Blackhawks in 45 colt. Are they strong enough for heavy duty loads, what would be a beter choice 4.75 inch or 5.5 inch barrel

The Blackhawk frame will handle anything you want to throw at it, and is oft used for custom conversions in 475 and 500 Linebaugh, et al. I like the shorties, but a longer barrel can be more user friendly in terms of sight radius and muzzle flip, and perhaps a tad more velocity. Get whichever feels right.

Heavier that normal factory loads yes, but don't try to make them into a .454. Several of the loading manuals list +P loads that will work fine in a Blackhawk.

The standard, full size, Blackhawks will take the "Ruger only" loads listed in loading manuals.

The Flattop Blackhawks in .45 Colt will not. I recommend reading Brian Pearce's article on the strength of the .45 Colt Flattop Blackhawk if you intend to buy that model.

As for barrel length, it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer 5.5" because I usually carry my revolvers in a chest holster, and I like the longer sight radius and slightly less muzzle jump the longer barrel gives. The ballistic difference between the two barrel lengths is immaterial in real world use. If you can, try both before you buy and buy the barrel length that feels the best in your hand.

Its mainly going to be a packing gun. I have a super blackhawk hunter for a main hunting gun

I recently picked up a Ruger Bisley convertible in 45 colt, and also comes with a 45ACP cylinder. The ACP cylinder makes it a little more versatile and could benefit more family members, was my intent. It's in stainless with a 5.5" barrel, and handles loads recommended only for Ruger, FA, TX and Anaconda very well and accurately, the little I've shot it so far. I like the Bisley grip. It doesn't pivot in my hand like a standard Blackhawk does with hotter loads. I haven't owned a single action for a long time, but believe this one will be a permanent fixture.

Another vote for the Bisley grip



A belt Mountain base pin just arrived for it, so I am slowly collecting the stuff to shoot it

Ricky where did you find the bisley?

Mine is a Williams Shooters Supply Distributor Exclusive 5 1/2 inch Bisley in .45 Colt that is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

+1 on the bisley. Handles recoil much better. I had a 45 colt convertible and it was a fine shooter. Had to have the cylinder throats reamed out in mine which seems to be fairly common. Cylindersmith.com did a nice job for about $50. Improved accuracy a good bit. The rugers will take stout loads, I was loading my 45 colt with a 335 gn cp bullet at around 1150. Had some room to go hotter but didnt see the need.

I have a 5.5 44 SS SBH and now a 45 colt SS bisley blackhawk. I so much prefer the Bisley grip, that the SBH will go down the road as soon as I get around to it.

The 5.5 Bisley comes with the high front sight which lets the me shoot heavies without modification, although I did add a Bowen rough country rear sight for its white outline. I also did the cylinder throats from the cylindersmith. He was less than a week from door to door.

As for me, my use is going to be deer and eastern black bear so I am hoping to get a 255 swc (cheap) and a 265 WFN for hunting to shoot to the same place at hopefully a mild 1100-1150 fps.

Yesterday I received my DiamondD chest holster for it. I am barely 100 rounds down the tube and I can tell I am going to love it.

The 4-5/8" bbl and 5.5" bbl are slightly handier sizes, if you're looking for a general packing pistola. If you want to shoot the "Ruger Only" loads listed in the reload manuals, you'll want to stick with the fullsize frame, and avoid the medium frame flattops available now & then from Lipsey's.

But truth to tell, you don't need the really heavy loads to get done what needs doing. A cast 255-260 gr bullet at 950-1000 fps muzzle velocity will cut through a whitetail from left shoulder to right hindquarter 9 times out of 10 and it won't beat your hands & wrists up at the range.

I used to run 300 gr bullets at 1300+ fps out of my Bisley because that's what all the macho revolver gunwriters were saying you needed to do. After a few years of that I decided enough was enough and everything I've shot since then has been with a much more sedate loading.

Brian Pearce's article on handloads for the medium-frame Lipsey's guns lines up pretty well with the kinds of power my favorite 45 Colt loads have. 255-280 gr bullets at about 1000-1100 fps. These are safe in the medium frame guns, and work just as well in the fullsize frame guns too.

I really like the looks of tge stainless bisley from williams. Just cant find a williams dealer around here

There are almost always several on gunbroker, both regular .45 Colt and .45 Colt/.45 Auto convertibles.

Take your pick.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=343273923

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=343148155

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=342904177

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=343606037

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=343503723

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=343073761

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=343934049

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=343538678

The Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt is about as good as you can get in a Single Action Revolver. My personal choice is the 4.75 inch barrel . My carry and hunting load is the RCBS 270 gr SWC Keith Type Bullet with Titegroup and CCI 300

Sure do enjoy my Bisley Blackhawk

It is a great tool...

