Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Bisley

The Ruger Bisley feels great to me when the grips are well fitted and thinner and much rounder than factory's. As I wrote, for me they are a must on the thumpers.

Beautiful, as is the lanyard ring.

Cole, any snow out of those clouds. Pittsburg got a skiff of snow. None here. One nice Uberti.

I always wanted Uberti to come out with the DA Lightning in .357 with Birdhead grips and a 3 3/4" barrel for a truck gun. Storekeeper's/Sheriff's model.

Those grips and the lanyard give Tony's Bisley that Gary Reeder look.

AHHH!!!! Don't use Reeder name to describe my Bowen gun.

That is a very nice Uberti. I have never owned or even fiddled with one so know squat about them. Are they put together pretty well?

Usually. I'd put them on a par with Ruger in that regard. When you get a good one they're as good as a Colt, but sometimes you'll get one that needs some stuff. I've got a Remington 1875 that is just fabulous looking and in 44-40. The 44-40 caliber used to be the main one for those replicas-but you never saw one. Then 45 Colt came out and they're all over the place. When I saw this one in 44-40, I snapped it up. Plus it is nickeled, which IME, is fairly rare for the guns too. The only glitch is the cylinder is very tight, to the point that it won't hardly rotate the cylinder. I'm gonna check it out with some factory loads, as all I've tried were reloads and it could be my dies, but there you have (possibly) an example of a glitch.

Anyway, when you compare the price with a Colt or other original...well, there's no comparison. They are made elsewhere though.

Update: Must be my loading because factory 44-40's seem to work. Back to the loading bench on the 44-40.

What is NOT to like about a Bisley?? One fine gun IMHO.

That is a gorgeous Bowen sixgun, Tony! Care to share in some details of the gun's inception and execution? I find with most custom handguns the story behind the why and the how is almost more fascinating than the gun itself.

Who did the grips? Fishpaw? They're beautiful.

Bit your tongue, young man! Barrel band notwithstanding, that gun is a classic Bowen!

No disrespect to Mr. Reeder, mind you. I want one of his custom revolvers some day, too!

Mom and Dad got a bit they said, over in Iola, but I never saw any on the ground here.

That is a beautiful handgun, Tony. I was trying to pay you a compliment. I did not read the Bowen and thought that you did that work yourself. I am a fan of Reeder Rugers. Good luck.

Cole, when you shoot some really heavy recoilers -- not .44 Mags and such, the Bisley makes a huge difference. I'm talking about .475s, .500 Linebaughs, etc. My .50 Alaskan would be unshootable with a plow handle as it would burry the front sight in your scalp every time you touched it off. I agree that they do re-characterize the recoil to mimic a DA revolver to a certain degree.

Yeah, but it does it better. The Ruger Bisley grip is one of the few �perfects� in the gun world. It has the feel and comfort of a DA grip. It allows you to get a good hold on the grip with all fingers, yet still allows the gun to roll in your hand just a bit to soak up the really heavy stuff. I completely agree about the really heavy stuff, the Ruger Bisley grip is THE grip. Freedom Arms missed the mark in my book. I love the Cassul revolver and I�d love to have one if they could be retrofitted with a Ruger Bisley Grip. I find the Freedom Arms version to be VERY uncomfortable.

+1 My new .500 JRH on a Ruger Bisley frame is fun to shoot and comfortable with all loads until I get out to somewhere around 1300fps. Much beyond that point I'm not sure I could call any grip shape comfortable, at least for me.

I'm like Elmer Keith...any game that burns powder is good, so more power to y'all. But if I need that much gun, I'm either going to something like a Contender or getting a rifle. I've pawed an X frame and admittedly was curious, but past a hot-loaded 45 Colt (and I'm not talking BEYOND hot loads-I'm talking the "Ruger/Contender Only" loads found in the Reloading Manuals of twenty years ago, I'm just not interested. I'm not interested in getting my wrist fused or some such. So the rolling thing is cool with me-or the Bisley acting more like a Smith.

I gotta agree with you on the cartridge choice. I don't care for anything more than the Ruger .45 Colt loads in the manuals. I don't shoot anything with a pistol that requires more killing than that.

Not to disparage anyone but Hamilton (as in Bowen) simply plays at a level above the rest.

I remember a day in Roggan Colorado when Ross Seyfried decided it was time to find out how much Win 296/ HogdonH110 with a 350gr bullet it took to crack a factory 6 shot Ruger Bisley in 45 Long Colt.

Ross�s job was to load more and more powder in the gun and shoot it wearing glasses and a facemask.

Hamilton would measure the cylinder and decide if anything had moved from the last shot.

My job was to be quiet and try and not to get in the way.

The drill went as follows:

Ross loaded lots of powder under a LBT 350gr LBT WLN and then donned the safety gear which was a set of heavy gloves and a grinding mask and safety glasses.

Hamilton and I would then cower in Ross�s Toyota truck and Ross would shoot the load though the Ohler 35P.

After we decided that Ross had not suffered any catastrophic damage Hamilton would then measure the cylinder to see if we had moved anything.

The test ended when Ross had loaded so much Win 296/ H110 into the case that even if we literally ran outside to shoot the cartridge as soon as possible the pressure from the massive amount of powder in the case had pulled the crimp and the velocity was down from the last shot.

We never could load enough Win296/H110 behind a 350gr LBT WLN to move the cylinder in that factory Ruger Bisley.

I have a few of those 350 grainers that a guy by the name of John Burns loaded and gave to me quite a few years ago. I fired one to see if my Ruger could handle them and keep the others for any time I am in big bad country. Never had a reason to fire another one but I'm glad I got 'em just in case.

How were they loaded, John?

How would I know?? I was huffing glue and paint back then and can�t remember anyting.