Bisley grip "lack of fit?"

[catboat]

I've been surfing for a stainless Ruger Bisley 45 Colt/acp with a 5 1/2" barrel.

Is it just me, or do all the pictures I see indicate poor fit of grips to the frame? The grips do not come to the edge of the frame for a significant length of the frame.

I used to have a blued Ruger Bisley 41 mag that had excellent fit and finish. Is this new "lack of grip fit" typical now for Ruger?

If anyone comes across a nice used stainless Ruger Bisley 45 Colt/acp with 5.5" barrel, with tight cylinder (minimal end shake and carry up rotational play), with properly fitted grips, please let me know.
[email protected]

 

[contender]

Uhh, gee. My 45 Colt/45 ACP stainless Bisley has excellent fitting grips.
However,,,,, if the grip fit is the only problem,,, get a custom made set of grips. Or do as I did when I needed grips to replace the factory plastic ones with the infernal lock system; I made my own.
I'm considering making a set of holly stocks for my Bisley, just because I want to.

 

[yankee7809]

I think the Bisley grip fit issue may not be as bad as it's reputation. My .45/.45 Acusport's grips fit beautifully. It was made in the early laminated run. I was gifted with a pair of Hogue Bisley Goncalo Alves panels and they too fit really well. Just as good as the factory grips do.
Hope you find a gun that you like. I really like mine although I wish it was a .44!

 

[flatgate]

I seem to recall Cary making a comment about the stainless Bisley grip frames being a wee bit larger.....?????

I dunno for sure, though.

flatgate

 

[yankee7809]

I seem to recall Cary making a comment about the stainless Bisley grip frames being a wee bit larger.....?????

I dunno for sure, though.

flatgate

I recall that too. I wonder now if most of the commercial grip makers don't just make the grips to fit the larger Bisley stainless frame, figuring that you could just trim them down to fit the blued frame's smaller size, maybe.

 

[BlkHawk73]

I concur with the differences in sizes. Grips that seem slightly unfitted to my stainless ones, fit great on my blued ones.

 

[Onty]

I seem to recall Cary making a comment about the stainless Bisley grip frames being a wee bit larger...

What is the website of that stock maker? I downloaded this picture showing clearly the difference between stainless and blue grip frame, but now I cannot locate this website :? . Thanks.

 

[TexNekkid]

The stainless Bisley gripframes are indeed a bit larger than the blued versions and it can be difficult finding aftermarket grips for them. Before I began buying Cary's grips, I found only one supplier that made different sized grips for stainless and and blued gripframes. There used to be a short dissertation on the subject on its website, but it appears to be gone now. I'd call ahead before ordering today.

http://www.woodgrips.com/ruger_bisley.htm

A better, but somewhat costlier, solution is sending a gripframe to Cary for custom fitted grips.

http://www.clccustomgrips.com/

 

[yankee7809]

I've owned both blued and stainless Bisleys but unfortunately not at the same time. So I can't compare the gripframes that I've owned. I can say that the factory grip panels fit perfectly and the Hogue Bisley panels did the same.. On stainless. So it wouldn't surprise me if these grip panels would be too large for a blued frame.
Of course my situation could just be dumb luck. Having had so little good dumb luck in my time I might not recognize it!

 

[lkbenson]

The grip panels on my stainless Bisley are probably the worst fitting panels I have ever seen on a gun of any make or of any quality.

 

[Quarterbore]

I seem to recall Cary making a comment about the stainless Bisley grip frames being a wee bit larger.....?????

I dunno for sure, though.

flatgate

Yea, I remembered seeing this thread and I took a chance on buying a set of Stag Grips (makes me really sad as those stags look awsome) and they were cut to a blued frame and when I tried them on my Acusport 45 Bisley they have the serious gap issue as shown above. I also tried my 45 Bisley Hunter and had the same issue.

I had confirmed with the seller that he would exchange them before buying if they didn't fit and I just need to send in the grip frame but damn these are a nice set stags! I am not bad mouthing the grip maker and he is a member here and the grips are awsome... They just will not work with the stainless Bisley, it's really not even close as shown in Onty's photo he posted above. I will get photos of the gaps and I don't have a blued bisley to mount them on.

Lesson learned, but darn kinda sad too...

 

[pvtschultz]

And this is why I do not offer Bisley grips. I am really suprised that they could make the XR3-RED grip frame for 50 years and have it still be nearly exactly the same but they cannot make the Bisley grip frame for a decade without serious differences.

 

[CraigC]

There is a lot of variation among Bisley grip frames. Even among stainless frames. I have custom grips fitted to one stainless Bisley that absolutely will not fit another. Always best to have them fitted to individual frames.

 

[bisleyfan41]

If you order a bisley set from CLC, Cary requests you send the grip frame so he can make them match. So it really doesn't matter if one's bigger than the other.

 

[slippingaway]

Well, this explains the lack of Bisley grips I've been able to find online. Luckily my factory grips fit really well. Looks like I'll just have to stick with them for a while.

 

[yankee7809]

I have always wondered if the varying size in the Bisley gripframes might be because they wait a considerable amount of time between runs of them. For sure Ruger never has used anywhere near as many as they do the "regular" XR3-RED type frames. They aren't in constant production, that's for sure.

 

[Axehandle]

Cary C is definitely the answer for the stainless Bisley grip fit issue.... This is a pair he did for me... There is a slight perception of less than perfect fit in the pic... I assure you that it is an optical illusion..

 

[kelbro]

I wonder if they are outsourcing the castings. Different moulds at different locations?

 

[BlkHawk73]

Ruger is one of the tops in casting so I don't see them outsourcing for this especially when they're doing it for so many others.

 

[REP1954]

I have noticed this difference in the past with the NM Blackhawks also. The stainless frames always seem bigger than thier aluminum counterparts to me. I always had to get the files out and make them fit my hands. I've become a carbon steel only kind of guy.