Which run of SS BH Bisley 45 Colt is best?

[71shooter]

I bought two of these from the first accusport run years ago when they first came out. The first one sucked, so I sold it and bought the next one. A friend told me to have the throats honed to .4525. That made things good with heavy LBT gas checked bullets at full throttle, but nothing else has ever shot particularly well. I've since learned a great deal about removing thread choke, tight barrel/cylinder gap, etc. I would like to pick up another one of these, at some point, with a tight cylinder gap and do the accurizing tricks. Is there a certain run or serial # range that is known to be "the best"? Thanks in advance for any informed opinions.

P.S.
Anyone had any luck rechambering one of the dual-cylinder ACP cylinders to tight spec 45 Colt?

 

[contender]

I haven't seen or heard of any differences around here that I can recall. I have one of the convertibles,,, and it's sweet!

 

[gunzo]

I can't judge them across the board, but have had one that was made some years ago for Accusport, & now have a more current one that was made for Williams.
The early one, In my opinion was a poor example of manufacturing. I didn't keep it.
The Bisley I have now, made 3-4 years ago is, dimension wise, a VERY VERY fine example of a modern 45 colt revolver. The chambers are smooth & polished, are tighter than before, have nearly perfect .452-.4525 throats, & they all match! Word has it that Ruger now uses a single reamer for all 6 holes instead of a gang of 6 reaming all at once.
After a sour experience with the early one. I'm glad I tried a newer one. My current Bisley has little or no thread choke & a reasonable cyl gap, but those two items are bound to change a bit from gun to gun.

Come to think of it though, I have 3 Accusport Bisleys in 44 mag that were manufactured in about the same era as the 45, & all are pretty well made. So...71shooter, maybe you & I both got a "Monday gun" back then.

As far as your PS goes, it doesn't work. An area of an acp chamber is larger than the same area of a well dimensioned 45 colt chamber.

 

[Enigma]

If my .45 Colt cylinder had too-large chambers, I'd find a smaller caliber cylinder of the proper length and have it fitted and rechambered. Just sayin.'

 

[71shooter]

I can't judge them across the board, but have had one that was made some years ago for Accusport, & now have a more current one that was made for Williams.
The early one, In my opinion was a poor example of manufacturing. I didn't keep it.
The Bisley I have now, made 3-4 years ago is, dimension wise, a VERY VERY fine example of a modern 45 colt revolver. The chambers are smooth & polished, are tighter than before, have nearly perfect .452-.4525 throats, & they all match! Word has it that Ruger now uses a single reamer for all 6 holes instead of a gang of 6 reaming all at once.
After a sour experience with the early one. I'm glad I tried a newer one. My current Bisley has little or no thread choke & a reasonable cyl gap, but those two items are bound to change a bit from gun to gun.

Come to think of it though, I have 3 Accusport Bisleys in 44 mag that were manufactured in about the same era as the 45, & all are pretty well made. So...71shooter, maybe you & I both got a "Monday gun" back then.

As far as your PS goes, it doesn't work. An area of an acp chamber is larger than the same area of a well dimensioned 45 colt chamber.

Thanks gunzo! Would mind sharing your guns serial number with the last two digits X'd out? I will start hunting for one. Is yours a dual cylinder model? Thanks

 

[Deadeye]

I have the Accusport Bisley Convertible. I sent the 45 Colt cylinder to Mr. Bowen to have the cylinder throats reamed to .4525. It made a big improvement with cast bullets. The accuracy now is great. I left the 45acp cylinder as is because I only shoot hardball thru it and it's accurate. The cylinder gap on the Colt is .005 and the ACP is .009 .

 

[41-44-45-48]

I have a Williams exclusive 45 Bisley convertible that I purchased in 2011 or so. It's one of the better fitted blackhawk in my safe. I did have to ream the cylinders to .4525 but other than that it is super accurate. Usually does 6 shots touching at 25 yards.

On a side note, I also just picked up one of the new 480s. Like most others I've read about the grips fit terribly. I tried the grips from the 2011 45 Bisley and they fit just as bad in the exact same way! So it's not the grips that are the problem. Ruger's mold for the SS Bisley grip frames must be slowly drifting over time, lol. That's the one thing I'd be leary about on any new stainless Bisley. Not a big deal for those of us who replace the grips anyways but mine's bad enough that I'm afraid it'll draw blood due to the overhanging panels on the backstrap if I shoot it the way it is.

 

[gunzo]

Thanks gunzo! Would mind sharing your guns serial number with the last two digits X'd out? I will start hunting for one. Is yours a dual cylinder model? Thanks[/quote]

My 45 is not a convertible. s/n is 48-457XX, factory fired case is dated 08-02-10.
Hope this helps.

 

[71shooter]

Thanks!