Shot the Bis-Hawk-ero today and....

[greywuuf]

I learned two things , well maybe three,
First, the grooved top strap fixed Site of the old large frame Vaquero might be " adequate" but it certainly is not Easy , at least not for my older eyes and in a polished Stainless finish !

Second Large doses of 296 under a 300 grain slug is NOT a good round to try some "Bullseye" style shooting ( you know off hand loose grip one hand in the pocket kinda thing )


Third, when I quit bleeding I need to deburr the bottom of my hammer spur.



now that being said let me state the it is just a little skin lost and I have fired this weapon a bunch before, all kinds of various loads and bullets. just for some reason today I let it roll back a lil much and it bit me a little actually it bit me a little a lot of times and I ended up loosing a little skin. it is not to say this is some kinda hairy chested beast, it is not it is quite controllable. I just was not doing my part


What I found out about the gun was not much ... other than I cant hold steady enough to to draw any conclusions. I tried grouping it off the bench and got one ragged string about 6" high and 1" wide ( 25 yards supporting my arms on a bag and hand holding the weapon) So I don't think it is actually stringing that much I think I just cant keep a decent bead on a 2" dot with shiny sites windage was fairly consistent (though a couple inches left ) at least I have some fire formed brass to gently resize with a cut down 45-70 Die and try again next week. I have turned this into an every Monday event. I will settle on a load and get her wrung out and shooting good ... and I just heard from MiHec that my new mold is on the way !

oddly enough just off hand standing I was pretty much pop can accurate at say half that distance???!

[got_lead?]

You are a far braver man than I, sir. Would that be the 4 5/8" version?

I have one of the Vaquero's in .44mag, but she's never seen one, nor will she. About 5 grains of bullseye behind a 200 graine special is just about right.

[greywuuf]

Mine is a 5 1/2" and my fun rounds revolve around about 7 grains or so of unique.
but it's stated purpose in life is to be there on my belt when something BAD happens involving a bear a horse or a moose, I has been there I just have never had to draw it yet. I am hoping to wring it out and find a Good load and improve my skill set to the point I can use it if I have to, and then to adjust to the fun loads and try to wear it out ;-)

[subsonic]

What is a Bis-hawk-ero? Bisley Vaquero?

[greywuuf]

What is a Bis-hawk-ero? Bisley Vaquero?


yes kinda, it started life as a bisley Vaquero back when they were only offered in two barrel lengths. I had a friend that wanted a 44 Bisley in the worst way , but he wanted the barrel that was NOT offered.

So he bought two a blackhawk and my Vaquero bis, he swapped gripframe and hammer .. maybe the trigger as well, then sold me all of the left over parts at a pretty deep discount

So I have a Bright polished Bisley Vaquero with all of the Bisley Items swapped out for MATT blackhawk Parts. Kinda a Mutt but its mine and I enjoy it.

Dan

[44man]

I keep telling all that the Bisley is NOT made for recoil, it is made to get the barrel more in line with the eye for one hand shooting with light loads.
A light hold with ANY gun is a no, no. NO ROLL IS ALLOWED! The hog leg must be held tight and not allowed to "roll."
A double action also must be held tight.
It doesn't matter if you shoot 800 fps or a lot more, the hold must never change.
Handguns need held just short of muscle quiver and the stronger you are, the better.
Grips are important. I can crunch finger grooves in a Bisley grip and the trigger guard will still get me, same on the wood panels of a SBH. Some get trigger fingers cut. That is because the gun is not held tight and slams into your finger or the gun is too light for the loads. Look hard at gun weight, those short, light barrels are nasty and alloy frames need melted down for pot metal parts.
I can shoot my .500 JRH all day but have shot some .357's and .41's that make me hand them back to the owner. My .475 is a pleasure compared. Even a 1911 from bags can twist my wrist.

[greywuuf]

Back before my ex wife gained custody of my old blued BH in 45 I wanted do have a brass grip frame made up for (Brownells carries them now, but at the time if would have been a custom casting) And being as I am in Alaska I wanted a hemetite (sp) set of grip panels.
Now that I am burdened with a bright polished SS gun, the brass is not so apealing, and I can not afford a nice weighty platinum casting :P


Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

[white eagle]

I don't know Jim a whole bunch of custom gun makers use the Bisley frame
exclusively because it handles recoil so well
I have no trouble with mine

[greywuuf]

the number " free recoil energy" is not affected by the grip shape, weight yes, but that is not the differance in the BIS/BLHW debate. I thinkthe point was " hold on to it" as far as grip shape I am of the mind " use what ya like"

Also it has been pointed out the standard blackhawk and to some extent SAA shape is almost imposible to hold tightly it just dont meet the ergo realities of the human hand. Also it has been pointed out that the ORIGINAL intent of the "Bisley" grip was as a target shooter,( named after the famous target shooting venue ) NOT handling recoil.

