Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Ruger Bisley 44 Mag

I probably read the same article by Ross Seyfried. In one of his articles I seem to recall he was loading up and shooting some cast bullets in a Bisley Single-Six chambered in 32 H&R.

I always liked his articles.

That sounds pretty close to what I want, I'll give it a try.

I just loaded up 20 rounds using a 250gr cast Keith SWC over 6.0 gr Unique, seated to the top of the forward driving band. I figured that would get the combustion chamber a little smaller, closer to 44 Spl volume. I'll chrono those and see how they do.

The 44/45 Bisley is a great revolver.

I've had two 45's and a friend has one of the original 44 Bisleys from Seyfried's first writings in Guns and Ammo. Before I gave him the 5.5 Stainless 45, his 7.5 44 was his favorite handgun.

Sights closer to the hand and recoil on the palm instead of bits and pieces of the hand, the Bisley Rugers are misunderstood and underrated.

FWW, I'd be seating that bullet foreward rather than aft....

8-8.5 grs. of CFE Pistol is a good replacement for Unique and works with Elmer's H&G 503; IMO better than the RCBS 250 K and Lyman 429421, although those bullets will work well too.

Yep, I mixed up your older Super Blackhawk and the .45 Blackhawk. The SB was the one you loaded some heavies for.

I read all Ross Syfreid's articles back in the olden days when he was heat treating and such, but was just a kid and didn't have money for moulds that weren't available at local gunstores around here. I remember getting some 275 grain Barnes bullets for whatever .44 Mag. I had at the time and thinking I was really getting heavy. lol

I hear ya EE. It doesn't seem so long ago that the 44 was basically 240gr, and the big bullet was the 265gr JFP for the 444 Marlin. When the 300gr first appeared it seemed enormous.

We've come a long way.

I had one of those up until about a year ago. Mine loved the Speer 270's. The Bisley grip was still pretty comfortable with those running at full power.

After I got a Bisley 44 Special, and the fact that my Blackhawk .45 is my favorite, the 44 Mag just didnt get used much, so it went down the road.

Its the first time I have been without a 44 Mag in 29 years.

lmao I almost edited my post or made another one mentioning the 265 grain 444 bullet-which is what I used for my heavy bullet in 44 Mag's for a long time. Either great minds or old-timers. lol

Hmmmmm,,,,,,,,,,old, or wise.......grin.

I too loaded some of the 265s in my early reloading days as a teenager around 1978, with this reloading kit,

After reading Ross Seyfreid's articles, I drooled for a Bisley for years. Finally bought one of the .44s like the OPs. I owned it for about a month and punted it. I discovered that I really don't like the Bisley grip, it's slow and clumsy to draw and fire and it is very butt-heavy, not a feel I like in a handgun. Also, at least with my gun, the front sight was too short. I could screw the rear sight down hard and it'd hit point of aim with 240s, inch high with 250s, and around 8 inches high with 300s which is what I bought it to shoot. It was a failure.

A couple years later, I picked up one of the stainless Bisley Hunters. It wasn't as butt-heavy and I had a taller front sight insert for a Redhawk that allowed me to get it sighted in with 300s. I would probably still have it but Ruger came out with the 5 shot .454 and ... the .44 got sold to fund the .454 purchase. The .454 has a heavier barrel than the first .44. It's still a bit butt-heavy and it is still Bisley-slow and awkward but I appreciate the extra "snot" on-tap at times.

Tom

This 7.5" isn't butt-heavy at all. In the hand it feels a little nose-heavy. The balance point is right at the front frame screw ahead of the triggerguard.

I suppose the longer barrel and smaller 44 bore/chambers leaves a bit more steel forward.

That's funny. Back in the late 60's I loaded hundreds of 30-30 rounds with one of those. Actually they work pretty good for what they are. Little slow but what ever works.

I've still got all my old-school Lee kits in 223, 243, 30-30, and 44Mag.

Probably not a bad idea having those. I may have to look into those again.

I've still got mine in 308 somewhere.

.45

That's nice.

Thanks Shane.

Nice shooting, Shane. I prefer the Bisley over the classic cowboy grip, particularly for stouter loads. Mine is a stainless 45 Colt convertible 5.5". I like the looks of your blued model, too. Great guns.

I'm sure you will be happy with the Bisley. Loads "mild to wild" should be comfortable to shoot. I really like that shortened Super! Looks like a great "working" sixgun.

Dan

I like the shortened Super too. The grip is a bit bigger than the Blackhawk or round triggerguard SBH's that look dimensionally like the Blackhawk, but in steel.

The dragoon style grip feels about right in my hand. The Blackhawk works, but it's almost on the small side for me.