Super Blackhawk grip frame

[Scott Tschirhart]

Years ago I shot the snot out of a number of Ruger Super Blackhawks putting up with the square back trigger guard thumping my second finger and trying to shoot well through the pain. I know it was stupid.

I finally got tired of hurting myself and just avoided the SBH and going to the Bisley grip frame.

Last year I found an old model Blackhawk in .45 Colt with a SBH frame on it. It didn’t thump me no matter what I shot through it. So I decided to give the SBH another try. I found a used stainless model (if I’m going to bleed on it, at least cleaning would be easy).

This weekend I shot the gun with full house loads and without injury. I don’t know how to explain it but I didn’t get my knuckle thumped, not even once. A pleasant surprise.

[GunnyMack]

Sounds like your 'social finger ' has lost weight!
I had a NM years ago and it would rap me on occasion. My OM 41 doesn't hit. I put a brass frame on it and boy do I like the added weight- until it's on my hip in a holster!
My Single Six 44 special is a real pussycat as I don't hot rod it.

[Walt]

Gunny, I think you mean Blackhawk .44 spl; the Single Six is a .22. I have a couple of 5.5" Flattop .44 spls as well. One is a regular "plowhandle" and the other is a Bisley frame. I love 'em both.

[Old Savage]

He made a custom 44 Single Six.

[Griff]

This weekend I shot the gun with full house loads and without injury. I don’t know how to explain it but I didn’t get my knuckle thumped, not even once. A pleasant surprise.

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say you've changed your grip slightly. As long as I paid attention to how I gripped the SBH, it was fine, but if I gripped it like I hold a Colt SAA, it bit my knuckle every time! Actually, I'm glad I got rid of it, haven't missed it for a single day!

[GunnyMack]

Gunny, I think you mean Blackhawk .44 spl; the Single Six is a .22. I have a couple of 5.5" Flattop .44 spls as well. One is a regular "plowhandle" and the other is a Bisley frame. I love 'em both.

No Walt I have a 44 Special Single Six. It started out as a 32 H& R that was the donor frame. New cylinder , fit a new barrel and poof a one of a kind single six was born. It became my fishing vest gun while I lived in CO while attending gunsmith school. It was a brain storm John Gallagher and I had. John went on to making a few 41s on the S.S. frame but as far as I know mine is the only 44 special.
May John RIP.

[Walt]

My mistake, Gunny. Very cool! Is it a five shot or a six? I imagine you've posted pictures of it in the past. If it has been a while, would you send out another? Thanks!

[JimT]

Elmer maintained that "Super Blackhawk" was a poor name for the gun and that it should have been called the "Dragoon" which fit as far as I am concerned. For me the grip is much too large and too awkward. If I have any other single action grip than the Colt SAA/Ruger XR3 grip it is the Bisley grip. That's one of the wonderful thing about humans .. we are all different in some ways and have enough different preferences to make life really colorful.

[GunnyMack]

5 shot, actually I had to make 2 cylinders as the first one the chambers were too thin!

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[Walt]

Thanks for the pictures, Gunny! That's a very unique revolver indeed.

[GunnyMack]

It took some work for sure Walt.
Had to open the frame some, loading gate is original but the cutout in the frame had to grow too. Being a 5 shot the timing was trial and error until it worked.

[Scott Tschirhart]

That’s some really interesting work and a cool little five gun!

[Walt]

I recently dug through my shooting odds and ends and found a pair of shooting gloves I'd bought years ago. They are sold by a company called Hatch, they're thin leather and have double layers in the web of the thumb and also on the knuckle of the middle finger that gets rapped by the trigger guard of the SBH and other heavy-recoiling revolvers.

[GunnyMack]

Thanks Scott.
I have a pair of those gloves, Cabelas I think. I found them uncomfortable to shoot with. But I also hate shooting with gloves on unless it's really cold !

[765x53]

I use The fingerless right-hand "PAST" brand occasionally for long magnum shooting sessions.
I also have a left-hand model for easing hand shock from my longbow. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1125191321

[Scott Tschirhart]

I’ve never been able to get comfortable with shooting gloves. But I know that Lynn Thompson shoots a .454 and won’t shoot it without them. They work, but I always seem to use a sixgun out of convenience when something appears that needs shooting.

[2ndovc]

I can't shoot with gloves on either. I've been shooting an OM Super BH for decades without an issue. The one that bangs me up is my three screw Flat Top. I shot about 20 rounds through it when I first bought it and it took all summer for the bruised knuckles to heal. I find the new model SBH frame too short to shoot comfortably either. Bisleys are a whole different animal. I haven't fired one, regardless of caliber to be uncomfortable to shoot. Like Jim said, every hand is different, the fun part is finding one that fits.

jb

[piller]

Every hand is indeed different. That is part of the reason why there are so many aftermarket stocks made. Colt grips have always felt uncomfortable to me. I won't own a Colt because they are uncomfortable. Passed up a chance in the 90s on a Python for $500 in really good shape. No sense buying a Ferrari if you cannot fit in it to drive it.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I like the stag.

[Walt]

When I bought my first SBH decades ago, I must have tried out most of the aftermarket grips available at the time. There were rubber grips, large and small wooden grips. Most changed the profile of the originals. I finally saw the light and went back to either the originals or at least ones with the same profile. I appreciate the original design....works for me!

[Scott Tschirhart]

I was out shooting this morning. Still no issues and it’s just right for my big hands.

[rossim92]

has your hands gotten fatter or thinner over time? I think that has a bit to with the "bite" you get with certain frames.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I don’t know. Probably my hands are much stronger than they were in those days. But I don’t think they have become any bigger. Certainly not smaller

[AmBraCol]

Funny how hands differ. Most folks seem to love the Ruger Bisley grip type. That's the one that tends to rap my knuckle. Go figure. I don't recall having that issue with my Vaquero, nor the few times I've shot the "dragoon" style SBH, but the Bisley on my SH 25th anniversary 44 spl raps my knuckle during extended sessions with the good ol Skeeter load. Not bad, never broke skin, but I find it a bit distracting.

[Walt]

I believe the frame size on the Bisley .44 Special is different than the .44 mag/.45 Bisleys. I once ordered a set of Ruger factory grips for one of my large frame Bisleys but it didn't fit; however it fit my .44 Spl flattop Bisley perfectly. Ruger's website didn't specify a difference.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Funny how hands differ. Most folks seem to love the Ruger Bisley grip type. That's the one that tends to rap my knuckle. Go figure. I don't recall having that issue with my Vaquero, nor the few times I've shot the "dragoon" style SBH, but the Bisley on my SH 25th anniversary 44 spl raps my knuckle during extended sessions with the good ol Skeeter load. Not bad, never broke skin, but I find it a bit distracting.

Same thing here.