Sidearms & Scatterguns Ruger single actions Bisley vs. Vaquero vs. Blackhawk

[JMC]

I've been considering getting a single action revolver. I already have a Ruger Super Redhawk in 44 mag so I'm looking at either a 357/38, 45 Colt or 44 Special. It's going to be mostly just for fun and I've always wanted a "cowboy style" gun. I'm not concerned with being as close to the Colt SAA as a clone.

However I'm considering the following Ruger revolvers:

Vaquero

Bisley Vaquero

Blackhawk

Bisley Blackhawk

Adjustable sights would be nice but not a requirement. I've never shot the Bisley and was wondering how different it feels to shoot. If it's easier with the traditional grip vs the Bisley and if follow up shots are slower with the Bisley.

Thanks in advance.
JMC

 

[SharpsNitro]

There is nothing like the real thing. The next best thing were the US Firearms single action, I had a few of those. Now that they are not made anymore I wish I had kept one (it's tie between the China Camp and birds head). That said, the Bisley has the best grip design for heavy recoiling cartridges.

 

[EddieNFL]

It's going to be mostly just for fun and I've always wanted a "cowboy style" gun. I'm not concerned with being as close to the Colt SAA as a clone.

I went through the same quandary some years ago. As I had owned several Blackhawks in the past and had always been pleased, I went with another BH (.45 Colt this time). If I were into CASS or looking for the smallest group on paper, I would have most likely selected the Bisley.

 

[snipe10]

I too had a few U.S. Firearms and am kicking myself for letting them go, I love the Ruger Bisley's, especially the case hardened ones but they're hard to find in that configuration, if I found one, I'd buy it in either 45 colt or 44 mag

 

[goosed]

No experience with US firearms, but I really like the Ruger Vaquero's, myself. Something about the classic simplicity of sighting through a channel on the frame on colt replicas in general appeals to me. With that said the front sight is almost always too tall out of the box on the Vaquero's, I would venture to guess this is on purpose as you would be SOL with no fix if it was too short. I find it pretty hard to be even reasonably accurate with the front sight obscuring the target, so if you're not interested in pulling out the old bastard file to shave down the front sight, the black hawk is the better option imo. In general the Black Hawk sights are probably easier to use and be accurate with anyways.

Bisley vs regular is a pick your poison type thing for me. All but the smallest handed shooters will have no room for their pinky finger on the regular grip. The bisley grip is extremely comfortable as even I can get all of my gorilla fingers on the grip with ease and the straight style grip is simply more ergo friendly for me. The down side to the bisley is it recoils straight into the web of my hand while the regular grip softly rolls in my hand. Due to the way they recoil in my hands I'm actually consistently more accurate with the regular grip even though both my 357's have a very mild felt recoil.

 

[sierracharlie338]

I only have experience with the vaquero in 38/357 and I love shooting that thing. It's a blast to shoot and fairly inexpensive if you reload.

Only downside is selection of western style holsters or lack there of.

 

[JMC]

I kind of prefer the look of the Bisley so I'm leaning that way as of right now. Please keep it coming if you have any experience with any.

I remember looking at the US Firearms when they were still in production a few years back. I didn't have the funds for the higher end models but I do wish I had gotten atleast one of the Cowboy's. Too late now though. The cost about the same as a Colt does now.

 

[holy cow]

I have had all of the Ruger single action revolvers at 1 time or another through the years. My favorite of them all is the Bisley by far. I sent it to Clark for a cowboy action job and some other stuff. The work was super that they did and with 2400 or H110 and 240gr bullets it was extremely accurate.

 

[goosed]

Only downside is selection of western style holsters or lack there of.

I'm confused... Miday(link) alone has 7 pages worth of holsters for the vaquero. Do you not consider these western style or is 7 pages not enough?


One side note I forgot to mention earlier. The vaquero and blackhawk bisley's come with lower hammers. Because of the grip shape you're still reaching roughly the same distance either way. Kind of a personal preference thing, but I find the lower hammer much more comfortable during fast strings(single handed and off hand cock) as the horizontal grip area is larger on the lower hammer. I doubt it matters to most, for what it's worth though, you can't see the sights on the regular vaquero with the hammer up. The bisley vaquero and if I remember correctly both blackhawks you are able to see the sights with the hammer up or down.

