Bisley SBH

[castmiester]

Is Bisley a grip type frame or can I order the grips for a standard Black Hawk ?

[rkrcpa]

It's a completely different grip frame.

[castmiester]

It's a completely different grip frame.

is this grip really that good? On the inside it's more curved, designed to reduced felt recoil ?

Do I have to special order a SBH for a scope barrel mount ?

[Thumbcocker]

The fans of the Bisley say it has a more straight back recoil as opposed to the twisting / rotation of the plow handle. If your scope mount replaces the rear sight it should work fine. The only differences between the Bisley and the standard SBH are the grip frame, trigger, and hammer.

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[castmiester]

The fans of the Bisley say it has a more straight back recoil as opposed to the twisting / rotation of the plow handle. If your scope mount replaces the rear sight it should work fine. The only differences between the Bisley and the standard SBH are the grip frame, trigger, and hammer.

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Originally the Bisley was developed as a target gun.... so if I get a non Bisley for hunting I won't be shooting it enough to be be concerned ? But the way you describe it, twisting/rotating would throw off accuracy ? Enough to discourage or it really wouldn't matter ?

[Thumbcocker]

The Ruger Bisley is totally different from the old Colt Bisley. The Ruger is closer to the Elmer Keith #5 grip frame. Skeeter Skelton had input on its final shape. Fans of the plow handle say that the rotation reduces felt recoil and places the hammer near the thumb for cocking it for the next shot. Full disclosure, I am a Bisley fan boy. The SBH's I own wear Hogue grips. I prefer that the gun not rotate. Excellent shooting can be done with either grip style. I feel that handguns are personal and the owner should do whatever they like that helps them shoot the gun well. I am a fan of trigger jobs.

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[rkrcpa]

is this grip really that good? On the inside it's more curved, designed to reduced felt recoil ?

I have large hands and prefer the Bisley grip for heavy recoil management.

Bisley Grip frame
https://i.imgur.com/M2EndEM.jpg

Super Blackhawk Grip Frame
https://i.imgur.com/KFeS83F.jpg?1

[Tatume]

Without explanation, some people like the Ruger Bisley and some don't. I have many Super Blackhawk 44 Mag revolvers, and bought a Bisley. I don't like it, and haven't fired more than 10 shots with it. It's just sitting my my gun safe.

[Thumbcocker]

I would highly recommend that the OP find a way to shoot guns with each type of grip. There doesn't seem to be a lot of middle ground.

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[Tatume]

Agreed.

[castmiester]

True, but that's not an easy task. My biggest thing is I have to apply for another permit to trade one in I don't like. Sux.

[Thumbcocker]

Is there a gun shop where you could handle both types of gun?

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[castmiester]

Is there a gun shop where you could handle both types of gun?

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no not locally, there's not, other wise I would. I'm trying at other shops out of state close by but can't get them on the phone first. I don't feel like driving all over the place just to handle guns without knowing first if they have them in stock.

[Electrod47]

I own several single actions both in your usual cowboy configuration and Bisley...I enjoy both. Though, the plowshare is my favorite. To me, it has a much better feel cocking. With the plowshare you can use the weight of the muzzle to speed up the cocking. The Bisley has a shorter cocking stroke but, its all hand strength.
When I was a younger man I fancied myself a regular Bronco Billy. The Bisley would have never worked for me then.
Today, I have plenty of time for the Bisley's

[castmiester]

I own several single actions both in your usual cowboy configuration and Bisley...I enjoy both. Though, the plowshare is my favorite. To me, it has a much better feel cocking. With the plowshare you can use the weight of the muzzle to speed up the cocking. The Bisley has a shorter cocking stroke but, its all hand strength.

Speed up cocking would be good for hunting.... so you cock as the muzzle lifts? Bisley would be good for at the range and would muzzle rise enhance hammer cocking?

[Thumbcocker]

Speed of cooking has never been an issue for me in a hunting setting. I cock the gun when I see or hear a critter coming and put the thumb of my support hand between the hammer and the frame. Plow handle fans say yeah that frame places the shooting hand thumb closer to the hammer. I almost never shot a heavy recoiling handgun one handed.

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[murf205]

Are you pretty well set on a single action? If you buy a Super Red Hawk, they come with brute strong rings and easy mounting. I have had both and I am a SRH convert from a long ago. Mine is scary accurate.
I see that you are in NJ. Can you hunt with a handgun in NJ?

[castmiester]

Are you pretty well set on a single action? If you buy a Super Red Hawk, they come with brute strong rings and easy mounting. I have had both and I am a SRH convert from a long ago. Mine is scary accurate.
I see that you are in NJ. Can you hunt with a handgun in NJ?

