Ruger Bisley Conversion Completed

[tentcamper]

Very nice! I'm a fan of Ruger Bisleys and to "construct" one yourself, that nice, is a job very well planned and executed.

Midway has always treated me well... I'm a happy many times over customer.

[x101airborne]

I'd give ya a high five on that one. Shows you have patience and good working skills. That is a nice patina on the grip frame. Very nicely done!

[needsmostuff]

I like the greying effect on the stainless.
Bet if you soda blasted it and redid the rust blue you would get very close to the "mystery " Ruger grey finish.

[bigbore5]

I lap a lot of stainless parts every day. I get the same grey as Ruger with 1000 grit lapping compound on several stainless alloys. I've got a few extra barrels at home. I'll try to see what colors I get when I get back home.

[paleroadster]

Jan 11, 2024 16:39:15 GMT -5 bigbore5 said:

I lap a lot of stainless parts every day. I get the same grey as Ruger with 1000 grit lapping compound on several stainless alloys. I've got a few extra barrels at home. I'll try to see what colors I get when I get back home.

I suspect you're thinking of the standard production "not really polished" finish, and bigbore5 is referring to the short lived sort of French Grey they did on SRH and certain other guns, then they seem to have just given up on. I may be off base though.

[bigbore5]

That so-called "Target Gray" is the one I was talking about.

[marlin35]

I couldn’t tell you how or why I got the colors in it that I did, but I like it because it tells the “story” about the project. I don’t think I’d refinish it even for something really “pretty” and “proper.”

[jessejaymes]

Marlin- looks great. I just recieved my MidwayUSA grip frame. I don't have a donor yet, but look to do the exact same conversion to a 4 5/8" as you have. Any tips, tricks or Easy Buttons to share? How much time you have in it?

[hounddogman]

Looks good. Like the holster too. I have a lot of miles on a bianchi lawman like that.

[marlin35]

Jan 15, 2024 14:03:02 GMT -5 jessejaymes said:

Marlin- looks great. I just recieved my MidwayUSA grip frame. I don't have a donor yet, but look to do the exact same conversion to a 4 5/8" as you have. Any tips, tricks or Easy Buttons to share? How much time you have in it?

My tip would be that there are no easy buttons! Don’t dare get frustrated and pick up a power tool. Mine came with the “ears” decently close, but the sides were grossly oversized. I used 80 grit sandpaper wrapped around a wood block so I wouldn’t round any edges until I was done. Then I went back and lightly broke any sharp edges with my black hard Arkansas stone. Once I had my fitting done I polished up to 220 grit (the highest I had on hand). I read a TON of posts on this forum and knew that I didn’t want to embarrass myself by getting a compound angle where the ears meet. To avoid that, i recalled a post by Mr. Ronnie Wells where he diagramed the proper angle of material removal to properly align the ears. I did not fit any part “edge to edge” but used the block and let every stroke of paper take evenly on the whole side I was working on. This will preserve your angles and help everything mate up like it’s factory. When I finished all the metal to metal fitting and was polishing, I put the wood grips on and used the 220 grit that I was polishing with to fit the grips. This way I didn’t have to try to mark the grips and take them off and on a bunch. This is the time for this step because you don’t yet have a finish to mess up on your frame.

To make a long post a little shorter, lots of patience, lots of putting the grip frame on and taking it off again, and plenty of elbow grease got it to where I wanted it. I had about 15 hours in fitting and another 3-4 days in (attempting) to apply the finish before calling midway for answers on why my carbon steel frame was acting like stainless. I wish you all the best and good luck on your project. I hope you learn as much as I did!