44 special bisley

I just picked up a New 44 special Bisley but it has ruger simulated ivory grips. Was there a run sold with ivory grips? The gun appears unfired and in new condition.

All of mine came from the factory with VERY ill-fitting wood-laminate grip panels. I bought the simulated ivory panesl from Ruger. They didn't fit very well, but certainly better than the origs. I did the fitting myself and below is the result; the gun in the foreground is the .44 Special.


Here's what my 'fitting' on all of them looks like:

If you mean genuine ivery, no, not since a few rare specimens way back in the 1950s.

The simulated ivory had been used on Rugers for special applications. I believe the first was the SS Vaquerito 32 Single Six Magnum with fixed sights, some distributor exclusive models, on SS original Vaqueros, etc.

I have a set of those grips on a blackhawk. I like them. They fit very well on the blackhawk, and look nice doing so.

Those above are all nice looking guns.

I do like the light color on SS. Guess I'm just weird like that.

I did it a different way on my new 44 Special Bisley. I put some Holly on it. They'll yellow with use and time as I understand Ivory does.

Thanks for the responses, the grips are simulated ivory. I suspect the wooden grips looked nice and the gunbroker dealer switched them out. Im not complaining as these fit pretty well compared to some I have seen.

Depending upon the model,, it is possible those guns shipped with the simulated ivory grips.

While I have several Bisleys (.32 Mag x 6 1/2" blue; .41 Mag x 5 1/2" SS) I am wondering how your .44 Spl version shoots. Here's why:

Last fall I picked up a near-new .44 Sp, 5 1/2" l Flat Top New Model, blued, which must have been a special run for one of the big distributors. I had an Old Model (three-screw) 4 5/8" converted to .44 Spl years ago, and it's my slickest shooter. I could not resist having the New Model with a real Flat Top complete with Micro rear sight. It is a cool looking revolver, harking back to the looks of the old originals, with the NM action for safety!

At the range, however, it's a real disappointment. Shooting both factory ammo and my own moderate handloads with Universal and 700X, it prints 8-10" high at 25 yards. The rear sight is down as low as it can go. It's hard for me to imagine that Ruger would not have supplied a sight combination for standard .44 Spl loads, but this gun needs a higher front sight. Since I'm not the original owner, I suppose it's a waste of time to ask for a factory refit. Or...?

I'll be interested in your experience or that of other .44 Spl owners.

Yes, my 5 1/2" plow handle flattop shot high too. Not at bad as 8"-10" though. Out of the box, mine still hit a plate on the top edge... ie. about 4" high (240g SWC bullet). I filed my rear sight blade down flush with it's holder to bring it in. It shoots dead on now with the skeeter load. I don't know why they just didn't put a taller front sight on them. Can always file down, but you can't easily add metal.... Note on the .357 flattop, the front sight was way to tall ... but the o' file came out to remedy that.

Be careful taking them on and off. I've only had two pair of grips break in 25 years. Both were the sim-Ivory. Most recently last weekend.

Valman.... my bisley .44 Spl in pic above is extremely accurate....my rear (adjustable) sight seems set normally. I don't bother measuring groups but I can tell you that with one bad eye (which I now keep closed) and the other one being 76 yrs old, I can hit a mighty small target on our 25 yd plates consistently (two handed/off-hand).... i.e. someone cut out an eye-socket/nose opening in a steel plate silhouette target; it flips open when hit. I'm guessing the eye socket(s) portion is 3" wide (left to right) and the nose portion that drops down from the eye portion is about 2" wide and 4" long. It's like a "T" on the face. My gun hits it very consistently...I use mostly Trail Boss with my lead loads. p.s. I've installed Wolff springs to get my pull to about 3lbs with 100% (no failure to fire) consistency.
Hope this helps,
J.

Valman:
Have you tried different powder besides 700x and Universal? I don't load for 44 Special, but what about 2400 or Unique? I use both of those in my 41 and 45 with good results.