Ruger Super Blackhawk Grip Frame Question

I see lots of comments on people preferring the Bisley frame for hunting, and others that love the original XR3 for its handling, balance, ect. Some even brag on the Birdhead. A scarce few like the larger size of the XR3-RED. I almost never hear anyone comment good or bad on the Super Blackhawk Grip Frame.

Do any of you prefer the SBH grip ? Is it better for heavy loads than the plow handles?

Thanks

Super Blackhawk or Hunter with a round trigger guard is a fine thing .
Super Blackhawk with a square trigger guard is not as easy to love ,,,,,, but some still do.
As like all things you got to try them your self .
Personally most of my guns wear the XR3-RED with some Bisleys mixed in. Only one finger bustin square super here and it's on a Single Six .22 !

I have found that any of the grip are totally dependent on your own hand and style. I have shot all of them, minus the birds head, my hand just will not work with that one. The plows seem to it my hand better and the SBH is just a little bigger which I do like. I don't like the Dragoon style grip frame on the longer barrel SBHs. The flattop and single six/seven frames are a little small for me as well, but I still have a couple I like to shoot!

A lot of it depends on the natural angle of your hand. I saw an article/post somewhere that gave directions on how to determine your natural fit. Make a fist arounf a pencil or pen and hold at your side. Lift as though you were pointing a gun and see where the pencil or pen ends up. If it's facing straight up and down the plow will be more natural for your hand. If it is slightly tilted forward the Bisley will be better.

End of the day you probably need to go shoot them to feel the difference or just buy one of each!

KWJohnston said:

I see lots of comments on people preferring the Bisley frame for hunting, and others that love the original XR3 for its handling, balance, ect. Some even brag on the Birdhead. A scarce few like the larger size of the XR3-RED. I almost never hear anyone comment good or bad on the Super Blackhawk Grip Frame.

Do any of you prefer the SBH grip ? Is it better for heavy loads than the plow handles?

Thanks

Click to expand...

KWJohnston.... Bill Ruger knew recoil of his original Blackhawk .44 Mag with aluminum Peacemaker-style grip frame was brutal. This lead to incorporation of a longer grip frame, cast in steel, for his Super Blackhawk. Both Super Blackhawk and his later Bisley grip frame handle recoil. I shoot both SBH and Bisley grip frames; both tag my middle finger with full tilt .44 Mag and .45 Colt loads. During this past year I have installed grip frames by Ronnie Wells (look up RW Grip Frames) on Ruger single actions. During this time I have forgotten pain inflicted to the proximal bone of the middle finger of my shooting hand (both hands). Therefore, one or another grip frame by Ronnie Wells is destined to become a permanent fixture of my single action shooting. So far, I am shooting BRASS grip frames and ALUMINUM grip frames by Wells, and have yet to be punished by the trigger guard----even with the aluminum RW Bradshaw Bison Finger Groove (as Ronnie Wells calls it) with full tilt .44 Mag and .45 Colt.

Ronnie Wells is a precision machinist with full programming skills for the CNC machine on which he builds grip frames and other parts. There has never been a grip frame as precise as RW. An aluminum grip frame takes 1/2-pound off a steel or brass grip frame, so its ability to modulate recoil comes in design. That said, I swing some steep hills with a brass RW handle and enjoy it thoroughly.
David Bradshaw

"I have found that any of the grip are totally dependent on your own hand and style."

^^^^This ^^^^

Different hands,, different grips feel differently. I can shoot all of them with ease,, but find the heavier calibers are handled much better with a Bisley design.

As David said the SBH is brutal on your middle finger, I have tried many different ways to hold this beast and it would still bust my knuckle every time. My answer was a Hogue Mono grip, it covers the squared off side and your knuckle rides just below it. Ugly as the dickens yes but no more busted knuckle and easy to hold onto.

KWJohnston said:

I see lots of comments on people preferring the Bisley frame for hunting, and others that love the original XR3 for its handling, balance, ect. Some even brag on the Birdhead. A scarce few like the larger size of the XR3-RED. I almost never hear anyone comment good or bad on the Super Blackhawk Grip Frame.

Do any of you prefer the SBH grip ? Is it better for heavy loads than the plow handles?

Thanks

Click to expand...

