Just curious as to what is the most prefered grip frame on a SA revolver? To keep is simple, let's use two major grip categories: Plow Handle or Bisley? I know there's varients of each, i.e. FA's grip (Bisley), for purpose of this post.

My prefered is the Bisley. I find it more comfortable and has a more natural point of aim.

If it kicks significantly, give me a Bisley.

I don't care if it kicks lightly, or significantly, give me the Bis.

Bisley fits my hands better.

santa claus brought me a super blackhawk BISLEY hunter. i picked it out side by side with the plow handle based solely on "feel". i had never owned a single action revolver of any kind. i had only used my redhawk. i read of others on the internet, and another guy at work having issue with a bisley smacking their fingers. i worried of me possibly having this issue they were having.

well....i FINALLY got around to shooting it some. i just used some winchester white box 240's, since i havn't had reloading time. it shot pretty good and NO whackin! i wonder what other people do to get bumped?

anyway....i like the bisley grip much.

Me2, I have never had an issue.

For me it's a little more complicated, in general for the big kickers I go Bisley but everything else up to heavy 45's I like the Super Blackhawk grip frame but I don't like the shorter aluminum standard blackhawk frame. My absolute favorite grip frames are the Colt Dragoon frames. There is a kit available to convert Rugers to the Colt frame but it isn't cheap but I plan on doing one eventually to try with the heavy calibers. The FA frame is similiar to the Colt and may have even been copied from it.

The standard SBH with the squared trigger guard will beat my birdie finger near to death.

Maybe somebody is trying to tell you something

I know and I think Ive got it figured out too,leave them alone.

Is a SBH grip considered plow handle? They handle recoil best for me. Bisleys beat me up.

Yup, that's the plow handle.

Bisley for me - I cringe at the thought of shooting my .500 or .475 with the Plow Handle frame!

I have and shoot both and both work on my knuckle. I can get Hogue and Pachmayr grips for the Blackhawk plow handle which stop the bite,so I shoot them the most.

If you try and get all your fingers on the Bisley grip, you WILL get whacked on the knuckle unless your fingers are so skinny that they don't get close to the trigger guard. I learned the hard way and started "dropping my pinky". No more whack-a-dope for me!

It was counter-intuitive to grip a gun like that (for me) because it's beaten into your head when gripping a PISTOL, get all the way up on the grip. Not so with the Bisley.

I prefer the Bisley grip on Rugers. I like the FA grip even more.

i grip...the whole grip on the bisley. 5' 11" 235lbs....i don't think my fingers are too skinny??

maybe when i shoot heavier loads, but time will tell. i kinnda doubt it though. i did not get whacked, or even close. nuther buddy at work did. who knows why. maybe it is in the tightness of grip/hold???

plow handle (RX3) thank you. Dont care for the ruger bis. have done some shooting with the FA 454. Thats more than i like/can handle/ or need. guess im stuck using that out dated 44 mag. Love the looks of a colt bis. but cant see that it holds all that better for shooting

It does for me especially when the recoil is heavy. I really believe that my revolver in .50 Alaskan would be unshootable with a plow handle grip frame. JMHO.

I thought there would be more single action shooters here but..... Well so far from this post, it looks like the bisley style is the most preferred.

bisley/fa....

Amen!

I am with you. I listened to others and bought a Ruger Bisley SBHH and it left so fast I don't even remember it. I don't like the trigger guard on a SBH unless I use Pachmeyer grips. I have shot many Freedoms and they NEED rubber grips.
The Bisley can be put in a forge and pounded into a plow for all I care. It is a mental thing without any proof.
This is a picture of my MOA that is close to a Bisley. It beat my knuckle silly and is only a 7BR. I sent for another lever and it was worse. I made my own out of stainless to relieve the pain and can now shoot it all day.


