I know...I know, dead horse. Maybe I can ask this in a way that isn't so repetitive to previous discussions.

I picked up a .45 Colt Bisley last year. I haven't shot it much cuz I was waiting on components, a mould, and manufacturers to make repairs.

Finally got everything together and shot some moderate 300gr loads today.

OUCH!

I read so much about how well the Bisley handles recoil. I guess everyone that writes that has smaller hands than I. My knuckle got hammered by the trigger guard. Does the plow hand style grip offer a little more distance between the guard and middle finger knuckle?

Any body with large hands (not fat hands, just big--I'm 6'4" with XL hands and long fingers) been through this that can offer some advice?

I have large/average hands and I am not a bisley grip fan. I think the plain blackhawk grip feels a lot better.

Unfortunately if you are ham handed like I am, grip frames aside, the trigger guard will pound your knuckles. It's a recoil thing not the frame. Once I get beyond 357 I get pounded. It's like a nun is rapping my middle finger with the edge of a ruler.

The Plow Handle digs into my palm, the Bisley raps my knuckles.

I believe the square guard Dragoon frame of the Super Blackhawk was expressly intended to get that trigger guard away from your middle finger. My knuckle has been whacked by the plow handle of a .45 Colt Blackhawk but it's never been whacked by a SBH even with the heaviest loads.

The SBH is not available in a .45 Colt from Ruger although the Dragoon frame by iself is. I've never swapped parts on a Bisley so I don't know if you would have to switch out the hammer and possibly the trigger as well.

Unfortunately that doesn't leave you with many quick and easy options if you choose to stay with a .45 Colt although you could just swap the Bisley toward a .44 Magnum SBH or sell the Bisley and buy one.

For the boomers (very heavy 44 Mag's and above) I prefer the Bisley grip frame. No matter the gun, I do not allow it to move in my hand. The wrist or, with the Linebaugh's, elbow roll to absorb the recoil. I make sure that the grips on my Bisley's are lean and fit my hand so I can grab them and not allow movement. Many go to fatter grips to "spread the area" but cannot hold firm and receive the legendary "roll of the SAA". Not what one wants in the boomers. Proper for me grips on a Bisley 44 Mag of mine. My two bits anyway.

I am a Bisley fan myself. I have large mitts, and I like that I can get all my fingers on the frame.

Been shooting single actions for 50 years.

The standard "plow handle" works best for me.

I have medium/large hands.

And "yes" the grip frames on Blakhawks can be interchanged.

Had a super Blackhawk with the square back trigger guard. Couldn't shoot it two handed with out getting my knuckle "bit"

Virgil B.

The solution is obvious.

Instead of trading handles on your revolver, you need to trade hands with another shooter!

I love the Ruger Bisleys especially on the hard kickers...but even on my .22 I'm a fan...

Sounds like it.

I may see if I can pick up a plow handle frame to try out. I really wanted the single action for the .45 Colt cartridge. I already have a .44 Mag in a Redhawk and truly love that platform. If I could have found a Redhawk in .45 Colt, I wouldn't be asking this question.

I like it. I'd give you extra points if it is a WMR.

There are many right answers in the outdoors. I have big hands and really like Bisleys. I have an original Colt from 1906 in .45 LC. I like to just look at it.

Bisley, Bisley, Bisley, Bisley the masses chanted

I have big hands also, on my Colt SAA my pinky finger can't fit on the grip, on my old style Ruger Bisley they all fit and gun shoots great.

No matter how hard I have tried, I cannot shoot well with any of the single action revolvers. 329PD with finger groove style grips did OK for me, but with my XXL hands a 1911 grip is really the only good option. Thus, my Delta Elite with heavy bulleted handloads for my only 'big' handgun. If I cannot do it with that handgun, I need a rifle. As well, I just cannot get used to the look of the Bisley styled guns. Interesting to read others realities with various handguns.

Worst knuckle buster I have fired, and I still have it because it is SO handy and useful, is our P3AT with Buffalo Bore +P+ 100gr loads. Major league ouch factor with that mouse gun.

I have small hands and couldn't shoot my Bisley 44 Special for beans. Sold it to a guy with mitts and got a plow handle model. ALL my Ruger SA guns are plow handle, and I prefer the original small grips of the flattops the best of all.

I don't load grizzly stomper loads, although I have shot custom Blackhawks in .45-70, 444 Marlin, 375 Winchester, 475 and 500 Linebaugh. All those guns had plowhandle grips and I quickly learned that the only safe way to shoot them was with a gentle grip, one-handed. A strangle grip and tense forearm was guaranteed to snap bones - and a two-hand grip would plant the hammer spur in your forehead.

I never cared for how the plow handles felt or recoiled in my hand. Once I shot the Bisley - I was hooked!! I also much prefer the lo-pro hammer on the Bisley Blackhawk.....

I've never had a problem with the "Plow Handle" grip and like the original Colt the best. I don't care for the "feel" of the Bisley, but I really don't like the looks of the Bisley and that may be influencing my overall dislike.

Bisley-smisly, they beat my knuckle and also are sensitive to hold. The SBH square guard is horrible so I put Pachmeyer grips on them. BFR standard rubber Uncle Mike grips are the best for the heaviest recoil. Keep your smooth, shiny, pretty grips for head and finger bashers.
The plow handle with proper grips are best and the most accurate.

