Rugers "Bisley"

[huntershooter]

The Bisley has been my favorite platform for "thumper" loads.
The grip frame is pretty forgiving of heavy recoil for me.

I had some work done to this one.
It started life as a .45 Colt, 7.5" gun.
Accuracy was so/so with the factory cylinder- the chambers and throats were "generous" to put it charitably.
I located a Blackhawk .44 mag cylinder at a gun show. I sent the revolver and extra cylinder to Ben Forkin in Montana.
Ben is a heck of a good gunsmith, the equal of Turnbull or Linebaugh in my book. He had built a .450 Alaskan on a roached out, donor m71 Winchester that is pretty marvelous.
At any rate, Ben fit the .44 cylinder to the frame, line bored the chambers to minimum specs- with proper throats of .4525" for heavy, cast bullets, cut the barrel to 5.5" and did a few other things.

The gun was put together to shoot 300 gr. WFNGC (Wide Flat Nose Gas Check) bullets at 1300 FPS.
Recoil is energetic, accuracy is just under 2" @ 50 yds. from the bench.
It has shot through the chest of a 450 lb. feral boar. In and out.
An impressive revolver with a lot of horsepower.

[Carolinaman]

Hello huntershooter,

What a beautiful Bisley and it reminds me of the stories that I read in Guns and Ammo written by Jan Libourel embracing the qualities and his experiences with the Ruger Bisley so many year's ago. I believe that he got it up to .44 magnum pressures in .45 colt! (I liked reading Jan's articles by the way!). What a nice revolver and thanks for sharing it with us!

Best,

Chris

[Vant]

Wow, that is impressive. Beautiful wheel gun. Real nice photo as well.

-Vant

[rock185]

  That is a beauty! Only owned one Ruger Bisley myself, a stainless 5 1/2", and sure wish I'd have hung on to it. I agree, the Bisley grip frame would be the one to have for the big Thumpers.

[scattershot]

Nice pistol! It's good to know there are still some good gunsmiths left. Most who call themselves gunsmiths these days are parts changers, for the most part. For some interesting reading on the Ruger Bisley, and some truly beautiful examples of same, see if you can find articles by Ross Seifreid on the subject.

Good shooting!

[huntershooter]

Ross was/is a most interesting guy. Extremely talented.
I loved his article (a lifetime ago) on Cape Buff hunting in Africa with a hot rodded .45 Colt, on a (wait for it) Ruger Bisley.
From memory, the revolver was built by John Linebaugh.
Wish Ross still wrote for the gun rags.

Ross and Brian Pearce (Handloader Magazine) had/have a boat load of credibility as true, "Gun Guys" in my opinion.
Most of the lot didn't impress me in the least.

[gt40doc]

Jun 15, 2017 10:26:58 GMT -5 huntershooter said:

Ross was/is a most interesting guy. Extremely talented.
I loved his article (a lifetime ago) on Cape Buff hunting in Africa with a hot rodded .45 Colt, on a (wait for it) Ruger Bisley.
From memory, the revolver was built by John Linebaugh.
Wish Ross still wrote for the gun rags.

Ross and Brian Pearce (Handloader Magazine) had/have a boat load of credibility as true, "Gun Guys" in my opinion.
Most of the lot didn't impress me in the least.

I always read the articles that Brian Pearce writes for Handloader magazine. I believe that this fella knows of what he speaks, and is not just blowing smoke like many others do.