All that being said, I have shot a Lot more Black hawk grips and am comforatable with them. I would however not mind some extra weight, we are talking a full power belt weapon, not a concealed carry.

My SS gun is better in that regard than was my original Blued 4 5/8" with the ALUMINUM grip frame.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I had a M29 many years ago and the thing hit very hard in the web of the hand. I was good for 12 full house rounds in one sitting. It was accurate but you litterally had to just sit there and "take it" while shooting.

IMHO the Ruger Bisley grip design distributes the recoil in a much more friendly manner than the Smith's frame does. And the Colt too. It has more surface area and that plates out as less lbs per Sq In. Just like a bigger butt spreads out the recoil on a rifle more than a small one does.

This fact, and obviously the cost, are the two major reasons why so many Custom Makers use this gun as the basis for the big hand cannons.

My Biz is much kinder to my hands than the Smith ever was, mainly because of the grip design. Also it should be noted that Ruger engineers were keenly aware of this issue when they designed the grip frame on the Bisley, and you'll notice it only loosely resembles the Colt Bisley. It was more about recoil mitigation than styling, although the styling was done well also.

I personally think it looks better than a real Colt Bisley,,,,, but that's just me.. I sure like both of mine. I might even get more of them.

Randy

[frank505]

The Ruger Bisley works well for people who do not mind the trigger guard whacking the middle finger just behind the middle joint. Ask Lloyd Smale how many operations he has had on that knuckle............ Me, I just added some metal, moved the trigger guard forward and made two like this that I can shoot real snorty loads out of these 45"s. And I wear an XL glove because I cannot find a 2x glove.

[greywuuf]

I guess someday I need to spend some ore time with a Bisley, only trouble is my guns Bisley frame resides on the original owners 44 BH about 300 miles to the south of here. we don't get together to shoot much anymore.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Frank,,, isn't Linebaugh in Cody WY? He does Bisley alot.

I personally don't have any problem with the guard hitting my other fingers but I hold the gun farther down the grip so I can get my support hand thumb locked down over my strong hand thumb and still work the hammer. My middle finger is well below the trigger guard.

Everybody has to figure out every gun for themselves. I just takes shooting it and overcoming the problems in a way that best suits the individual.

You should have seen me trying to figure out how to run a CZ40 for IDPA. My solution to the many problems with handling this gun was a GLOCK!

Randy

[44man]

I owned a Bisley .44 SBHH for a very short time. It was sensitive to hold and made the tendons in the back of my hand hurt from the back punch. Whit's does the same to me not to mention the middle knuckle pain.
The S&W 29 never hurt me like this and a few hundred thousand rounds from them was fun except for the checkering leaving marks in my palm.
The hog leg raises my hands without the punch and I can shift my grip without missing a target. I like the Pachmeyer grips best.
Some like a Bisley and some also hate them. It is not for everyone.
I will always refuse to tell anyone they handle recoil better unless they shoot one long enough to make up their own mind. I listened to many of you and was not happy.

[subsonic]

One common trend on the Bis vs SBH debate:

Bigger hands tend to favor the SBH, smaller favor the Bisley.

I wear "Medium" gloves, and so far I like the Bisley better and I also have never seen any of the extra grip sensativity some talk about with any handgun (except MAYBE snubbies), but maybe it's because my groups with those guns are larger than the amount of change from different hand positions?

I've been working really hard with my .45 Bisley to make it more accurate, but regardless of what I do, save for a few lucky shots, 3" @50yds is about it's or my limit from the bench, but I can stand up and keep 6 shots within 4" of the aiming point, so I guess that's not too bad.

It does have a tjread choke problem an firelapping is next - but it's stainless...

[44man]

One common trend on the Bis vs SBH debate:

Bigger hands tend to favor the SBH, smaller favor the Bisley.

I wear "Medium" gloves, and so far I like the Bisley better and I also have never seen any of the extra grip sensativity some talk about with any handgun (except MAYBE snubbies), but maybe it's because my groups with those guns are larger than the amount of change from different hand positions?

I've been working really hard with my .45 Bisley to make it more accurate, but regardless of what I do, save for a few lucky shots, 3" @50yds is about it's or my limit from the bench, but I can stand up and keep 6 shots within 4" of the aiming point, so I guess that's not too bad.

It does have a tjread choke problem an firelapping is next - but it's stainless...
Grip sensitivity is only learned from certain target shooting like IHMSA. The S&W would shoot 1/2" groups at 50 meters but if you put it down between relays, that 1/2" group could move 10". The group size did not change but the POI did.
The Bisley must also be held exact, the SRH only needs a firm grip, you can shift the hog leg. If you let it "ROLL", it is out the window.
I don't know where the stupid "roll" junk came from. Someone said it gets the hammer closer for a second cock. Junk science!

[subsonic]

Oh, and (knock wood) have never had my middle finger knuckle bashed. I hold as high as possible without interferimg with the cocked hammer. For me, holding high is a necessity to have my index finger on the trigger properly.