 

[sierracharlie338]

I'm confused... Miday(link) alone has 7 pages worth of holsters for the vaquero..

I forgot to specify. I was referring to 38/357 cal belts. Not in general. There are more options for say the 45s and even 22s seems like.

 

[Dan Newberry]

I stumbled upon what is apparently a rare Bisley, in .357 mag with a 7.5" barrel at a gun show. (not a Vaquero, a regular Bisley BH, cylinder is fluted... hmm... anyway...) I've only found one other one even pictured on the internet... it was stainless, this one we have is blued (it's actually my son's now). Full power and a tad beyond full power .357 are very pleasant to shoot. I've got 4 other regular Blackhawks in 357 and 44 mag... they're nice, but the Bisley is our favorite.

 

[diggler1833]

Went out with a brand new Super Blackhawk Hunter with the bisley grips. New Ruger single actions leave a lot on the table when it comes to the creep in the trigger. We also had to bring the sights all the way to the left to hit what we were aiming at. Once we got it dialed in, the pistol was quite accurate and easy to shoot well.

The grips were more comfortable however in regards to transfering recoil. Traditional SAA style grips always end up hurting my hands after about 50 rounds of relatively stout loads (have a 3 screw Blackhawk in .45Colt). After 50 rounds of relatively moderate .44mag loads through the bisley grips my hands were no worse for wear.

It sounds like you are dead set on a Ruger. After my last two experiences with their single action pistols, I would suggest finding an older one.

Good luck!

 

[Cobracutter]

Ruger makes the Nicest revolver's IMO. Smith is more refinded but for durrability and price, It's hard to beat Ruger.

The Vaquero is a great gun, preferably one of the old gen models from the 90's. .45LC is the way to go. You can shoot pussy fart rounds or serious loads that give a .44Mag a run for the money.

 

[Honky]

I have a Blackhawk .38/.357. I love it. The sights are way better than the traditional single action blade front/notch rear. .38/.357 is the most versatile one, imho. You can buy reeeaaallllyyyy cheap .38 SPL.

 

[JMC]

It sounds like you are dead set on a Ruger. After my last two experiences with their single action pistols, I would suggest finding an older one.

Good luck!

I'm not totally set on the Ruger. They seem to offer the most bang for the price and I'm just not able to justify going $1000 or more with having 2 little boys growing up right now. I'm more than open to any other suggestion in a Single Action line. I will keep in mind and look at the older models and some gun shops around here or at any gunshows I can get to in the future.

Thanks

 

[lash]

I own a '90s Ruger Bisley in .45 that has the un-fluted cylinder. It's a fun and accurate revolver, built very strong. John Linebaugh (sp?) often used these to create his dangerous game wildcat cartridge shooting masterpieces, like the .475s and .500s that were the predecessors to the current heavy revolver rounds.

 

[SharpsNitro]

Too bad I don't have pictures of one of my USFA single actions, for a while I owned a recreation of the Sears gun. Another fun one was a custom job with a 4" barrel and Bisley hammer, the barrel, cylinder, screws and ejector rod were the only blue parts, everything else was case colored.

For tuning up or customizing a Ruger there are none better than Hamilton Bowen (http://www.bowenclassicarms.com).

 

[pprochnow]

I run a bisley, and love it. But, if you want to fan the thing for speed you should keep looking. I fondled a couple evil roy models by Cimarron? and they were very nicely tuned as far as a factory single goes. Haven't seen them around in a while though.

 

[Rookie]

Don't know if you are aware, but several years ago Ruger came out with the "New Model Vaquero". It has a smaller frame than the old model, more like the Colt Peacemaker. Its not on your list but I recommend you try it. Feels very Colt-like in the hand.

 

[355sigfan]

Ruger makes the Nicest revolver's IMO. Smith is more refinded but for durrability and price, It's hard to beat Ruger.