I thought about the RH yes, cock it anyway, but the double is brutal to break, and I'm not interested in spending more money on a trigger job, so that's why I'm leaning on the BH. But in a dangerous situation the RH would be the way to go. I don't hunt in NJ. PA

[murf205]

My SRH was pretty stiff DA but after a lot of dry firing it is pretty smooth. I Never shoot mine DA anyway since it is strictly a hunting gun as you can see by this pic. 321387

[castmiester]

My SRH was pretty stiff DA but after a lot of dry firing it is pretty smooth. I Never shoot mine DA anyway since it is strictly a hunting gun as you can see by this pic. 321387

break in ? Ok, I'll go for the RH

[257X50]

The Bisley helps with recoil…. On The big guns the rolling of a standard grip will not be pleasant

John Linebaugh built the Big Guns exclusively on Bisley Gripframes

[Thumbcocker]

break in ? Ok, I'll go for the RHAftermarket springs are available and easy to put in if dry firing doesn't give you the trigger you want. Also, Murphy is talking about a Super Redhawk. The Redhawk is a different gun.

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[castmiester]

Aftermarket springs are available and easy to put in if dry firing doesn't give you the trigger you want. Also, Murphy is talking about a Super Redhawk. The Redhawk is a different gun.

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I wouldn't totally rely on dry firing and to say I wasn't satisfied with triggers I pulled for a hunting situation without mods, adjusting was good enough. Comp and target is another story.

So the RH DS triggers are built better than the BH ?

[Thumbcocker]

The Redhawk is a unique design where one spring powers the action. This makes it harder to grt a light trigger pull on than other Rugers. The Super Redhawk is similar to a GP 100 and uses a mainspring and a trigger return spring. The Super Blackhawk uses a trigger return spring and a mainspring. I have done my own trigger work on GP100 and Super Blackhawk triggers. Usually I just take them apart, polish all the engagement surfaces and pivot points with a buffing wheel on a rotary tool and put in a reduced power trigger return spring. I like to leave the factory mainspring to ensure reliable primer strikes. YouTube videos abound on the topic. Properly fitting screw drivers and common sense are all that is required. Kits containing various weights of springs are available from Brownell's at very reasonable prices. Dry firing, with or without spring replacement, is never a bad thing with any centerfire Ruger.

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[castmiester]

The Redhawk is a unique design where one spring powers the action. This makes it harder to grt a light trigger pull on than other Rugers. The Super Redhawk is similar to a GP 100 and uses a mainspring and a trigger return spring. The Super Blackhawk uses a trigger return spring and a mainspring. I have done my own trigger work on GP100 and Super Blackhawk triggers. Usually I just take them apart, polish all the engagement surfaces and pivot points with a buffing wheel on a rotary tool and put in a reduced power trigger return spring. I like to leave the factory mainspring to ensure reliable primer strikes. YouTube videos abound on the topic. Properly fitting screw drivers and common sense are all that is required. Kits containing various weights of springs are available from Brownell's at very reasonable prices. Dry firing, with or without spring replacement, is never a bad thing with any centerfire Ruger.

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Main spring verses the return spring..... pull is the mainspring and return is striking the transfer bar/firing pin? Or is it the other way around?

[gnappi]

The problem I have with the standard BH grip is my pinkie hangs partly off the frame. The Bisley and Dragoon (Square back end of the trigger guard on the SBH) grip give me more purchase on the grip.

Both grip frames do not work with the standard BH grips.

[murf205]

Thumbcocker is right. The same spring that powers the trigger also powers the hammer strike. I owned 3 Redhawks and with the first one, I put the lighter springs in it and it would not reliably set off a primer. They solved that with the SRH but FOR ME.....the trigger is just about right for a hunting revolver when used in single action. If you have a gunshop around you that has one, take a look and if they don't pee down both legs, dry fire it in SA to see for yourself. Only you can make that decision.

[Bazoo]

I favor the XR3-RED grip frame. There is just enough room for my hand. I don't have small hands, but I do have somewhat short fingers for the size of my hand.

I don't care for the aesthetics of the Bisley guns or the grip frames. Silly, but that matters to me.

[HWooldridge]

I am another one who doesn’t like the Ruger Bisley frame. It is not comfortable to shoot in my hands and I much prefer the plow handle guns.

It’s really a matter of personal preference - you’ll either like it or not…

[Iwsbull]

The Bisley grip definitely has a different feel than the standard single action Ruger. I like the Ruger Bisley alright until recoil gets brisk at that point it really hammers my knuckle. Adding some square bottom grip panels help add a little extra grip length on the Bisley as well. The BFR Bisley is really great for recoil management and spares my knuckle even at top end 500L loads. If you find you like the feel of any of the grips you can always order a custom grip frame from Ronnie Wells without having to go through your permit process.