The Bisley grip is no more sensitive to hold than any other grip and to claim so is simply ridiculous. The over size grips on the plow handle reshape the back of the grip more like a Bisley and position many too far from the trigger which means the grip must be rotated for the trigger finger. A grip that properly fills the hand spreads the recoil over a larger area making the felt recoil feel less

"The SBH is not available in a .45 Colt from Ruger although the Dragoon frame by iself is. I've never swapped parts on a Bisley so I don't know if you would have to switch out the hammer and possibly the trigger as well."

Hammer has to be ground to fit the grip, but can be used.

Jerry

One of the nice things about wood grips on SA revolvers is that you can file/sand them down to fit your hand. I "ruined" a pair of Ruger factory grips finding the grip profile that fit best for me, and that made shooting heavy loads much more comfortable. FWIW, Cary Chapman's custom grips are much thinner in profile than the standard Ruger grips, and in my hands are much, more comfortable with heavy loads.

Having the sights lie closer to your hand is never a bad thing...which is probably why I like the Bisley and DA Smiths and Colt Anacondas.

A friend had a SBH and ditched it for a 44 Bisley....because the trigger gaurd mashed his knuckles with heavy loads. Go figure.

I hear you there Mark and I'm just the other way around. I have small hands with very short fingers. I have found that I can't shoot double actions well at all except for small frame S & W .22lr kit guns. The best frames for me are single action and 1911. I do well with my 5 1/2 barrel SBH which has a round trigger guard but I only shoot moderate loads. I never have tried a Bisley.

I once converted a SBH .44 magnum to a Bisley grip. Much more better for me.

I've got 4 ruger blackhawks, 357,41mag ,an SBH and a 45LC bisley I like the bisley well enough but the other three have herret grips and that does the trick for me

plab

I'm 6'5" and have XXL hands also.

I've got 2 older Vaqueros in the Bisley frame, one 44Mag and the other 45Colt. Also have an older Vaquero plow handle in a 45Colt.

When shooting the heavy loads, 300g in the above the Bisleys make a HUGE difference in felt recoil and to date I'm not getting the crap kicked out of my knuckles. I don't shoot anything very hot at all in the plow handle at all. Knuckels come away from the plow handle looking like hamburger when shooting the hot 300g so it gets a steady diet of very mild loads.

Interesting that the lads that do the conversions to the super calibers, 475's etc., all start out with an Old Ruger Bisley Vaquero. They must have figured it out !!!!!!

Interesting as I have found quite the opposite and the couple of sets I have bought from Cary, the first probably 10 years ago, have either been leaned or replaced by Alan Harton to fit my mitt properly, a rather large mitt too. Just goes to show that parts of a gun fit an individual like parts of, oh never mind....

ditto

I have a BH 45 Colt in a Plow handle.

I always wanted a Bisley but I I just mite stay with a Plow handle

Snake

Yeah, I could add to that line of though, but perhaps shouldn't...

But on the matter of grips... it's really an individual thing, and not just based on the size of your hands. F'rinstance, years ago I bought a pair of Miculek grips for my IDPA gun. EVERYBODY was raving about them. Even though I have fairly large hands, I found them to be fat and ugly, and very difficult to get a consistent grip on at the beginning of my drawstroke. I switched back to my Skeeter Skelton type "coke bottle" grips, and have stuck with that style for most of my DA revolver shooting. A couple years ago when I acquired my 625 Mountain Gun it came with some lovely, big fat aftermarket "magnum" grips that beat the [bleep] out of the MCP joint of my right thumb. I switched out to some nice thin Pachmayr Decelerators, and the pain magically went away...

Another vote for the Bisley grip frame, if you're using a single action. I had a .44 mag SBH some years ago and got rid of it in favor of N frame Smiths. I have three N frames, and one Ruger .480 SRH. The SRH with 350's at 1350 is about all the DA revolver I want

I have "Ruger Only" .45 Colt loads in a Bisley, and it was no big deal.

I confess I have both a Bisley and a NMBH in .45 Colt. The Bisley beat the knuckle of my size 11 paws. I tried several grips, both thicker and thinner. I found that even with my mitts, smooth Eagle Gunfighter grips work well for me. They are thinner than factory grips, but they allow my fingers to rap around the grips a little more and I don�t rap the knuckle with the trigger guard.

I also have Eagle Gunfighter grips on my NMBHs. I have done comparison testing with identical, fairly heavy loads in both the Bisley and NMBH and to me, there isn�t much difference. Others may see it differently. I prefer the XR3-RED grip of the NMBH: it rolls a little more in the hand, but I prefer that myself.

I've got larger than average paws. I don't like the bisley grips either. The old plow handle is more comfortable for me, and I shoot more accurately with it.

I've got larger than average mitts and prefer the Bisley, go figure.

I've got average? hands, I can't stand the Bisley grips!?, they just feel wrong to me?, my Vaquero 44Mag has the plow grips and I have no issues cranking off several cylinders of the full house stuff!?, my Blackhawk 357, Single Six and Bearcat all have plow grips, granted the 22's have minimal recoil but all I see with the Blackhawk is some extra muzzle flip, the Vaquero has a HEALTHY muzzle flip.