Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Thinking about a 5-1/2 Bisley

mart,

Thank you so much for the information. You have a great deal of experience, and a lot of revolvers, so I expect you know your stuff.

I know I can go a good bit heavier on bullet, which is why I described 45/270 as "heavyish." I've read the trick with revolvers on game is frontal area, to some degree meplat diameter, and enough sectional density to penetrate. I'm not sure what a heavier bullet would buy me on the critters I might encounter, even on "bad angle" shots. I might go a bit heavier depending on what is available. Currently, I do not cast my own. Maybe I should start.

I've heard Ruger's have undersize throats. You'd think they would have fixed that by now. I do have access to gauge pins, so I can measure the throats. I don't know if the pins I have access to are "plus" or "minus", but they should tell me if I need to have the cylinders honed.

Questions:
What is the best way to slug the barrel? I have a micrometer and know how to use it.
Should I slug the muzzle first, and then the entire barrel to see if I have "thread choke"?

Thanks again!

I am just passing on information I've gleaned form other more experienced and more capable handgun shooters.

I use either a 50 caliber round ball or an egg sinker of the appropriate size. You have to be careful with an egg sinker as they are not always pure lead. Sometimes they have some other alloy. The best way to check is with a thumbnail. If you can score it easily with your thumbnail, it's a BHN of 10 or less. Pretty soft lead. If you can lightly score it but with some effort, it's more like 11-16 BHN. If your thumbnail won't score it and it feels almost glassy under your nail it's darn hard. Over 20 BHN. Use a pure lead round ball or a soft egg sinker.

Clean the barrel well and lightly lube with CLP, RemOil, sewing machine oil or other light oil. Seat the ball or sinker at the muzzle and give it a tap with a nylon or brass hammer. That seats the slug so you can use a brass rod or hardwood dowel to drive the slug into the barrel. You'll get a little doughnut of lead that gets sheared off the ball as it enters the muzzle. That's fine. I don't worry much about the muzzle dimensions but you can tap a slug in until it is just a little past flush with the muzzle. Then use a brass screw, threaded into the slug to extract it for your measurements. You do want to push a slug all the way through the bore. Once it's in the bore you should be able to push it with a wooden dowel. If you go slow you'll feel whether there's any tight or loose spots or thread choke as you near the frame. Be sure to catch the slug in your hand or on a soft towel or mat. It sucks to get it pushed through only to have it bounce off the frame and onto the floor. No need to guess how I know that.

You can check for thread choke with a pin gauge. I use a minus set for checking cylinder mouths and thread chokes. That's what is most commonly available. Select a size that will enter just the muzzle and carefully slide it down the barrel with a wooden dowel. It may hang up part way down, indicating a tight spot. Keep a few short pieces of dowel handy to go in from the breech end so you can slide the pin back the other direction if it hangs up. If it hangs up before the frame, drop down a pin size and try again. It should go to the frame and hang up there if there's any choke. Use the same trick with the short pieces of dowel to slide the pin back to the muzzle.

If it has tight or loose spots or thread choking it will benefit from fire lapping. In fact most any revolver will benefit from firelapping. On the Gunblast site there's a link to Fermin Garza's excellent article on fire lapping and the Beartooth Bullets Technical Guide has an excellent run down on how to properly fire lap. I fire lap or will fire lap every revolver I own. I have a few I need to get after but have done several. Accuracy has improved on everyone I've done.

Since you already load for the .58 the .41 Bisley would be a great gun for what you are looking to do...

In 2002 when the standard 7.5" blue Bisley in .41 Magnum was discontinued I had Gary Reeder make up a 5.5" with his modified Bisley Gunfighter grip...it is a very smooth shooter...

Since you reload you can run cast bullets from 165 to 300 grains....

Bob

I recently had Fermin correct two Ruger 32 H&R cylinders for me. Correct (I own a set of pin gauges), quick and fairly priced.

fermincgarza.com

Thanks all for the informative posts.

I may be wrong, but it seems Ruger usually gets the chamber throats right in some calibers, but not in others. Is that the case?

I will say it is a bit irritating to order a new gun in a classic chambering knowing as you do so that having to spend even more to correct chamber throats is very probable. You just know Ruger has a tall stack of complaints about undersized throats in.45 Colt guns!

Yes, and the .41s from what I have read have them right about 99% of the time... The only one I have ever read about was a year or so ago and was surprised as I had never read of anyone complaining about a .41 before...