The bigger the gun, the bigger the grip frame. I only like the round guard SBH grip frame (only made in stainless):


.45 Colt/ACP convertible 5 1/2" original Large frame Vaquero with SBH Hunter SS round guard grip frame, extra long 5" ejector rod for full extraction of those long 45 C cases, and New Vaq Montado wide, checkered hammer. Nothing too special, just all factory parts:






SBH 44 Mag:

In my experience, all of the Ruger single-action revolvers are knuckle busters with heavy loads (including the Bisley) unless you start putting thicker grip panels on them. I'm guilty of selling off a few Rugers because I was not clued in to that basic modification. Ruger is notorious for installing grip panels thin enough for small hands, but are painful if you're a little on the tall side with a hand size to match. This is why I stated buying Arizona grips and ordering them "thick" or heavy. After I started doing that, no more knuckle-busting and then the gun started to fit me. We spend too much money on these revolvers for them not to fit when all it takes is a thicker grip. I even started a thread about birdshead grip frames with thicker grips. After I started using a fatter grip on the birdshead, it went from being my least favorite to my most comfortable handgun in my collection (including 1911 and polymers). So after the gun fits your hand properly and don't have a funky geometry problem when pulling back on the trigger (which causes lots of accuracy issues when grips don't fit shooter), then you can come back to the idea of which grip frame and barrel length recoil good or bad. Too much barrel length and the recoil pushes back into hand more, and too short and the muzzle flips up more. Just right length for the caliber and strike a good balance changes the whole conversation. So just saying one grip frame vs another leaves too many variables that dramatically change felt recoil.

All depends on the size of your hands. I shoot super blackhawk gripframes on all of my rugers, 22 to 44 magnum. Suits me best.

KWJohnston said:

A scarce few like the larger size of the XR3-RED. I almost never hear anyone comment good or bad on the Super Blackhawk Grip Frame.

Click to expand...

Not sure which forums you've been around, but certainly none wherein I post. I have touted the Dragoon grip frame and the Super Blackhawk grip for many, many years!

I have set up several .45 Colt Rugers in the Super Blackhawk profile. Like the grip, the hammer not so much.

Bob Wright

Probably my favorite Ruger, an OMFT 44 mag. I'm tall and have big hands and the small grips with heavy loads just eat me alive. So I swapped out the small grip frame for a SBH grip. I've had the stag's for at least 30 years and they have taken on a beautiful patina. A lot of people don't care for the 6.5" bbl but for me it is a nice balance between a 7.5 and a 4 5/8"tube.
Tom

Thanks to everyone for responding. I see the SBH grip frame does have it's supporters! I will give it a try sometime. I've handled the Bisley, Birds head, and SBH at gunshows. To date I have yet to shoot a blackhawk with anything other than the XR3-Red grip frame with no problems. Have a New Vaquero with the XR3 grip and no problems there either. I'm not sure what version is the best handling for me. I'm 6'4" 245lb and have larger hands , but not thick catchers mitt hands.

I admire what ruger did stylistically on the SBH with the Colt Dragoon square trigger guard as a throwback to black powder revolvers. Also the Bisley being a Keith No. 5 inspired grip, and the birds head too. Ruger does try to give us what we want, you can say that!

Seasterl , I'll take your advice about trying thicker grip panels on the revolvers I have just to see if I like em' better than stock.

Thanks

I shoot the XR3-RED.

nothing like the feel or the look of the SBH grip frame , even in brass......



about the only thing Elmer and me agreed on......... 8) :roll: :wink:

Not long ago purchased a SBH w/ 10.5" barrel/44 Mag. and of course it has the squared off trigger guard in the rear portion and that is indeed a knuckle buster for sure. Decided to use gloves and that helped a lot, but just a temporary fix for can misplace gloves, lose them, etc., so decided to place a small strip of soft sided Velcro in that area and problem solved. I visit my local range some 2-3 times a week and each time take the revolver with me and shoot it after shooting my rifles. Shoot both the magnum rounds and the 44 Special rounds and with either one the accuracy is outstanding. There is some barrel jump with the magnum rounds, little if any with the Special rounds. Average deer kill in my area is less than 100 yds. and this revolver would serve that purpose very well indeed and for the black bears as well. Excellent revolver in all respects.

A few years ago I bought the 5.5" SBH that came with the shorter grip frame & rounded trigger guard.
Bought the longer Hunter grip frame with rounded guard from Brownells. It worked a lot better for me.

Armybrat (or anyone)… what's the name of your factory original grip frame on the short-barrel 44Mag? Does anyone know if this is the same as that used on the original Vaqueros? If they are, then I might buy a short-barrel 44Mag to wear an extra set of custom grips I'll have. Thanks!

Short barreled SBH's and original Vaqueros use the same grip frame (XR3-red)

BamaGreg said:

Short barreled SBH's and original Vaqueros use the same grip frame (XR3-red)

Click to expand...

Correct.

To avoid hitting middle finger with trigger-guard, one of better solution is a stocks that fill area behind trigger-guard, these were made by Herrett:



More https://gunblast.com/Super_Blackhawk.htm .

Also, stocks for Bisley. If I remembered correctly they were manufactured by Eagle grips:



Personally, I would prefer without finger grooves and checkering.