The mailman just delivered my new (to me) Lipsey's NMBH Bisley Flattop 44 SPL, 4 5/8" blued. This one dates to 2015. The Gunbroker seller photographed it and shipped it dusty and dirty (literally) which probably saved me some $$. In his photos, it did not look too impressive, and in the ad he didn't bother with much of a description of the condition. In a private message he told me that the previous owner had carried it around in a holster some, but only fired less than a box of ammo (kind of like the car that the little old lady only drove to church on Sundays, LOL). I took a chance knowing that I could easily resell it if needed, and recoup my money. I just gave it a thorough cleaning and inspection (to the best of my ability), and it looks great ! It has some mild holster wear on the sharp edges in the expected places, but other than that it could almost pass for NIB/factory test fire only. The crown shows no wear, blueing completely intact, front of cylinder holes the same. Cylinder turn line is faint. Bore and cylinders look like mirrors once cleaned. Cylinder gap is .004". Chamber throats appear to be at least .4305. I don't have pin gauges yet, but .430 bullets (Hornady XTP and Missouri Keith)drop thru freely, only occasionally needing a very slight nudge to get them to pass. Cylinder lockup is very tight front to back and side to side. In all respects fit is better than my new production 45 Colt convertible Bisley, including the trigger. It probably will not need any trigger work, unlike the 45 which has significant creep and will probably need some work to be satisfactory. Underneath the grips everything was spotless. It did not include any box or papers, which probably helped the price, but I wanted it as a shooter, so that didn't matter to me.
Until recently I have not been very interested in revolvers, but for years I have had my eye on this Lipsey's model because I have always thought it was "just right" with regards to caliber, frame size, Bisley grip. I have always been a fan of Elmer and the #5, and this is pretty close to his ideas. In fact, one of my biggest gun related regrets is that I did not get a TLA Grover's Improved #5 when they were in production. I came close several times, but did not "pull the trigger".
I got rained out today, but may get to shoot it Sunday, looking forward to it. I think I will christen it with some Skeeter loads. I also have inbound a 5.5" stainless model, I hope it proves to be as nice as this one. I think it is a 2017 model.