The Vaquero is a great gun, preferably one of the old gen models from the 90's. .45LC is the way to go. You can shoot pussy fart rounds or serious loads that give a .44Mag a run for the money.

We are talking about single action revolvers here. Do you know of any current made Smith and Wesson Single action revolver?
Pat

 

[TWANGnBANG]

I love my Vaquero Convertible that I picked up. It comes with two matching cylinders- one in 45 Colt and one in 45 ACP. It makes practicing with factory ammo cheaper and easier.

The convertibles are only done in limited runs and can be hard to find. However, it's a great option if you can find one.

 

[ArcticLight]

I heard good on the Vaquero while my stepdad was shooting cowboy action.

I just sold a Virginia Dragoon, they are fun to shoot as well.

 

[Speedgoat]

Never even kicked tires on a Bisley style grip, but I have to second what pprochnow said about the Cimmarron's being very smooth from the factory. I had a Ubreti SAA clone first, then I got my Cimmarron and it's a night and day difference, even noticed it the other day while I had my safe open going through everything.

That being said about the Colt Clones, I'm at a point where I'm looking to upgrade my 'carry' single actions to some Old model Vaqueros so I can shoot some Hot .45's in my pistol as well as my Model 92 Winchester. Wouldn't want to get caught up in the heat of the moment against some critter out in the woods and have to worry about which .45's are +P and not in my gun belt.

I'll probably keep my clones around though, one day I'd like to try to do cowboy mounted shooting, I've heard that those blanks foul up whatever you're shooting horribly.

 

[Stankydogfarts]

I have the Bisley and love it. It's my deer gun, and I have zero complaints about it. The recoil with heavy +P loads roll in the hand, so follow up shots are easy. As for speed I think it comes down to practice. If you're looking at out running a competition Glock, then not many revolvers using hunting loads will seem fast, but I think range time will help with "fast" hunting style followup shots.

 

[lash]

I have a .357 Blackhawk, a .44 Magnum Super Blackhawk and a .45 Colt Bisley Blackhawk. I prefer the regular grip style for the .44 Mag as I believe that it allows for more roll upon recoil and therefore less felt recoil with full on hunting loads. I may be full of crap on that, but that's my impression.

However, for the standard Blackhawk frame, I like the Bisley grip better, as it fits may hand better. I think the standard frame Blackhawk grips are a bit small.

That said, I like both styles and think that the grip preference should have little to do with speed of follow up shots and more to do with personal preference and feel. If at all possible, get somewhere that will let you hold and dry fire each and pick the one that you like best.

 

[260284]

I have a 90's Bisley in 45 Colt that I sent to Linebaugh when he was still in Missouri. He shortened the barrel to 5-1/2", honed the cylinder throats, trigger job, locking Belt Mountain base pin, and his son re-shaped the factory grips. I have only shot hand loads, but it is very accurate with cast bullets. I have shot everything from 255 to 325 grain and usually shoot a 270 grain Keith style bullet. You can do more with the 45 than the 44 with 20% less pressure and half the barrel length. The only thing I might add is a steel ejector rod housing.

Ruger does make a 5 shot Bisley in 454 Casull in stainless with a 6.5" barrel that is on my wish list.

 

[Jakebrake300]

The nice thing about the .44 mag is you have all the power you would probably need and can also shoot .44 special for your pleasure...
same with the .454 casul you could drop a beast in its tracks but shoot the light .45 colt cowboy action loads and they don't even kick.
i have a .44 mag super Blackhawk with reg grips and a .357 mag with the Bisley and I prefer the bisley. My Ruger super redhawk is the Alaskan in a .454 casul , it is not very fun to shoot, unless it's loaded with colts!

 

[Downtown]

The Ruger Blackhawk Anniversary Flat Top in 45 Colt is the gun Elmer Keith always wished for and never got. If that had been in production, there may have never been a Keith #5. The new flat top is also available as a Bisley in. 44 Special. A perfect trail gun. Regular Blackhawk size frame, flat top, Bisley grip frame, 44 Spl. and not expensive. Look it up, an amazing single action from factory. For years, smiths like Hamilton Bowen made these from .357 Blackhawks for big bucks.