I REFUSE to shoot it. If he shoots it here again I will need a medical kit. I do not fear the recoil, I fear the grip. I WOULD shoot it with a hog leg and rubber grips.
We are all different with different hands but the whole truth is that the Bisley was never designed for recoil. In the end it might cause more hand and wrist damage then anything else.
Bring your Freedom .475 here and when you quit after 10 shots, I will run 100 with my .500 JRH out of my BFR. Can't do more, run out of boolits. Not enough brass either, I only stole a few from Whit.

A plow handle would actually rotate up at a much greater rate than a Bisley which tends to push straight back. That Alaskan is burning twice the powder of your .500 JRH, and pushing a heavier bullet. Keeping that in mind, which grip frame will allow the shooter a better chance to keep it out of his/her forehead? The plow handle, by design, rotates up -- not a good situation when you are dealing with really high levels of recoil. Forget the knuckle now, and think of control. By the way, there are a number of gunsmiths that create more space between the front of the grip and the trigger guard for thos who constantly whine about their knuckle getting wacked.

So, given more space, eliminating the knuckle wacking excuse, which one is superior for recoil? The one that goes straight back, or the one that comes straight up?

And by the way, the Micarta grips on the .50 aren't slick -- the ones on the BFR sure are, but not the ones on the Alaskan.

I feel ROTATE is the wrong word. The gun rises and raises the arms. The barrel does not swing back with a proper hold unlike "ROLL".
A slippery grip that no amount of strength can keep from rolling is a problem. The grip must stick. I read about those with scuffed hands from rubber and they are holding too loose and skidding the grip. Rug burns!
The Bisley punches straight back but then rises the same. It is the initial punch that bothers me. Yet they are not bad with a good rubber grip. Get off the rear of the trigger guard, smooth the hump and all is good. The Freedom with the rubber grips is nice to shoot. I don't like the smooth grip panels.
I don't like the wood panels on a BH either.
Pachmeyer grips on a BH or SBH move the grips towards a Bisley and rubber grips on a Bisley move the grips towards a hog leg.
Can you think that in between is better then either way?

Not suggesting it rolls, but the barrel will try to come straight up. I have found that the Bisley does not come up the same -- that is the beauty of it.

I think some might be splitting hairs, as once you pass a certain threshold it is just plain uncomfortable – Bisley, FA or plow handle.

Yesterday I was out for a couple hours re-sighting my 500L Max with a plow handle no less, as I previously was experiencing ignition problems, so I tore everything down including removing the rear sight to get at the firing pin.

I was sighting in a field load at 100 yards (440 grain at 1,220fps) and after getting dialed in with open sights, I was banging away offhand at targets from 50 to 150 yards when three guys on the next bench commented on the bark of my revolver and were smirking at the size of the cartridge compared to their 9mm’s.

I offered them a chance to shoot the Seville and 2 guys took me up on my offer. The 1st guy upon touching off a round lost control of his off-hand grip, as it twisted and came up and how the top strap of that revolver missed his skull I’ll never know, as it was that close. It really surprised me how the revolver recoiled so violently for him, as he was about 190#’s and looked to have a very firm grip with the elbows not locked but close to being locked. All he said was “I wasn’t expecting that” as he handed the revolver back, after which, he messaged his palm for a good 30 seconds.

The 2nd guy seeing the recoil from his buddies shot, I think wanted to change his mind about shooting the revolver but did step forward as I held the revolver out to him. He requested to shoot off my rest. He put on a shooting glove, sat down and with a death grip on my revolver; he fired one round – got up, handed the revolver back to me and said “that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be”. The barrel by the way, jumped off the bag, came up a foot and twisted his off-hand from his death grip. I know he must have felt the twist in his wrist. I asked him if he wanted to fire the other 3 in the chamber for group but he politely refused.

It sure felt good when I ran out of 500L Max ammo and transitioned to the 45ACP in my Baer PII.

