CNC Brass bisley grip frames... what is it worth to ya???

[magnumwheelman]

so this came up on another thread, & it got me thinking... my fabricator buddy, that is starting to gunsmith, is good buddies with another fabricator that has a CNC machine, & he is also kinda getting into guns...

I'm wondering how many would be interested, & what you think a fair custom price should be for a brass bisley grip frame... any complications you can think of for us to be looking out for, if we were going to do a run ( I have both stainless & blued Bisley Rugers if there are minor differences, for him to model off of )

I'm not sure how many he would have to make, to get us into a doable price... but I'm good for 4-6 of them myself

anyway... thoughts???

[potatojudge]

I'd be in for a couple, at least, for future projects.

Or do something nobody else has done and make it a No 5 (Then offer to sell them to Linebaugh so he can make them into $9k guns).

[bula]

For me it would be a weight thing. I'd be more interested in aluminum. How does brass, per weight, compare to SS and aluminum ?

[Joe S.]

I definitely like the idea of a brass #5 frame.

Not sure what to say about pricing though...

[mar]

I’d be interested

[magnumwheelman]

Assume brass is the heaviest... but that is an assumption based on Henry's Golden Boy's being heavier when brass... but the brass may just be thicker than the steel, causing the extra weight... I don't notice a difference on my brass grip framed guns ( I have 5-6 brass grip frames currently )

I'd be guessing if we could commit to 25-40 of them, they might get down there to "Ruger normal" as far as pricing... but I'm not in that business, so I'm just guessing there...

[magnumwheelman]

so... to do a #5, would require a grip frame to model off of ( I don't have one ) also, as far as I know, there are no premade #5 grips, so that would require additional work right away... where if we copied the Ruger Bisley, those grips should fit, at least as good on the brass, as they do on the Ruger grip frames...

any patent problems???

[foxtrapper]

Ruger Bisley brass, I’m in for a couple!

[magnumwheelman]

Steve... if they were running brass, I'm guessing it would be no problem to do steel or aluminum... the hard/ time consuming part, is getting a good program in the machine, to make the grip frames...

since Ruger doesn't make a brass or aluminum, I'd ( again ) guess there is less likely to run into patent rights, if they aren't making them... or some measurement would have to be varied enough to get around the patent...

possibly aluminum or even brass may require more thickness or web design to be strong enough for the "super magnums"

[potatojudge]

No problem with patents- it's come up here recently, and you make a very good point about the grips. Easy to fit since brass doesn't get blued, but with the Bisley at least there's a starting point.

[bula]

Yes to all and sorry to complicate things. Your idea has merit as it is/was ! 

[foxtrapper]

Reeder had made if I recall, aluminum Bisley frames years ago ,no patent problems. He also manufactured recently #5 grip frames.

[magnumwheelman]

Using Midway just for a price ballpark, they show 2 Ruger Bisley part numbers ( both out of stock ) one at $110.00 & one at $130.00... again, both are currently out of stock... stainless was at $110.00 Steel in the white was $130.00...

we could see how many it would take to get in that pall park for costs

[Joe S.]

If we got into that ballpark, I’d commit to at least two, maybe three.

[ryan]

I'd be interested