces a bit of recoil, well, rather some muzzle flip, but the hotter load firmly plants the whole damn thing deep in the palm of my hand. The Bisley frame shape is much prefered by us people with smaller hands. I've shot a lot of SBH's in standard form, not Vasquaro's, but along the same lines... Remember, the Vasquaro is a lighter pistol. Full magnum loads meant for a SBH should be avoided. But for CAS, a light lead load in a Bisley framed V should be quite managable without knuckle busting.

-Steve

 

[goon]

Thanks.
I have asked this question a few times in the past because I have considered the Bisleys before. I always get the same answer - the people who have them don't have any problems with them.
I think I will try to find one.

 

[JoeHatley]

My wife bought me this one in .45 Colt, several years ago for Christmas.



Very fun shooter. I prefer the Bisley grip frame, because I can get all 4 fingers on it, and don't have to put my pinkie underneath.

Joe

 

[goon]

Bought the Bisley !
I shot it today with some ammo that I mooched from my dad and it is a sweet shooter. I am not good enough to tell exactly where it is hitting but I did manage to hit a couple small rocks about the size of coffee cups at 25 yards and I also made a gallon jug dance around with both .357 and .38 SPL ammo.
I put some black pearlite grips that I had around on it and although I think they are too flashy they fit my hand better and make the gun point like an extra finger. I am going to put some fake ivory grips on it when I can afford them but for now it is pretty damn good just the way it is.
But now I have to dust the reloading press off...