In Need of Advice - First Custom

[Alaskan454]

Hello all, I am hoping some of you fine gentlemen (and ladies) could shed a bit of sage wisdom in my direction.  Like many on here I have lots of ideas and not enough cash to bring them all to life immediately.  I have been seriously looking at custom guns for a few years now and constantly drool over the fine acquisitions of our board members.  This year I took delivery of my first custom and high end factory revolvers with an "Alpine Inspired" 45 Redhawk by Pinnacle High Performance and a triple cylinder Freedom Arms 83 in 45 with a few factory goodies.  Both of those guns are exactly what I wanted and very well put together.  Since then I have whittled down my collection with the philosophy of "fewer but nicer" in mind and have sold off all of my potential Ruger donors with poor serial number placement and anything else I didn't feel the urge to keep.  That process has left only one suitable large frame gun and it's not the right type of steel but still a great shooter and my only 44 magnum left in the safe, everyone needs at least one 44 right?  This means I'm on the hunt for donor guns and most of the ideas I have require a different starting point, so below are the customs I would someday like to build and I would appreciate input from anyone as to what they would suggest for acquisition #1.  

I have well sorted guns in 357, 44M, 45 ACP/Colt/Casull, and soon one of the new factory 480 Bisleys will be coming home.  I reload for all of my calibers on a Dillon 650 so feel free to provide practical input on caliber selection, especially in the .500 and .510 class.  I do not cast my own at the present but have been satisfied with several commercial bullet casters in the calibers I shoot and don't mind paying a bit more for commercial bullets until I get set-up to cast for the big boys.  I have no issues with full tilt 300gr and 360gr 454 loads in the Alaskan. I wouldn't want to shoot them all day but I can hold 1" groups at 7 yds with that level of power when kept to one or two cylinders.  I normally shoot 300gr bullets in 44/45 at upper end pressure but using H4227 or Longshot.  My new 480 will see mostly 370gr bullets at 1,100 fps or 420 gr at 1,000 fps or so.  I'll probably load up to max on occasion but I don't do it all the time.  That was a long introduction so here are my ideas in approximate order of acquisition:


1. 500 Linebaugh/JRH Bisley Vaquero - Ovate 5.5" barrel with prewar style sights, fluted cylinders, scalloped shield and gate, full turnbull finishing with CCH trigger/hammer/frame and a nice set of custom wood grips.  I think David Clements is who I'd like for this build.  

2. 480 Ruger on a Mid Frame - I believe JRH is the only game in town for these at the moment and his current examples look excellent.  I can't decide between a Flattop with factory Bisley grip or one of the plow handles with an extended grip.  I'd also like this one to have the blued/CCH/scalloped look and nice wood grips.  I think I'd keep the factory Micro rear sight but go with a 20 degree style front as well.

3. 500 Linebaugh GP44 SRH - I have a 454 Alaskan and also owned another one in 44 at one time, I love the SRH platform but never warmed up to anything but the Alaskan models. The 4 inch Bowen GP44 conversions are in my opinion the best combination of looks and performance, but for some reason I am leaning towards a SA for the first true custom.

4. 5 Shot 45 Colt on a Mid Frame - Kenai style Bowen Flattop in stainless with ivory micarta grips.  In fact, it's essentially the same gun one of our forum members already has which I constantly drool over.  I have a lot of 45s I enjoy at the present so this one  I think is going to come after a 480 or 500.

Thanks in advance for any input or advice!

[patdaddy]

may i suggest David Clements excellent Crecent head ejector rods. If you choose to stay with the Ruger factory round style, have it checkered for better finger traction.

[steve]

I would vote for option #1 that sounds sweet!! And since you have 45's already and a 480 on the way, I would choose a 500. Although, I must admit my mid-frame 480 is a little sweetheart.

[Alaskan454]

That's a great suggestion on the ejector rod, I'm sure there will be small details like that I've overlooked. Steve, your 480 is one of those I can't get out of my head. If I didn't want a 500 so bad it would be #1 on the list!

[Alaskan454]

Although I mentioned Clements for option #1 I have been thinking about a Bowen gun for some time and sent him a note about feasibility. It seems option #1 is not going to be in the cards at the present, there are a few issues I hadn't realized with regards to reshaping the top strap and fitting an ovate barrel. Back to the drawing board.

[potatojudge]

Call Alan Harton about the Vaquero with an ovate barrel. If welding up and blending the top strap to the ovate rib is possible he's the guy to do it.

[CraigC]

Jack Huntington seems to be more willing to do one-off and oddball stuff than anyone else. I talked to him last week about doing something I've never seen done by anyone and his response was, "sounds like fun!". Give him a call.

[Snyd]

I say go for the 51 in whatever whatever wrapping you want.

[bushog]

#1 Clements does thin ribbed S&W style custom barrel specifically for Vaquero conversions. He does a really nice custom rear sight for this package too.

The others I know a little about....had them all built.

All but the last one have gone down the road. They will be replaced some day....

#2

#3

#4


I promise you won't go wrong with any of your ideas!

[steve]

I still wouldn't give up on your #1 idea. The front of the top strap/nose of the frame would probably have to be welded up an re-shaped. Jack had that same problem fitting the S&W barrel to my 480 New Vaquero. Here is a pic before it was welded up, you can see the mismatch between the barrel and the frame.


And after a little welding and file work.




Don't give up on the Vaquero/ovate barrel yet!!

[bushog]

I agree.

[Alaskan454]

I'm still working on ideas for the ovate barrel with a Vaquero, but think something like Zeus's 500 Here would be really nice as well.  I'll have to see if Harton, Clements, or Huntington have ideas.  It seems that Jack really does like doing the oddball stuff and normally that's what I go for. Steve and Bushog's guns are prime examples and they both look very well executed.  You would never know what all went into his work if you didn't see the donor guns.  He also seems to do a really good job with the surface finishing and countours.

Last thing, what barrel length do you guys think would turn out best on a Vaquero with pre-war sights?  I have been thinking 5.5 for a while but wonder about an ejector length as well.  My favorites all tend to be 4 5/8 or 4.75.

[steve]

You can't go wrong with either barrel length, It's pretty much a coin flip for me. I have customs with both 4 3/4" and 5 1/2" barrels, I love both lengths. As far as the ejector rod length, you could always put a longer maximum ERH if you went with a 5 1/2" barrel. That's the beauty of having a custom made, it's pretty much whatever you can dream up!

[CraigC]

Here's a shot of my Bisley Vaquero that Clements installed his pre-war style rear sight on, among other things. I'm thinking this one will go to Jack to become a .475.

[Alaskan454]

That bisley looks really nice, I love how the sights flow with the Vaquero lines.  After all of my searching I completely overlooked an example right on his website, it has both the ovate barrel and rear sight modification I had in mind.  I'll be sending David a note when I get the donor gun.  Now I just need to decide on grips!

His Website