Ruger Bisley .44

(I wrote this a few years ago right after I picked up my new Bisley.  I have since fitted an oversized Belt Mountain cylinder base pin and added a set of ivory Micarta stocks.) 

I picked up my new Ruger Bisley revolver today.  It has a 7 ½ inch barrel and is a .44 magnum. 

 

I bought my first .44 magnum many years ago.  It was the Ruger Redhawk with a 7 ½ inch barrel.  When I bought the Redhawk I was very concerned over the tales I had heard about the horrible recoil of the .44 magnum.  I chose a big heavy pistol to lessen the recoil and decided that, if I couldn’t handle the .44 magnum, I would just use the less powerful .44 specials.  The Redhawk turned out to be a perfectly comfortable pistol to fire with the magnum loads. 

 

I had one box of Remington ammo I was using in the Redhawk that went bad on me.  The powder wasn’t igniting properly.  When I fired the pistol, the bullet would take a remarkably long time to exit the muzzle the whole while powder was burning and whistling out the cylinder gap.  The bullet would finally exit the barrel with a mild pop and bounce it’s way toward the target on the ground.  I would open the cylinder, blow the unburned powder out of the pistol, and make sure the bore was clear before I fired the next shot.  The whole incident was pretty funny. 

 

The Redhawk was a nice pistol but it was too long and heavy to carry comfortably in a belt holster.  So, I sold the Redhawk and bought a Smith & Wesson model 629 .44 with a 4 inch barrel.  I still have the 629.  The 629 is a joy to carry and not too uncomfortable with the recoil.  I wore that pistol out, rebuilt it, and retired it. 

 

For use with heavy hunting loads and to save wear and tear on the 629, I bought a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 with a 4 5/8 inch barrel.  At the same time I bought a matching Single Six .22 so I’d have a neat pair of hunting handguns.  I still have both of those.  When I got it, the short barreled Super Blackhawk was a limited edition; it has since been added to regular production.

 

To replace my retired 629 I bought a Smith and Wesson Mountain Gun in .44 a couple of years ago.  It’s virtually the same as the 629 but even lighter and handier. 

 

My arthritis is getting bad enough that any of the light pistols are getting painful to shoot so I thought I’d get something a bit bigger for target shooting and hunting. 

 

I looked at Taurus, Smith & Wesson, Freedom Arms, and Ruger and decided to get another Ruger.  The Ruger Bisley is well known for being exceptionally comfortable to shoot and is modified to make the huge custom .475 and .500 magnums for just that reason.  I considered the Bisley in .45 Colt as the .45 has slightly less recoil than the .44.  Had I purchased a .45 Colt, I would have had to buy reloading dies and bullet moulds for the .45; I already have those for the .44.  Also, the Ruger .45s frequently have undersized chamber throats that require honing to bring within specs.  To minimize the chance of having to do any machine work, I opted for the .44 Bisley with the long barrel and adjustable sights. 

 

I priced around and finally had Dave at Octagon Guns here in Show Low order a Bisley for me.  Apparently they’re being discontinued so I guess my timing was good. 

 

I got my pistol home and did a function check before I detail stripped it and cleaned it.  Ruger has started putting an internal lock on their pistols but my Bisley didn’t have one saving me the trouble of removing it.  The chambers are a little rough but the throats were right in spec and won’t require honing.  Dave was trying to be helpful and used his favorite lube, Snake Oil, on the pistol before I picked it up.  Snake Oil smells really awful so I cleaned it and the lube that the Ruger factory used and replaced them with a light Teflon oil, and a moly grease on the high wear points. 

 

The cylinder base pin is typically undersized on the new Rugers and mine is no exception.  For 25 bucks I’ll order a Belt Mountain oversized replacement and that should tighten things up considerably.  Otherwise, the cylinder gap is good and there’s virtually no end-shake. 

 

I’m glad I cleaned the pistol before firing it as there were several chips of metal left over from machining in the action (not atypical for new pistols).  When I reassembled the pistol, I was pleasantly surprised to find the trigger pull is quite good.  Many of the Rugers come from the factory with very heavy triggers.  Although I’m quite capable of doing a trigger job, I’m glad I don’t have to mess with it. 

 

Now, all I have to do is load up some ammo and hit the target range.  I’m looking forward to seeing how the Bisley will do at long range.