Do you have some grips planned with that wood? That block looks like it could be stunning. I have tried to do grips twice and have yet to be satisfied with the results, I can get a nice fit on everything but something is off on the grip dimensions and I can never get them to feel right.

I have an even nicer piece of claro walnut that I am going to use. Jack Huntington does a beautiful Bisley that is recontoured and the grips are made to fir your hand. Here is a set he did for my .500 Maximum -- in this picture they're not done yet, but close. This is the treatment I will have done to the .45 Colt Bisley. Eliminated the knuckle busting almost completely. Below it is the piece of claro walnut I will be using.

Well i bid on a stainless bisley and am sonfar winning it, we will see this is the firat time i have ever bid on a gun

That's yummy looking wood

I have noticed that Ruger is overall doing a nicer job on these, too, compared to the one I owned ten years ago. The stainless finish is very smooth and even, with a nice luster. The much hated safety warning is now on the underside of the barrel, where it is much less noticeable than in the past, when it was on the side of the barrel.

I installed the Belt Mountain #5 pin. On a past gun in 2002 I found the factory pin measured .2470". On this one it measures .2482". The new Belt pin checks .2490", and is a little fussy to get fitted. At least on this gun, it would have to be polished if it were any larger. The #5 style makes it a little easier to grasp. The cost is modest, and they are still worthwhile, despite Ruger's improvements.

Bea, What stocks are those?

You've already gotten some good info.

I want to send along a caution, though. The blued .45 4-5/8" guns are being shipped with front sights that are too short. Even with cowboy loads, with the rear sight screwed down hard, my last gun still shot high. With 300s and a max-ish load of Win 296 I was well over 8 feet above point of aim at 100 yards.

It took the gun out of the realm of usefulness for me.

Late stainless guns (now out of production) came with a much taller sight which was tall enough, however, they had steel grip frames rather than aluminum putting the weight along side the .44 mag versions which took away the advantages they could have had.

Tom

They are double tough no-nonsense hunting revolvers very reasonably priced IMHO, 5.5" would be my choice for a hunter, the 335 gr Cast Performance WFNGC's at 1200 fps would do it all.

Gunner

It "would" for sure, but we all know you're not stopping at 1200.....

FWIW, I went through an internal debate about having my 5.5" Bisley leave the stable. It's going to get some "extras" instead.

George

Im still winning the auction on gun broker

I am pretty sold on em! Only own 6 of them. Mine all like Tightgroup & Unique with 260 grain LBT Cast Bullets going anywhere from 900 FPS in my Flattops up to 1350 fps with WW-296 and 300 grain LBT WFN in my Bisley Models built by Clements and Bowen. They are all very accurate! Some of them are even more accurate than my Freedom Arms .454 Causull. I much prefere the 5.5" barrel lengths, but I've got ever barrel leng Ruger ever made. Usually pack mine around in a Old El Paso Saddlery Tom Three Persons here at the ranch, with a CCI Snake load / shot shell as the first round in the chamber.
I've dispatched several big rattlesnakes up to 6' long & tons of feral hogs. Hard to beat a Ruger in .45 LC for the money, reliability, & accuracy. I prefer the Bisley grip for heavy hunting loads, as it is more control-able & less punishing with the heavy hunting loads. For lite loads or original .45 LC velocity, I prefer the Flattops.

It like a bad dug addiction... Buy one of em & your hooked! Hope you enjoy!

For balance and shootability, I like my 4 5/8" barreled Ruger Vaquero with black micarta Birdshead grips.

I blame this place. People like George convinced me to get the superblackhawk hunter in 44 then Greg and Keith. And some others coaxed me into tryingbthe cast bullet thing and yea now I need a bisley in 45 colt

Yep! No shortages of "bad" influences here on the Fire

They may be bad influences, but are definitely good people and i hope to meet them someday

No doubt.

John Linebaugh has written some good articles on what can be achieved with the .45 Colt, even with "mere" S&W Model 25s.

As to the front sight height, the other problem is that on the blued ones, the front sight is one unit and is soldered on (at least mine is), rather than screwed as on the SS ones. This means that installing a taller sight requires a trip to the gunsmith to grind the old sight down and dovetail the base for a new FS. Mind you, Rugers are reasonably priced and can be got used so that shouldn't break the bank. Still, it would be nice to have replaceable blades on the blued ones as well, as Ruger knows perfectly well what the Blackhawk is capable of with heavy bullets. I don't need to load 300 gr. bullets but I wouldn't mind putting an XS-type white line sight on mine, or a gold bead.

