Have you ever seen a Colt Bisley being used in a movie or TV show? I think I saw Steve McQueen carrying one in "Nevada Smith". According to one source the Bisley was not manufactured until 1894. If a movie was trying to be true to the period, which normally doesn't seem to be a concern, that might limit their use.

Anyone own a Bisley or have experience with one, Colt/Ruger?

In Nevada Smith, McQueen had a Schofield.

I'm got some old Roy Rogers movie (don't recall the name), and Gabby Hayes is carrying a Bisley.

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I have a Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter in .44 mag. For dealing with recoil from heavy...300+gr bullets at 1200+fps...loads, I like it a lot. The Bisley grip seems to be either very well liked or disliked depending on who you ask...I can't think of a western I have seen with a Bisley armed character. Bisley replicas are relatively recent and original Colt Bisleys weren't made for a long time compared to the standard SAA. Plus, they were generally considered target revolvers and they look peculiar to someone who isn't familiar with them.

Richard Farnsworth in the 1982 western movie "The Grey Fox" purchase one from a small second floor Canadian gun shop to renew his train robbing career.

Some folk might want to know what a Bisley is. Wish I had a Colt example. Below is a Ruger 45LC/45ACP convertible. It is mainly the grips and the hammer.

One of John Wayne's personal revolvers, that he used in many of his movies, was originally built as a Bisley, but converted to resemble a SAA (barrel shortened, converted to .44-40WCF).

Yes indeed he did. Richard Farnsworth was one of my favs! Regret to report he passed a while back down at at Lincoln, NM. I asked the lady in the museum there if it was true that he often came down to the museum. She said yes, he would come down and sit outside on the bench near the front door. On slow days she would go out and sit with him. As I recall in the movie he was offered a smaller gun and he asked for something heavier. Then the salesman pulled out the Bisley. He played some 'support' roles before the lead ones came along. I think he was a Comanchero in Josie Wales.

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I've had a Ruger Bisley. It was good at handling the recoil of VERY heavy 45 cast lead loads in a Ruger. As such, it was what I carried in grizzly country. It started out as a Birdshead Vaquero.

Regarding Colt Bisleys: I have 3. One, a 45 "long" Colt with 4 5/8 barrel, I don't have a picture of. The second is a reblued 7.5" one from 1905. It is a 41 long Colt.


The third Colt is a 1901 Bisley with a 4 5/8 barrel. It also is in 41 long Colt.


This last one is interesting and is my BBQ gun. It was shipped in 1901 to a gun store in Mexico City that was very high end. Somewhere along the way, it was gold plated (still has gold plating in the flutes, etc. It also acquired ivory grips that are carved and have ruby eyes on the steer. It was also engraved in a Mexican or Indian style. It has Indians chasing a stagecoach on the barrel, as well as an Indian shooting at a Jaguar. It also has some Aztec masks with humans peering out of them. Somehow, the gold was buffed off and the pistol ended up on the Apache reservation in NE Arizona.

Was it the property of a Mexican Officer and taken from him in battle somewhere out in the desert? Or stolen from the hacienda of some rancheria

Quien sabbe?

A few facts about the Colt Bisleys: Besides being designed as target pistols, Bisleys are naturally pointing handguns. As such, they were very popular among pistoleros, as well as wannabes, especially in the Southwest about 1900. Very popular as well in Mexico, it is said Pancho Villa had two. One of the rarest of Colt's is the Flattop Bisley=I think only 20 were made. And one was made in 22. Otherwise , the standard calibers: 45, 41, 44-40, 38-40 and 32-20.

I have a Ruger Super Blackhawk, 3.75 barrel, Stainless, Bisley, 44 mag. It's a handful with 300 gr Stingers. Great on bears and yotes, bad on wrist. I like the Bisley SBH and I shoot 44 spl loads which are nice to shoot. I also have a NM BHK that has a 5 1/2 inch barrel and a #5 grip frame. It is a nice gun to shoot. DW

[A few facts about the Colt Bisleys: Besides being designed as target pistols, Bisleys are naturally pointing handguns. As such, they were very popular among pistoleros, as well as wannabes, especially in the Southwest about 1900. Very popular as well in Mexico, it is said Pancho Villa had two. One of the rarest of Colt's is the Flattop Bisley=I think only 20 were made. And one was made in 22. Otherwise , the standard calibers: 45, 41, 44-40, 38-40 and 32-20.[/QUOTE]

I visited the firearm museum at VMI. They had a bisley that belonged to General George Patton, who first attended VMI, then the Point. I asked if it went to Mexico with him. The curator didn't know. I was pretty certain he carried a SSA.

Here is a link for the Schofield McQueen carried.

Hollywood Guns! Steve McQueen's Nevada Smith Schofield. NRA National Firearms Museum - YouTube

I visited the firearm museum at VMI. They had a bisley that belonged to General George Patton, who first attended VMI, then the Point. I asked if it went to Mexico with him. The curator didn't know. I was pretty certain he carried a SSA.

Here is a link for the Schofield McQueen carried.

Hollywood Guns! Steve McQueen's Nevada Smith Schofield. NRA National Firearms Museum - YouTube[/QUOTE]


Patton used a fancy Peacemaker to kill tnose guys in Mexico. I think I read that he filed a couple of notches in the ivory grips. This is the Colt usually seen on his Myres belt, sometimes paired with a S&W .357. I think those guns are now in the West Point Museum.

I didn't know he owned a Bisley, but he liked guns and owned a number.

The first Bisley I saw belonged to the family of a high school chum. They had some neat stuff, inc, a prewar Colt Super .38, a Colt 1851 Navy .36, and a Spencer civil war carbine. Almost all of us boys owned guns and our dads owned more. None of us ever had an accident or behaved badly with a gun. Wait: one guy had a shotgun event with some assailants at a hamburger joint. Never heard the full story, but he wasn't charged. Did need a new windshield for his truck.

Steve Mcqueen did in fact carry a 7 1/2" Colt Bisley in the middle of the film. But a Schofield in the beginning, and a 5 1/2" Colt SAA in the end. In The Magnificent Seven Eli Wallach has a Bisley in one scene at the beginning but a standard SAA for the rest of the film. The Grey Fox as mentioned. That scene where he buys the gun was the real Bill Miner's .41. The rest was another identical Bisley. Gilbert Roland carried a 7 1/2" nickel/ivory Bisley in his first Cisco Kid film. The outlaw in The Rough Riders had one, too.

I love that Bisley and I 'specially love the unfluted cylinder! Beautiful revolver.

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Unfortunately he committed suicide. I think I recall that he was in poor health.

I'm delighted to find that some other people saw "The Grey Fox". Fine flick, beautifully filmed in magnificent settings. Farnsworth was wonderful, as was the woman who played his love interest.

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