Not beauty, PAIN.
Some poor rifle stocks will push into your cheek while the proper slope will pull the stock away from your face yet shoulder recoil does not change. Bisley recoil does not change, it is all there. It is how it is applied. It is a poor rifle stock that smashes your cheek. In this case it will be your hand.
Dissipate recoil without your body taking it all and it feels better.
The bisley is like standing against a wall with a .458 so your body movement does not dissipate force. You might break a shoulder.
If you think recoil is less with a Bisley when it punches you instead of being dissipated with gun rise, you deserve the pain and damage. Taffin learned the hard way. Was it his love of the Freedom and the Bisley?

I have shot enough of both and I like the Bisley at recoil levels below .45+p. I'm about to test this out with some guns bigger than that.

I really think that technique, experience, and anatomy have more to do with this than people realize.

Taffin damaged his hands and wrists through volume, not attributable to one grip frame or another, just LOTS of heavy loads in a variety of calibers.

I Shot my 4 5/8 Blackhawk today with some Speer 250 gr deep curl and 20 gr. of lil gun ww lr primers.I had put a peep sight on and wanted to try it out [Hogue grips].I shot a few rounds then did some work on deer stands and feeders. Came back and shot some more,50 rds.in all, bags on hood of truck .My wrists feel like someone stuck an icepick thru them. May be just one of those days ,wet and damp ,but the pistol was working on me today.
Some days just hurt more than others, Going to paint the peep white, I put a red fiber on my front sight. Bow hunters, remember the t dot sights fibers ,a small threaded hole in the top of the front sight and they thread right in.You can change colors quick.

Well I have 500's and 454's in Bisley 475's in both and I've had a BFR in 45-70 and for fun I decided to build a 454 first with a Bisley grip, then I went to the aluminum frame and then the SBH frame. After I was done with my playing I went back to the Bisley. It is a fact that the Bisley just like the Encore or most double actions redirect the recoil more rearward the upwards. The plow handle was designed with the thought being recoil would be absorbed by the gun "rolling" in your hand. This works fine up to the 44 and 45 but with the heavier loads the gun has a tendency to roll back into the webbing of your hand if relax too much and it will snap the wrist upward before the elbows can ever bend. I'm probably more sensitive to this fact than most after having 3 bones removed from wrist and losing 75% of side to side (up and down when shooting) movement and 50% of the up and down. This dosn't take into cosideration the nerve bundle that was removed or all the ligaments that had to be reattached. My injury was originally caused from my work but I most likely would never have had to have surgery if not for my love of big bores and lots of rounds down range. The FA is basicly a Colt clone and like the older Colts the grip frame falls in between the Bisley and the plow handle. I shoot both of my 475's side by side all the time and the difference in the way they recoil is major and obvious even though the free recoil velocity of 30.7fps and the free recoil energy of 43.9ftlbs is the same in both guns. The BFR is helped immensely by the rubber grips and extra weight, especially the weight of the extended cylinder guns. I made the mistake of buying the hardwood grips from Magnum for the BFR and with the way I had that 45-70 loaded it was a fight to hang on to the gun, especially since they are way oversized even for big hands like mine. That gets into another part of the debate though which is what type of grip material are you using. A checkered or rubber grip on a plow handle is going to slip less and put more pressure on your wrist and elbows. The last thing I'll add about the Bisley is that having also had numerous neck and shoulder surgeries I feel it more in my shoulder than I do a plow handle.

I personally like both grip frames although the plow handle will come to a natural accurate point me quicker. The main thing is to shoot what your comfortable with and what you like. When you start talking big boomers, 454 and up then I would much rather see a more inexperienced shooter start off with a Bisley because if you don't have the experience and skill needed to control a plow handle under heavy recoil you could be asking to get hurt or at least turned off from big bores.

I was able to shoot a FA83 454 side by side with my Bisley 454 yesterday. I was shooting full house loads with 300gr XTP's and 300gr CP's. The Bisley had a definite advantage over the FA in comfort and control. I had more muzzle rise with the FA and with my wrist damage when the FA would roll I'd get bit on the thumb by the hammer unless I tightened up my grip. I still like both grip frames but for just plain recoil control and comfortable shooting, with both guns side by side and using the same ammo the Bisley won out cleanly.

