RSBH and the sq trigger guard

[SA1911A1/45]

I own a SBH and like the gun. The ticker is when shooting heavy loads the sq guard knocks the living @#$% out of my finger.
Question, those that own or have owned this gun what did you do to stop the pain? I do not want to spend a lot of money to cure this problem. I have large hands.

 

[Jim March]

You have two basic choices:

1) Swap grip frames. That can be cheap, or expensive. Cheap is to get ahold of a used Blackhawk aluminum XR3-RED grip frame with factory grips or similar, worth probably $50 and if you're even reasonably good with a wrench, can be homebrew installed. Expensive: there's a "Hunter Model" SBH stainless steel grip frame that is the same size as the SBH grip frame you have now, but with a round guard.

You might find that the smaller Blackhawk/Vaquero sized grip frame fits your hands better than the bigger SBH pattern.

2) Swap grips. Most of the rubber SBH grips fill in the area behind the triggerguard. Blu Magnum (linked at www.sixgunner.com) has some wood "western lookin'" grips that also fill in the gap behind the triggerguard, eliminating the "Dragoon Bite" you've run into but like the rubber grips, make life rough on those with small hands as the reach to the hammer gets longer.

I'd put XR3-RED type grips on. Aluminum will reduce the gun's overall weight, and are cheap. If that doesn't appeal, Qualitas has XR3-RED pattern grips in stainless or brass, running around $150, or Ruger makes stainless XR3-RED frames for Vaqueros.

You could also switch to a Bisley grip.

More info here:

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=80872

 

[k5blazer]

Know what you mean about that 'Dragoon bite'. It was very unpleasant to shoot. Put some Hogue grips on it and now I can shoot comfortably. Probably irks some people to see rubber grips on a SBH but it works for me.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

Dad has the same gun, had the same problem.

We got him a set of wood houge monogrips with finger grooves. They look good, and have much better control when shooting heavy loads. They also fill in the gap behind the trigger gaurd.
He has very lange hands, and these grips fit perfectly. They are wider than factory ones across the backstrap area, this helps tremedously in taming heavy loads. They are too big for my hands however.

We went with wood, as he had tried rubber before. The problem was rubber had too much bite, and was trying to take off hide with heavy loads. The wood ones look better and provide just enough slip that you don't end up with your palms raw after a range session.

 

[whiskey]

I guess that I am lucky. My SBH does not hit my finger enough to cause any pain. It will knock the snot out of the first finger on my free hand if I get it up behind the trigger guard, but I try not to do that. I usually wear gloves when shootin heavy loads and I let the gun roll pretty good, rather than trying to hold it down. My biggest problem is the hammer cutting my hand on the roll back. Gloves fix that, as does a little tighter grip.

You can cut and weld the trigger guard to round. I have seen it done and it looked fine. You can order STEEL and AluminumXR3-red grip frames from Ruger and from Brownells that will pretty much bolt up. A bit of fitting may be required, but it ain't nothing.

You can try your best to find a Hunter model grip frame at a good price, and if you do, call me so I can buy one too. Ruger may sell them to you, but I am just too scared to call $$$.

I think your best bet is to post a request to trade on the internet. Ask readers to swap 1 for 1 a SBH Dragoon for a round trigger guard frame. Lots of folks like the Dragoon style.

Like stated before the only real differance between the Dragoon style and the XR3-Red is the square trigger guard and the Dragoon has a "larger, longer" grip. The Dragoon is my choice for recoil contol. BTW, the only guns still produced with the Dragoon frames are the Super Blackhawks in 7 1/2 and 10" barrels. The shorter barreld SBH's have the XR3-Red grip frames.

 

[Onty]

See this site:
http://www.gunblast.com/Super_Blackhawk.htm
Noted grips might be the answer you are looking for. Author wrote: "I also fitted a pair of Herrett's walnut grips to the gun that I had slimmed down and refinished to better fit my hand. When firing heavy magnum loads, these grips are the most comfortable that I have ever used."

Hope this helps, Onty.