357 Ruger Bisley

[azdover]

I wanted a 4 5/8" 357 Magnum Blackhawk Bisley but since Ruger doesn't seem to make one, I decided to put one together. I started with a new Blackhawk and then found a used 7 1/2" Bisley 357 at a Bass Pro. I swapped the grip frames, putting the steel Bisley grip on the shorty and the aluminum plow handle on the long barrel for the time being.



Used these tools



Fitted and blended the frames together



Cleaned and degreased the parts with Dawn dishwashing soap and brake cleaner. Applied about 6 or 7 coats of Oxpho-Blue, using #000 steel wool between applications. Gave me more of a really dark grey finish instead of the original blue-black factory look.

The final product. The ears and the sides took most of the work. I used the Power Custom Bisley hammer, a factory Bisley trigger modified according to Power Custom's instructions, modded the pawl to spin free, and refinished the grips with a coat of tung oil.





Later,
Pete

[brandyspaw]

Nice breakdown of your work in doing a Bisley conversion!

I've wanted to do this to a 4 5/8" 45 Colt Blackhawk that I have for a long time now. I had been looking for the Ruger Bisley grip frames and the other necessary parts on Midway, Brownells, Gunbroker, etc but its really difficult to find the needed stuff in stock. This method of buying a complete gun is a good alternative, albeit expensive, route to take.

[azdover]

Gotta to spend it before The Boss wastes the cash on more furniture

[hairygreek]

Cool.

[Firewhenready7]

Awesome job...Now I want one

[azdover]

The donor for the original Bisley steel grip frame was a 7 1/2" New Model Blackhawk 357. It now has a Ronnie Wells Potato Judge brass grip frame.



The brass grip frame was easier to work with, but took longer since I didn't want to refinish the blue cylinder frame. There was a lot of filing and sanding, reassemble, check fit, disassemble, file and sand again, repeat as necessary.

[Drmark]

The brass frame adds a nice contrast! Kudos!

[azdover]

Goes nicely with my Henry Brass Big Boy 357

[xerts1191]

Feed that inner Cowboy

[792mauser]

Lookin good

[smithers599]

Outstanding. Congratulations.