Stuart

I had a 5.5" stainless Bisley convertible that looked just like the one ten_in_cal posted a picture of.

My heavy load was a 310gr LBT from Leadheads at 1250 fps. Amazing how well these shot at 100 yards, but I never killed an animal with it. What really surprised me was how well the 45 ACP cylinder and loads shot. Absolute tackdriver!

I think Ruger fixed the tight cylinder throats several years ago, but its something to be aware of.

I sold the Bisley and Super Blackhawk. Just too much extra weight in the mountains and canyons. But as a range-toy, the Bisley was a lot better at handling recoil compared to the SBH for me.

Jason

Mine (NM Blackhawk, blued, 4 5/8" barrel) had the opposite problem- they were too big! Fortunately Ruger Customer Service came through and they replaced the cylinder, even though I was not the original owner.

"I sold the Bisley and Super Blackhawk. Just too much extra weight in the mountains and canyons. But as a range-toy, the Bisley was a lot better at handling recoil compared to the SBH for me."

Jason... what did you replace it with?

"Jack Huntington does a beautiful Bisley that is recontoured and the grips are made to fir your hand."

Whitworth... Beautiful wood. What does JRH do? Give a little more room between the grip and your finger?


Jerry

Tough to beat a 5 1/2" Bisley 45 Colt, especially when sitting along side a bottle of sweet tea.

I'm not buying that sweet tea story, Ed!

Some day you need to drop by so I can prove it.

It's good to see you repented your evil ways before it was too late.

I got the can't helpits for a lanyard ring for mine.

on the 'FPS' stoppage , cant wait to see the finished project, would make a fine Tennessee sausage drill.

Gunner

Those lanyards leave a very purty linear tattoo on the rising green/purple egg knot, I mean, should ya have to warp a crackhead er sumptin LOL.

Gunner

I'm not like that anymore, Gunner. I'm one of the civilized tribes.....

"Civilized" is relative......certainly more than Jim and I, but less than, say, Bob. That isn't a bad place to be!

SURE you are , correct George, ole CT's in da right spot.

Gunner

Wiffle ball bat wrapped in a towel leaves no marks

I got it on Gunbroker from this guy, who I see has another for sale:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=344061467

I had never done business with him before or since but it was a good transaction.

FIXT.

Gunner

Ricky. Im bidding on one now. And in the lead so my fingers are crossed


Gunner. Im going to remember that during updates next weekend be a great conversation topic during "professional development".

Good luck. I saw you mentioned you were bidding on one after I answered your question.

Be aware, most sales on the auction sites are won in the last minute or less. Gunbroker doesn't let bidders do that and adds 15 minutes to the end of auction time each time a new bid is placed in the last 15 minutes. Even so, auctions for popular items often get into bidding wars once that 15 minute threshold is crossed and can go on for hours sometime.

Keep your eye on it when the auction comes to a close if you want it and are willing to bid more.

Im willing to go up a bit on it. But not much. If i loae this one im going to try and find a dealer who deals through williams and just order one

Jerry,

At the time I sold the Bisley, I already owned a Ruger SP101 in 357 Magnum so I carried it while hunting the next season. I love big-bore sixguns, but they never stay long. I get tired of the bulk of the 6-shot cylinder, and the weight. I like range-toys, but I can't justify them right now. I just need firearms that go into the field with me day after day. If money were no object, I would have kept the Bisley just for fun!

Maybe I'm a wimp, but after a few miles in rough country, a 40+ ounce sixgun gets old! At the end of the day, it feels like a boat anchor. If I hunted flat terrain, it probably would not matter as much.

Over the past few years I've carried these as back-ups while bow and rifle hunting, or just out scouting/hiking, etc:

1. 4-5/8" 44 Super Blackhawk (factory 240gr JSP)
2. 4" S&W 625 Scandium 45acp (255gr hardcast, ~900fps)
3. Kahr 9mm (147gr FMJ)
4. Glock 30(230gr)
5. Taurus Ti 5-shot 44 Spl (200gr GDHP or 240gr JSP handloads)
6. SP101 357 magnum (158gr GDHP)
7. 4" S&W 629 (300gr XTP, 1200 fps).
8. I know I'm forgetting a few others!

Out of those, none have taken a big game animal. I did use the SP101 to finish an elk last year with a 158gr GDHP to the skull (no exit). Dropped the elk on the spot with a high shoulder shot from my rifle, then finished it with the .357. I may load some 158gr hardcast for that revolver.