[Elpatoloco]

Speed of cooking has never been an issue for me in a hunting setting. I cock the gun when I see or hear a critter coming and put the thumb of my support hand between the hammer and the frame. Plow handle fans say yeah that frame places the shooting hand thumb closer to the hammer. I almost never shot a heavy recoiling handgun one handed.

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This is Exactly how I do it. Everything I have is plowhandled except my 475 BFR. I hate the way Bisleys look. My 475 is less painful to shoot with the Bisley grip than my plow handle 44s. Both with full tilt loads.

[Abert Rim]

I like the looks of the Bisley, and do think it helps in some small degree with directing recoil straight back, but if you can shoot a Bisley well, you can shoot a plow handle well. Not a deal breaker by any means. In my experience, either of these is preferable to the grip on the Redhawk and Super Redhawk for recoil attenuation.

[Bigslug]

I wouldn't totally rely on dry firing and to say I wasn't satisfied with triggers I pulled for a hunting situation without mods, adjusting was good enough. Comp and target is another story.

So the RH DS triggers are built better than the BH ?

The answer here is probably the one nobody wants to hear - PRACTICE.

It takes a lot of it - both dry and live - to properly program your brain, but the name of the game is to CONSTANTLY correct your sight alignment as you steadily press through the trigger, and that's the same whether it's two pounds of single action or ten pounds of double. Once that lesson really burns in, actual weight of the trigger starts to become largely immaterial between one's ears.

The stock Ruger DA triggers polish up wonderfully with regular use - including dry fire with a little extra lube internally.

As to grip shape, we can describe our impressions to you until the sun explodes, but the reality is your fist will not know what your fist likes until your fist wraps around them. If it takes a couple tanks of gas to figure that out in your current situation, it's money well-spent.

[slam45]

I've been shooting my SBH for just over 43 years now... from the start i never liked the dragoon grip at all... too skinny on top, too wide at the bottom and too short in general, and the square trigger guard bites... i have no complains at all on the regular blackhawk grip, which fits somewhat better, but the regular blackhawk hammer is just not usable and i change those out for the SBH hammer in all cases... 15 years ago or so i got a Bisley grip frame kit and put it on my old SBH... i like it much better... too bad Lyman took over Pachmayr and never did anything with it.. I'd sure like an old school set of presentation grips for the bisley handle, just rubbery enough to tame it a little...

[Ed K]

I don't know that I would agree the Bisley grip frame reduces the twisting of the firearm as previously claimed - maybe help control it a bit.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I started .44ing in 1976 with a S&W M29 8 3/8.I was 26 and could only fire 12 full poop loads in one setting. Most of my loads were Special level. The grip frame on the S&W as well as the Red Hawk hits your hand in the web and that gets old real fast. S&W addressed this in their X frame guns with grips that have 1/2" of padding in that area. These grips also fit L frame and N frame guns. I have a set on my S&W696 .44 Special.

It should be noted that the Ruger Bisley is used as the basis for all of the high end custom mega pistol makers like Linebaugh, Bowen, etc. The reason for this is that the Ruger Bisley grip transfers the recoil energy to the meaty area of your hand below the thumb which easily absorbs the recoil of the heavy hitters like the .475 Linebaugh and .500 Linebaugh.

John Linebaugh passed earlier this year and he is missed, but his website is still up and there are many pictures of his work there.https://www.johnlinebaughcustomsixguns.com/

I have a Ruger SBH Bisley in .44 Magnum that had the barrel shortened to 5" by Terry Tussy. I like it a lot, and can easily fire 40 heavy loads in a Silhouette Match in a morning with no after effects.


Randy

[26Charlie]

I have said tat the Ruger Bisley grip is Ruger’s best kept secret. I have both Super Blackhawks. Far more pleasant to shoot the Bisley. ( .41 Magnums)

[Plumdog]

I have said tat the Ruger Bisley grip is Ruger’s best kept secret. I have both Super Blackhawks. Far more pleasant to shoot the Bisley. ( .41 Magnums)

I agree. I have owned the Super Redhawk (in .480), the Super Blackhawk and the Bisley Super Blackhawk Hunter, and settled on the Bisley as my favorite. I think the trigger is lighter and crisper as delivered, and I don't get banged up and skinned like I did with the other two. The dragoon type trigger guard on the SBH really pounded the second finger. The Bisely comes with scope rings and is cut for them for easy mounting. Loading and unloading is slower than the Redhawk, but I doubt many shooters are in a hurry with these big blammers.