Birdshead Grips advice from those who have shot them

[Tommy tornado]

I am thinking about another pistol purchase.  One of the current things on my possible list would be a Lighting Pistol or a Ruger Vaquero with Birdshead grips.  Before slapping down money on one; I wanted to get your shooting impressions of your pistols with Birdshead grips.  I already own a set of standard grip frame pistols and one bisley grip pistol, so I know how those feel and shoot.

[Camille Eonich]

I have two birdsheads vaqueros.  It doesn't have anything to do with hand size.  People either like them or they don't.  They roll a lot in your hands and are very suspectible to recoil.


Shoot some before you invest in them unless you just like them for the way that they look.

[Long Johns Wolf]

Have average size hands and my Uberti Lightning is OK for pocket pistol side matches.
Bootsie

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[Silver Creek Slim]

I voted "They are probably the worst thing I ever purchased". The following is why I voted that way.
I bought a pair of SS .45 Colt Ruger birdsheads before shooting them with my loads. My loads are as much black powder I can get under a 255 gr boolit, hence a bit of buck and roar. I shoot duelist. At the end of a match, the heel of my hand would be bruised. The grips did not fit my hand for the punishment that my loads can deliver. Therefore, I traded them fer Bisley Vaqueros.

Shoot some before you invest in them ...

Good advice.

Slim

[Sagebrush Burns]

some like, some don't, some don't care...

[Arcey]

Use a clone with a 3 1/2" barrel 'n the birdshead grip for most mainstage stuff.  I like the chuckles I get at the loading table when I toss it beside a 7 1/2" 'n tell folks they're a matched set made in Poland.

There's no problem with the grip.  With my eyes the short barrel is the problem.

[Prof. Bullspit]

I think they are good for the average hands, especially shooting duelist. They are second only to the Bisley in this respect. I have a pair of Ruger Birdsheads in .45 and they are great. As noted they do roll in recoil but I don't find them to roll too much.

As also stated, try to shoot them before you buy them as you will either love them or hate them.

I love them, but I find that Bisley is better for duelist. it's about the hammer, not the grip shape for me. If I had slightly longer thumbs I could be quite happy with the Birdshead over the Bisley.

I also shot the Birdsheads traditional style and they work well for that too.

[Tommy tornado]

Thanks for the replies so far.  This is the kind of information I have been looking for.

[Silver Creek Slim]

Yer very welcome, pard.

Slim

[litl rooster]

 I am trying to shoot duelist.  With recoil it seems to roll back just where I needed it to get my short @$$ thumb, there to cock it again. This I shoot in my off hand.   I guess for the reasons some don't like them is why I do.  The other Ruger is the Vaquero grip it seems big, but more secure. However I use it on my strong side.  If your looking for something with a smaller grip frame size, you might try out a Navy....  Like Arcey, the short barrel and bad eyes are a problem.