If it's between the Bisley and Plow handle, the bisley by most accounts, is better. I've not shot a true Bisley with anything over .44/45. I have shot .50 plow handles and they ain't fun. I prefer the look of the plow handle over the bisley though. The FA is waaay better than the plow handle to me.

I agree with you on the plow handles, and I too like the looks better. The FA comes in between the plow and Bisley.

I prefer the SBH above all others. Despite Whitworth and the OP's desire to lump it in with the shorter "plow handle" of the Colt 1851 and SAA and clones, and the Ruger XR3 and XR3 Red, it's a LONG way from them.
I have a pretty good bit of experience with all of them, including the FA 83 and 97 and the Ruger Bisley. There's a big difference between HANDLING one and SHOOTING one, particularly with heavy loads.
For ME, give me the SBH. It's mostly perception and personal opinion for all of us, of course, but hand size and finger length also make a difference.

Will you kindly show me where I have done this? The OP asked about two grip frames -- the plow handle (I am assuming the XR3-Redesign as it is more common than the Dragoon) and Bisleys by Ruger.

The OP posted the following:
"Just curious as to what is the most prefered grip frame on a SA revolver? To keep is simple, let's use two major grip categories: Plow Handle or Bisley? I know there's varients of each, i.e. FA's grip (Bisley), for purpose of this post."

In this context, as I have read it, he asked about Ruger's offerings but included the FA grip frame in with the Bisley (according to Ruger). Given the choice between those two offerings, I prefer the Bisley, but I like the FA even better (probably should be in its own category).

Or am I missing something?? LOL!

I just have to agree with this. I started in 1956 with the Ruger flat top and shot about every Ruger grip made--NO PROBLEM. Some changes made no difference to speak of. They all shot good.
Heavy recoil does better somewhere in between and the grips on the BFR's and Pachmeyers on the Rugers are the best for me.
The Bisley and Freedom grips put more pressure into the back of my hand and also beat my knuckle. I have had the tendons in the back of my hand hurt for days. Yet a rubber grip can ease that.
I would rather have my hands and arms lift under recoil then to be slammed straight back. Some revolver calibers in a rifle will beat you black and blue while lifting arms takes it all away.
"roll" of a big revolver can smash your head so those slippery, pretty grips need left to brag at home, not at the range or in the field. Yes, I have seen a Bisley grip "roll" far enough too, to smash heads. A few like a high hold on the Bisley so it is a short punch to barrel roll to the head. Then when pain starts, holds get higher and higher so the gun can really come up. I hate to see a guy with the web of his hand almost at the hammer.
The SBH has a problem with the sharp trigger guard so smoothing edges will work. Pachs cure that. Yet the grip can be held any witch way and group. The Bisley MUST be held EXACTLY the same. Creep up and all bets are off. It should be held TIGHT AND LOW. PUT YOUR LITTLE FINGER UNDER THE GRIP.

It's kinda like pickemup trucks, you will never see me drivin' a Chevy or holdin' a plowhandle. But, they work fine for other folks.

Yep, I posted what I experienced but I know others have had different opinions. For me because of the loss of function in my wrist a gun coming straight back is more comfortable but in my experiment I noticed that perceived recoil was lower with the Bisley. I have a 475 with a SBH grip and it will tear you up if your not used to heavy hitters and I can also say my other big bores with the Bisleys are more controllable.

Bottom line is shoot what you like and never take anybody's opinion as the gospel for what will work for you. Handle and shoot as many types as you can. Also be aware what may be comfortable in a 44Mag may be intolerable in 500 Linebaugh. Everyone is different, there are too many indidividual variables to list from hand size and finger length to forearm strength and arm length, even what you do for a living can effect it. The more calloused your hands the better.