Out of those handguns listed, the one thing that I realized for "ME", is that my limit is ~25 ounces carried on the hipbelt of my pack, or a fanny pack that rests over the hipbelt of my pack. The Scandium 625 (on hipbelt only), Glock 30, SP101, and Taurus Ti 44 could be carried all day and I wouldn't notice them.

The 625 was light enough, but still bulky. The Glock was ok, but one time the mag release got bumped some how and the mag could have fallen out. The mag release was protected so I have no idea how it got hit. The 5-shot Taurus was awesome. Light, narrow with the 5-shot cylinder, but it failed to fire one day. This was the only Taurus that I've ever owned, I avoided them like the plague. Thought this one was perfect until it shat the bed. No more Tauri for me.

"IF" I used a chest holster like the Diamond D Guides Choice, I bet I could handle the extra weight. But, I don't like the idea of my bowstring getting hung-up on the gun or holster.

Here in Oregon, we only have black bear and mountain lions... and wolves, tweakers, etc. I think people are probably the biggest threat. We have had bear and lion attacks here, but not too many. I feel ok with a .357, especially with hardcast. If I lived where there were grizzlies or coastal browns, then maybe I'd change my opinion although Shoemaker claims that a 357 is fine if you can shoot it well. I think I'd make sure my rifle is handy!

Jason

Forgot to add...

If I did get another big-bore to carry, I'd really like to handle the FA 97 in 45 Colt with the barrel chopped and rounded grip. Cost is high and COAL is limited, but I'd bite the bullet and pay the cost for it or something similar.

Jason

Show nuff neighba, glad to be of some resistance.

Gunner

Well the bisley auction got to expensive, however I won an auction for a standard new model blackhawk in 45 colt. 405.00. Dealer is in my state and about 2 hours away

You'll be a happy fella. Now if you decide to stoke 'er up you can get some nice replacement base pins from Belt Mountain that resist backing out under stiff recoil. I've got one coming this week. My loads aren't that hot but I've heard such good things about Kelye's stuff that I couldn't resist.

I really wanted the bisley but this one is a deep blue finish with white micarta grips. I will probably start pimpin it out a bit. Once i get it

Used to, Ruger sold the Bisley frame, trigger and hammer so a guy could convert one to that setup if he so desired. I don't think they do that anymore.

I am in love with my 45 Colt's.

My preferred hunting sidearm is either my Ruger 4" Redhawk or 1911 45 Super.

The frames are still listed at Brownells, though out of stock at the moment.

http://www.brownells.com/handgun-pa...-frame-steel-in-the-white-prod12141.aspx

The conversion kits, however, are now shown as no longer available.

Power custom does sell Bisley hammer & trigger kits, for a drop-in trigger job, though they are not cheap.

The auction also includes a second set of grips and a hinter holster. First tome ibe ever bought anything from gun broker. Hopefully that prices wasnt too bad

If you're happy,it's fine. I'd bet you'll enjoy it. Barrel length?

Now you're in the same unfortunate situation as me. You need either a MG or Redhawk to accompany the BH........

George

George, Barrel length is 5.5 inches

I found a mountain gun in 41 magnum at cabelas today but just coukdnt pull the trigger

I am already thinking about a lever gun in 45 colt too

or a Smith M25-7 I need one of those, myself.

Or a Browning low wall Traditional Hunter...

I've got several Blackhawks that I've had Clements & Bowen convert to Bisley Grip Frame. Plus the Bisley Hammer, Bowen Sights, Oversizse Base Pin, and other caliber conversions. Both GunSmiths do Superb Work! If I've got extra cash to spend, I would go with Hamilton Bowen. The Sky's The Limit! And it's ONLY Money, after all

arrrrggghhhhh....don't remind me

The new Blackhawk

you'll like that pistol, I'll bet

Damn, thats sweet, congrats Gitem.

Gunner

There needs to be an "Insanely jealous" emoticon. As it happens, I was just on their website a few minutes ago.(Not for the first time, either.) I drooled so much I was afraid of shorting out the computer keyboard. Their work is simply superb. What particularly caught my eye was the exquisite fitting of S&W adj. sights into the top straps. Absolute perfection.

I have no firstborn to sell but anyone know how much a spare kidney goes for these days?

It came with the original wood grips and a hunter holster too

That'll work Main, ya need to bring it to Tennessee and bust some sausage.

Gunner

I want to come down i am hoping the finances allow it this year. Im contemplating a job change and the may work out to my benefit

10-4, sounds good, and good luck with the extra cabbage deal.

Gunner

That's a fine looking single action.