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Birdhead grip frames


Old Scatterbrain

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Have you tried Brownells?

 

They have some grip frames..

 

Do you have plow handle now?

Are they original Rugers or new model Rugers?

 

Rance <_<

New Model Rugers with the factory gripframe.

 

I have tried Brownell's, Midway and a couple other of the more obvious places. Only Midway offered birdhead frames, and they were the design typically seen on Rugers.

 

I am guessing what I want will have to be custom made and thus expensive, but one never knows what others have seen.

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The grip frame you describe is actually a "Thunderer" grip frame. The only aftermarket Thunderer type grip frames I've seen were from NC Ordanance or Gary Reeder. Don't know if either still offer them.

 

Coffinmaker

 

PS: Gary Reeder is some kind of expensive

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The grip frame you describe is actually a "Thunderer" grip frame. The only aftermarket Thunderer type grip frames I've seen were from NC Ordanance or Gary Reeder. Don't know if either still offer them.

 

Coffinmaker

 

PS: Gary Reeder is some kind of expensive

http://www.gungrip.com/items_558__Ruger.html ;)B)

I was there the same time as you, I guess.

 

Gracias beaucoup!

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Ruger sells the grip frames for the Vaqueros. Sometimes they're on backorder but they eventually get them out. I love the Birdshead grip. Here are mine along with my wife's plowhandles. The grips are Curly Walnut and were done by Outlaw Grips.

 

http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h288/raptor357r/?action=view&current=gunpic.jpg

 

I'm in the process of redoing my back-up pair of birdshead Old Model Vaquero's with the case hardening. I'm redoing the bluing to master quality and also the case hardening will be done the "old fashioned" way with Buckeye Burl grips. Can't wait to get em done!

 

JEL

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The Thunderer and Lightning were two different early Colt DA wheelguns that had the same grip frame, so the terms are interchangeable.

 

NCOrdinance is still selling them. I don't know how well they fit, but...seems worth trying. Being brass, the final fitting shouldn't be too difficult with hand tools.

 

The limitation of that grip type is in the amount of ammo horsepower (recoil levels) it can cope with. Shouldn't be an issue at all in SASS though. Once you get into very stout 357Mag or above power levels (beyond what's legal in SASS) the Thunderer grip frame will try and split your hand between thumb and forefinger. It has no significant "roll in the hand to absorb recoil" properties. For the light loads the original Colts were chambered in that was a non-issue.

 

As SASS-grade power levels it's a really good grip. Indexes well, fast shot-to-shot speeds.

 

The Bird's Head as sold by Ruger and others is a different critter. It CAN "roll in the hand" and for those with smaller hands is well regarded for control of major recoil, for some folks all the way up into 44Mag territory. Original period-correct examples exist, where a Colt or similar backstrap was modified by curving it under at the local blacksmith's shop or the like. At some point Colt themselves started making them but examples pre-date that point.

 

Personally, I think lots of different grip options should exist (and be SASS legal) to allow a wide array of hand sizes...

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The Thunderer and Lightning were two different early Colt DA wheelguns that had the same grip frame, so the terms are interchangeable.

 

The terms may be interchangable, but be careful, the after-market grips are not.

 

Cimarron imports a "Thunderer" and a "Lightning" pistol. Thunderer and Lightning These grip frames are different sizes, so be careful when trying to make one meet the other.

 

Here are some other birdshead grips Buffalo Brothers

 

As I understand the original post, the OP is trying to fit one of these types of grips on a Ruger. Of that, I have no experience or knowledge.

 

My daughter shoots birdshead grips (one Thunderer and one AWA), so I've learned about the size differences from messing with her pistols.

 

Chick

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The terms may be interchangable, but be careful, the after-market grips are not.

 

Cimarron imports a "Thunderer" and a "Lightning" pistol. Thunderer and Lightning These grip frames are different sizes, so be careful when trying to make one meet the other.

 

Here are some other birdshead grips Buffalo Brothers

 

As I understand the original post, the OP is trying to fit one of these types of grips on a Ruger. Of that, I have no experience or knowledge.

 

My daughter shoots birdshead grips (one Thunderer and one AWA), so I've learned about the size differences from messing with her pistols.

 

Chick

I didn't mis-identify them: I didn't want to get bogged down in a discussion of the differences between the two, and I have seen them referred to as "humpback" before. I have a Lightning (3 actually) and like the grip very much. NC Ordnance does make such a grip for Rugers.

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I didn't mis-identify them: I didn't want to get bogged down in a discussion of the differences between the two, and I have seen them referred to as "humpback" before. I have a Lightning (3 actually) and like the grip very much. NC Ordnance does make such a grip for Rugers.

 

I wasn't sure exactly what you were identifying, so I didn't say so. The only thing I was concerned with in my post was the potential to make the improper jump, from TJ's post, from "the terms are interchangable" to "the grips are interchangable." They're not.

 

Hope you find what you're looking for!

 

Chick

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I wasn't sure exactly what you were identifying, so I didn't say so. The only thing I was concerned with in my post was the potential to make the improper jump, from TJ's post, from "the terms are interchangable" to "the grips are interchangable." They're not.

 

Hope you find what you're looking for!

 

Chick

I'm with you.

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