Bob

^^^^^^^
I believe that between the .41 Magnum, .44 Special, .44 Magnum, and .45 Colt, all will suffice for my desire for a "heavyish" hard cast bullet at 1000-1100. If you keep the sectional density in the 0.19 - 0.21 range, you don't seem to be leaning hard on any of them at 1000-1100. I guess it is leaning on the .44 Special the most, but not so much in a stout Ruger. I believe such loads are easy enough to shoot, yet still let you know you have done something when you touch one off. All should do a fine job on any critter I might encounter. The .357 isn't quite all I want, and the .480 is too much.

In the end, that extra .45 ACP cylinder helped me decide. That and the fact that a 5-1/2 stainless Bisley in .44 Magnum is currently a bit pricey. But even had such been more affordable, I think I would have made the same choice.

Still irritating that there is a good chance the throats will need work!

My first 41 Ruger was a Blackhawk, 6.5 inch. The cylinder throats were good in relation to the bore. The Bisley 41 I have now was undersized. Only 41 I've ever heard of being undersized on the throats. Doug Phillips corrected it for me.

GunDoc,

It is a little irritating that most of their 45 cylinders need work, but it is a simple, quick and inexpensive fix. Doug or Fermin will have it turned around in no time. After reading this thread I got worked up about having a dual cylinder 45 and went out and found a 45 ACP new model cylinder to use with one of my Bisleys. It will most likely have to be fitted but that's okay. Another easy fix. I'll be home later this week from the slope and will see how it fits in either of the guns.

Mart

^^^^^^^^
mart,

Re: Your .45 ACP cylinder. It seems we are sort of "co-enablers." Probably not a unique thing in any endeavor when many have a strong interest!

Best,
Gun Doc

There’s enablers on every forum. And I belong to a bunch of them. Then there’s all the enablers at work and the gun club. I’m surrounded by them.

After all that's been said here, I don't have much to add, except for I frikkin' love my 5-1/2" Stainless Bisley .45 Colt.

And it only has one cylinder............

Potsy, I am with you man! I had Clements do some work on mine to include action job, ream cylinder throats to 0.4525", Taylor throat forcing cone, freewheel the cylinder, pin the ejector rod housing and I have his Patridge front sight and Bowen rear. I have killed 2 black bear and a whitetail doe with mine. It is very accrate. With 2x scope and from the bench with sandbags I have put 10 heavy bear loads into 2" group at 50 yards. Heavy load was either a 335 or 345 hard cast at about 1150 fps.

I also have a 7.5" blued Bisley in 45 Colt with similar work done by a different smith.

Sad thing is the cartilage in my hands is not holding up well. I just had CMC Arthroplasty with an internal brace surgery on my right thumb last week and need to do the left thumb later this year. Not sure my "fixed" hands will still handle these guns.

It sucks getting old.

I’m a fan of the Bisley grip frame. Own two 44’s and two 45’s. I put hogue grips on all of them, they needed a little fine tuning to fit. And I’m not a fan of hogue’s wax finish they use so I stripped them and used an oil finish. Hogue Bisley grips are wider than Ruger factory grips.
Here’s my short barrel pair, no pics of the other two.

Ruf,
I had Bowen to an action job, freewheel pawl, base pin, front and rear sight. Had cylindersmith work the throats over. I'm no pistolero, but I can keep 6 in 2" to 2-1/2" at 25 yards, sandbagged. Usually 286 grain 270SAA's and 9 grains of Universal.
It also likes the same bullet with 20.5 of 2400. It shoots even better with 25 grains of 296, but recoil starts to get un-fun.
I've not truly delved into the heavyweights, but in middle Tennessee, I can't figure what the above wouldn't kill. Hate to admit it, but all I've killed with it is one pig, and that was an "assist".
Hate to hear about the hand trouble. Good news about the old .45 Colt is, she's pretty tame with lighter bullets around 1000fps out of that heavy of a pistol.

It does suck but beats the alternative, right?

The load I used on the deer was with a 290 Keith bullet at about 1000 fps. 55 yard heart shot- plenty accurate.

Those sir, are awesome

This has been a great thread, and I'm not saying that because I started it. I'm saying it because so much good information has been conveyed. I got my questions answered very completely, and I learned a lot extra to boot. I've also seen some great revolver pictures.

Thank you all, so much.
Gun Doc

I agree, great thread. By the way my avatar photo is me and my Bisley with one of the bears (I remembered that I have actually killed 3) I got with that gun.