Blackhawk grip consistency

Are the blackhawk gripframes consistent enough that if you order a nice set of grips from a custom gripmaker that they will fit your gun well without them needing the gun to get a great fit?

No.

They would likely fit, as in could be installed, but no they likely won't fit well.

My guns are all a wee bit different, but they are close. I have ordered custom made grips & they fit perty close, but I'm not too fussy as my guns are shooters. If you want a true custom fit you will have to pull the gripframe and send it to the fitter for that true fit, made to that particular grip frame....It is about the only way I know of to get that precise fit.
Ruger for the last few years are getting sloppy with their factory fit. I have a couple of guns that I will be replacing the grips on because the fit is horable, but I still like rugers for everything else...

The stainless Bisleys seem to be the worst. Of the three I've tried, none of the custom grips made grip panels would even "bolt up" on the others. They all got custom panels because the factory grips were so far off.

Consistency hell it is more like a conspiracy haha.

A lot of complaining about grip fit allways. Ruger makes the guns someone else makes the grips so it is luck of the draw when buying a set that is not custom fitted to your gun.
That said, I have seen a lot of them that fit pretty good AND some not so good.
Buy from Hogue and they will take them back if you are unsatisfied.

Try it and see!

My experience is that they'll fit, but now and then during recoil I could feel one of them shift position.
No matter how tight the screw, one of them would always manage to move during recoil.

It's best to send in your gun, or grip frame, and them properly fit.
It will make all the difference in the world.

My Stainless Single Six that I bought back in the 80's grips are the same size as the grips that came on my stainless 357 and Super Seven, but the new guns grip frame overhangs as much as .060" in places. Ruger said they would send me prepaid return authorization forms when I get ready to send them back. What they wouldn't tell me is if they fit the frames to the grips or make oversize grips that fit the frames. I know that Altimont makes the grips for them now. All the Single Sevens that I have seen have this problem. I would rather they fit the grip frame to the grips so I can buy aftermarket grips that fit
Ron

My blackhawk has grips that make the gripframe a little proed. I am thinking about getting an aftermarket set. Anyone have any experience with a particular grip maker?

It's Ruger, it's not the gripmakers.
Ruger's manufacturing process results in varying gripframe dimensions.
Sometimes you'll get a pretty good fit, other times you'll get an OK fit, and occasionally you'll get a lousy fit.

The gripmakers like Altamont fabricate to a fairly consistent standard.
Ruger does not do the same with their gripframes.

And Ruger does not fit grips to frames. Period.

The worst I've seen have been on stainless single-actions.

The older alloy gripframes tended to be more consistent, since they came out of molds & were not machined before being assembled.

There's something in the steel gripframe process that causes dimensional variances.
Those are machined & fitted to main frames.

If you want a perfect fit to help justify the extra cost of custom grips, do as advised above- send your gripframe to the custom maker for fitting.

It's the ONLY way you can be sure of a perfect fit.
Denis

Yeah, my blackhawk is stainless and the frame is bigger than the grips. You would think in this day and age the steel could be held to a good tolerance. I guess they cast and polish these instead of machining them? I would have thought that they would have run them through a mill before they polish them.

The steel gripframes are cast, then machined/fitted to the main frame.
The alloy gripframes are not machined or fitted.
Denis

I learned my lesson about ordering custom grips for my Bisley without sending the maker the gripframe. Next time I will spend the extra money on a gripmaker that requires the gripframe to match the grips.

Most of mine fit pretty good.

If the grip maker will do this, you could request the grips be made a little large and then you fit it to your frame. I recently picked up a set of rosewood grips by Eagle in a trade and they were oversized. I was able to get a very good fit. I then finished with tung oil.

I think they were older grips though. Not sure how they do it now.

Never sent in a grip frame, and ALL of my Rugers have "custom" grips. Most fit very good. Also have 3 "extra" grip frames I try the grips on, all have very close fits.

Mike

Most of mine have fit good too, although i had one lock equipped frame that was a good bit off.

Grips are meant to fit the hand, not the other way around. That's why every one of my guns has custom grips which almost always come oversize. I then do the final fitting. It gives me something to do, and the end result is a match to my hand.

Something I have experienced often is that the hole drilled on the panels for the locator stub doesn't make a good match with the grip frame. I just make the hole bigger, fill it with hot-melt glue, then install the way I want. Once that glue sets (I put vaseline on the grip metal), the grip panel will have the locator hole exactly where it should be.