Ruger Hunters

[40plus]

someone talk to me about the bisley vs the blackhawk

i am very familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of the bisley grip frame.
what i am looking for his comments from people with the revolvers. what they like and what they dont like. why did they pick one over the other?

i primarily shoot 300gr at around 1200fps.

[Graybeard]

i primarily shoot 300gr at around 1200fps.

Can't speak for others but for me that is definetely Bisley territory. In fact a bunch of years ago I bought a Bisley .45 Colt with 7.5" barrel. My goal was a 300 at 1250 fps. I sold that gun cuz I found that was more recoil than I could deal with from that gun.

I can shoot 318s from my Lyman 452651 mould at 1550 fps from an FA83 with no problems but the Ruger even the Bisley just doesn't work for me at that recoil level.

I have both grips now a Bisley .44 Special and a BH .45 Colt. Neither will ever be pushed nearly that hard as long as I own them. These days my target is a 240/250 grain at around 1000 fps. That's enough to suit me. If I feel the need for more I'll shoot my S&W 629. I've gotten rid of my heavier kickers. My old arthritic hands and wrists don't like that recoil so much these days.

[Bigeasy]

I think the comfort of various grip styles (Bisley / Dragoon, regular Colt) depend on load being used, and hand size.  I have very large hands, with normal length fingers.  When shooting heavy loads, the Bisley trigger guard nails my middle finger pretty good, as does the Dragoon style sometimes.  I find the regular Colt type grip allows the gun to pivot in my hand, avoiding my finger.
 
Most people find the Bisley more comfortable with heavy loads, but not me.  I am thinking about having a set of custom grips made up for my .44 mag. 7 1/2 inch Bisley with a filler behind the trigger guard, similar to the target stocks used on a S&W revolver, see how that works.
 
Feels to me like the Bisley redirects the recoil more into the palm of the hand, like a D/A revolver, while the Colt type, and Dragoon type deliver more "roll".

[SHOOTALL]

I don't shoot Bisley grip style. After reading alot here would like to. I have shot the dragoon grip alot , for years in IMHSA and agree it is very hard on the middle finger of the gripping hand. Reg BH grips are better for me and I have shot some very heavy loads in a 45 Colt BH . What I did was go to a Redhawk for several years . But not so long ago got a BH hunter with round trigger guard and solid rib. This is a really nice shooter . Its a 44 mag but 45 Colt's are aval. For some reason the BH hunter feels more hand filling amd maybe a bit different shape than standard BH's or SBH's. It would be worth your looking at one before you buy as its made to do what you are planning.

[SHOOTALL]

Bigeasy , why did you bring up the finger thing ? now mine hurts again . Those 80 round matches were brutal.

[Graybeard]

Bigeasy , why did you bring up the finger thing ? now mine hurts again . Those 80 round matches were brutal.

Strange not for me. But then I was shooting a S&W 29 with 10-5/8" barrel not a Ruger.

[SHOOTALL]

Some shot those where I shot . They were nice guns but when I saw the 10.5 bbl. SBH I had to have one.

[Lloyd Smale]

for heavy recoil a bisley defineatly is the way to go. everyone abiltiy to handle recoil is differnt. me i can handle anything up to 300 grain 44mags with a standard blackhawk but at that level defineatly find a bisley more confortable. Ive got a lightweight clements built 6 shot 45 colt vaquero that will about make you bleed shooting 320s at 1300. Its worse in my hands then any of my linebaughs. What i will say though is that heavy recoil out of even a blackhawk is mild compared to the same load out of a smith n frame or even my 4 inch redhawk. Again id rather go to the range and shoot a 100 full power 500 linebaughs out of one of my 4 inch 500s then shoot 5 full power heavy bullet loads out of my redhawk. the bisley grip frame and ill throw in the FA which i think is just about as good work for heavy recoil. If anyone tells you differnt they just not shot enough recoil. Ive had many guys that didnt know better shoot both my 45 clements 4 inch gun and my 500 4 inchers side by side both with top end loads and to a man they all prefered shooting the bisley 500.

[flatgate]

I've relatively small hands.  The Ruger Bisley grip does NOT work for me.  I can shoot the square back Super Blackhawk most of the time but if I don't keep my hand positioned correctly I'll get a "bite".


I like the Hunter style a lot.  I have a Hunter grip frame on a stainless, 7-1/2" New Model .45 cal. Blackhawk. I can shoot it ALL DAY
with 325 gr. bullets at 1200. 







I've learned how to take a Super Blackhawk grip frame and round the trigger guard...... 





flatgate


PS Collectors, yes, that IS a genuine 10" .44 Flattop!

[inthebeech]

Bigeasy gave the best advice.
I'll just add that if you go from the Bisley to the "new" XR3 then the difference in "feel" is going to be even more dramatic than from the redesigned or SB frames.  I had one of the NM's with original XR3 frames refitted with a Bisley frame and what a difference.  Unfortunately it was too much and exasperated by my having smallish hands.  I'd love the Bisley on a serious 357, 41, 44 for hunting but for packing or any other less serious use, the smaller frames would be my choice.
Ed

[tacklebury]

I don't care as much for the bisley grip for heavy loads.  It transfers energy directly to the wrist/thumb whereas the XR3 Red's let your hand roll with the energy...  I have pretty big hands though and have to put my pinky under the grip.
 

[tinman]

+1 tacklebury.  short fat fingers.  dont like the feel of the ruger bisley in my hand,  shooting it or not.  the only F.A. that i have shot was the 454....oh that was fun??? no thanks not for me.  then i started shooting an rx3 way back when.

[Kmrere42]

?? What is the difference if any, between the hunter grip and the standard grip ??





Paul

[SHOOTALL]

Mine is larger , it fits the hand in a more filling way. The grips don't inter change the SBH grips seem to small or wrong profile for the hunter.

[kelbro]

I had the SBH Hunter 44mag with the standard plowhandle gripframe for a few years. Kept hearing about the Bisley and wanted to see how it worked. Bought one, shot some of my full-bore 310gr loads, and sold the plowhandle. Regular sized hands.

I prefer shooting my 4 5/8" Bisley 44 special though

[flatgate]

?? What is the difference if any, between the hunter grip and the standard grip ??     Paul

Paul, the Hunter grip is the same as the Super Blackhawk grip EXCEPT the Hunter does NOT have the "square" shaped
trigger guard that's been standard on the Super Blackhawk (7-1/2" and 10" barrels) since its' inception in late '59.


Super Blackhawk Hunter:



Super Blackhawk

This particular example is one of the earliest stainless steel 10-1/2" guns, produced prior to the change to the heavy, "Bull" barrels.


Carl

[redneckdan]

I owned a 50th anniv. 44 mag. The standard grip just didn't work for me. Did not like that at all.

I acquired a 4 5/8" bisley 44spl about a year ago and it has become my favorite handgun. I like it better than my 629. The grip just plain works for me. Fills my hand nicely and recoil is very easy to control even with keith loads.

[Swampman]

I can't tell any real difference when shooting, I just prefer the original style over the Bisley because of looks.

[flatgate]

I owned a 50th anniv. 44 mag. The standard grip just didn't work for me.

The grip on the 50th Anniv. guns is the XR-3 from the '53-'62 era. It emulates Colt's SAA grip.  It's significantly smaller than what's on the "normal" Single-Sixes, Blackhawks and Super Blackhawks. The Super's use an enlarged version of Ruger's XR3-RED. (Technically the Super Grip came first and a "reduced version" became the XR3-RED which replaced the XR-3 by '63.


Surf over to www.gunblast.com and find Bill Hamm's article on Ruger grips.  MOST informative.


flatgate