SA revolver for guys with big hands

H

HungryHunter

New member
Hi all. I'm finally making the plunge and doing what I've wanted to do for a long time. It kinda correlates with the what's a revolver man to do thread, and I'm trading in one of my beloved Sig 220s on a SA revolver. I plan on practicing more with this one gun and trying to become much more proficient with it than mediocre with multiple semi autos. If possible I'd like it to become my primary carry gun, as I feel that, though in many areas/lifestyles it might not seem appropriate, in mine it will be more than adequate.

My only problem is I have huge hands. I love the new Taylor Colt clones but they don't fit my hands at all. The only thing I can find close is the Ruger New Vaquero Bisley. I was also leaning toward a conversion from Cimarron. My only other thought was possibly a Uberti Schofield but I can't find one to try my hands on. Caliber is irrelevant, I'd like a .357/.38. for financial reasons, but would feel adequately armed with anything else. So anyway if anyone had any suggestions, or reasons why making this drastic of a change would be unwise I would love to hear opinions.
 
revolver for big hands

The Ruger New Vaquero is a great quality gun (as are all New Vaqueros) -- its firing system is safer than the older Colt style (and used by Uberti) where the firing pin can hit a cartridge of dropped. A stainless steel 4.75" or 5.5" New Vaquero would be a great first start unless you want the "traditional" Colt action, or adjustable sights. I have a Bisley grip and like it a lot. About the grip size -- have some made to your big-hand specifications. Joe Perkins in Tucson is one quality maker -- see www.classicsa@comcast.net. (About the caliber, unless you reload, I'd suggest the 357mag so you can shoot cheaper 38 specials).
 
Cousin Pat, thanks for the reply. The link in AZ is perfect too. I'm leaning heavily toward the Ruger for the reasons you listed so that would be a perfect solution. I don't reload, but I spend a stupid amount of money trying to stay competent with three different calibers of semi autos so I wouldn't mind spending a lot on one caliber to become more proficient. .38 would work out great though as I shoot quite a bit of that in my S&W.
 
Anything with the Ruger Bisley grip frame should work great.

Ruger's "Bisley" is very different from the old Colt Bisley and the Italian clones of same. Ruger's Bisley is loosely based off of an old custom gun built in part (and owned by) Elmer Keith called the "Number 5"; the grip frame on that gun was a mix of Colt Bisley and Colt SAA parts. Ruger seems to have taken the #5 grip concept and stretched it and it is well known as a solution for people with bigger hands and/or in need of really serious recoil control.

The other "big hands option" is the Ruger SuperBlackhawk grip frame that shipped with SBH variants with barrels of 7.5" or longer and is basically the Colt SAA/NewVaq type grip scaled way up. That grip frame never shipped on a 357Magnum but it can be retrofitted to the smaller guns. It is also the grip frame used by Magnum Research/Kahr on the "BFR" series, with big rubber oversize grips mounted. You can however switch to standard SBH grips on any of the BFRs.

This page may help you significantly:

http://www.gunblast.com/Hamm_Ruger-SA-GripFrames.htm

One thing you might try however is the standard Colt/NewVaq type grip used in a "pinkie under" hold:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/1jimmarch/4257948975/in/photostream/

This is what I use and in combination with a lower SuperBlackhawk hammer grafted onto my NewVaq I get the perfect placement of thumb to hammer tip - the tip is straight onto the thumb's joint. I have big hands - XL glove size and I'm 6'4" so...this might work for you too. This hold uses the pinkie under the grip to "index" the gun into the hand the same place every time, plus on recoil (such as very stout 357 loads) the pinkie "stretches open" a bit and then by re-curling the pinkie I bring the barrel down off of recoil faster.

Now that my gun has been completely converted to 9mmPara the issue of heavy recoil is mostly gone :).
 
Jim, thanks for all the info. The links were very helpful and the grip style is something I'll definitely have to try incorporating. It sounds like we're about in the same size category so that info was very useful. 9mm sounds like a great option. I'd Love to have something like that myself, though I imagine it didn't come cheap.
 
Well I got lucky in that I had access to a fairly cheap "Makerspace" with a decent mill and lathe in it.

Let's see...you know, I haven't added up total prices on Maurice yet so...

$500 - base gun (2005)

$35 - SBH hammer

$15 - leftover section of Douglas Premium rifle barrel from somebody's carbine project!

$60 - Basic hardware store crap - includes seamless stainless steel tubes that got turned into the magazines

$35 - dial indicator, very high precision, worth it!

$60 - dies for barrel threads plus .3555" chucking reamer

$270 - Bowen chromoly cylinder blank (owch)

$70 - Dave Manson 9mm finish reamer

$14 - pair of 32-20 levergun magazine coil springs

$1,059

OW!

But then again:

Watching people completely freak the heck out at the range: $priceless

NOW, there's a cheaper way to do it.

1) Get a Ruger 357/9mm convertible Blackhawk

2) Thread the barrel end, change the front sight, add gas trap ($50 tops DIY).

3) Run copper line to the ejector point on the frame instead of the stock ejector ($2 assuming the gas trap was built right)

4) Tamper with the loading gate so there's a hinged upper half. ($5 in parts)

5) Punch hole in frame, left upper corner just left of the hammer. HINT: shoot it so there's a clear mark on the frame first where the shells and primer goes right there, use a small drill first, if you're off a hair adjust.

6) Build the magazine well and magazines ($50 tops).

Only problem here is that you need to handload your 9mm ammo so it uses .357" bullets for best results - more or less a "semi wildcat" but using normal 9mm loading data. Not too big a deal. .355" bullets won't be too accurate.
 
I don't know if it's up your alley or not, but Uberti and Taylor's sells the Remington 1875's and 1890's. the grip itself is not much bigger than the other SA's per se- but the grip frame is stretched out a bit where you get more room between the backstrap and the trigger. I have one of each (1890 and 1875)- I don't have big hands, but since I don't have a lot of experience with SA's- I do like the longer grip frame an awful lot.
 
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