I picked up a Lipsey's Exclusive Ruger Blackhawk Flattop Convertible today, .45 Colt/ACP cylinders, 4 5/8" barrel, stainless.
@Lost River was the inspiration (or instigator) for this purchase. The first time I saw his stainless Convertible .45 Blackhawk Flattop, I knew I had to have one. One day I would like to get a Bisley hammer and fit it to my gun too, and I'm trying to find wood grips similar to his. Maybe the black grip frame too. Can't find the hammer anywhere, though, and not sure what goes into fitting it. Serial number dates being shipped out by Ruger in 2024.
I took it shooting right after I got it, shooting 50rds of factory 200gr Cowboy loads and 10rds of Barnes 200gr hollow points. Incredibly fun to shoot gun, and very pleasant too. Now I kind of want a double action .45 Colt to go with it!
How stupid would it be to actually carry one of these for defense? Even though I have double action revolvers and semi autos, something about this begs to be carried sometime.
Last edited by SwampDweller; 05-23-2024 at 06:45 PM.
I agree with your grip swap. Had I bought that bird’s-head-grip .45 ACP Vaquero, that I saw, I would almost certainly soon have been acquiring a conventional grip frame for it. The bird’s-head might be an better idea for a cut-down Single Six, chambered for light-recoiling .32 H&R or .22 WMR. I have read numerous accounts, over the years, of folks not liking their bird’s-head-gripped sixguns’ recoil characteristics when shooting larger-bore centerfire.
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!
Who's a source of quality grips for an old model Vaquero?
Looking to dress mine up a bit.
Enjoy!
As for actual defensive carry of a single-action sixgun, well, one of the things that hot-spurred me to buy a locally-available stainless .22 WMR Ruger Single Six, before another buyer grabbed it, is that I recently suspended my almost-daily long-stroke double-action dry-fire training. (Rapidly-worsening arthritis, in both of my index fingers.) I used to joke that I would, someday, after I retired from LEO-ing, and could then carry anything I wanted, I would tote a single-action sixgun, with my “reload” being a baby Glock. Well, with aging, and general wear and tear, now hitting my hands like a ton of bricks, I am no longer joking.
To be clear, I am not actually advocating that anyone depend solely upon a single-action revolver for defensive purposes, and that my long-ago joke did include a second gun, of modern design.
That leaves the serious matter of the need to manage the single-action revolver’s hammer. For those with long and/or thick fingers, there is the matter of that relatively small trigger guard. Considerable training is going to be necessary, to take care of that first problem. The second problem is a matter of the gun fitting the hand. Both problems mean that single action revolvers are simply not for everyone. My opinion, of course.
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!
Yesterday was my first time shooting a single action revolver for more than a few shots (not counting shooting DA revolvers in SA). I never had an issue with the hammer slipping or myself otherwise not cocking it, but I do wonder if a Bisley hammer would make it a little easier. The spur on the normal hammer is quite high. I could see where a slightly flatter spur (and maybe a little wider as well?) could potentially be advantageous, but I've never shot a SA with a bisley hammer, so this is just conjecture. My initial motivation for getting a bisley hammer was purely for looks, but now I'm thinking there might be a slight operational advantage as well. Again, I could be wrong on that.
I'm still working on where I should keep my grip as far as height. On DA revolvers and autos, typically I try to choke up as high as possible, but with SA that might not be the proper technique. I'm not sure.
Sweet! Now that they’re being shipped, that just moved to the top of The List!
Yeah, I can’t imagine (or really don’t want to imagine) full house anything above .38 wadcutter loads in one. Some folks get off on “rocks and dynamite” loads as David Bradshaw calls them but I’m not one of them. My hands aren’t as bad as yours but they’re still pretty jacked up and I see no reason to exacerbate the problems.
I’m going with LS Grips for mine. Here’s his Vaquero/Blackhawk offerings.
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
@SwampDweller, a Super Blackhawk hammer has a lower pad and is a direct replacement without the need to modify things as is necessary with the Bisley hammer (unless you get the Ronnie Wells version for ~$250). That was my plan for the Vaquero until someone pointed out it already has a Montado hammer which is even lower and more better. But Montado hammers are scarce and spendy last time I looked.
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?