I used to go over to the Old West Gun Room pretty often when I was in grad school. Had to walk a couple of miles because I couldn't afford both my gun addiction and wheels. Bought a lot of little parts to finish "parts guns" I'd acquired in garage sales (remember that?) and from "Shotgun News," the "newsprint internet" (remember that?).
Still have a .44-40 Colt Bisley that I'd bought in Mexico in the late 1950s in excellent shape except that some 'esmit had tried to covert it into a "Tejano" with incorrect SAA parts. Dave just happened to have a new condition backstrap and trigger guard that was about 200 numbers away from the ones on the frame. Quick trade plus a little boot, and I found near-new Bisley grips a couple of months later. Still shoot the old thing with Black Hills "Cowboy" lead ammo. Still deadly, made in 1909 just in time for the Revolution!
"Beesleys" were more popular in Mexico than in the US it seemed to me. Where I was they were called "abrebottelas" (bottle openers") because the lower hammer was so handy to pop beer bottle caps. I never saw one with a bent or broken hammer spur, tho.
Last edited by Mesa; 09/21/22.
