[RayRay]

Hello Colt fans,

My father gave me this .32 WCF Bisley 4 3/4 revolver 23 years ago, before he passed away. It is very special to me. I was going through some old boxes and found a letter from Colt dated 1983. My father, like many others, wrote to them for the history on the gun. Very very cool..

So, I thought I would do a Google image search to see what other .32 Bisley's are looking like, and I didn't really see any that looked just like it.

I was wondering if anyone might have any additional info on the gun.

Thank you

Ray

 

[JayinAZ]

I can't help you with the history, but that sure is a beauty!


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[mswill]

Welcome to the forum Ray..... good looking Bisley. You may have already done this, but wikipedia.com and google will give you a great deal of basic information.

For more specifics, I recommend the advanced search feature near the top-right of this page. Just type in “Bisley” as the keyword and you should get about 120 threads that have discussed various questions about your particular gun type. Read as much or as little as you like.

After that, if you want opinions on value, mechanics, originality, etc. just ask. I think you will find the knowledge base here simply amazing. I am a wannabe novice, but if I had your gun and was interested in originality, I would be asking the experts about the front sight, the base (cylinder) pin and the ivory stocks (grips).

Like you, I came here with a family gun over 2-1/2 years ago. Knowing the value, originality, etc. may satisfy our curiosity, but the fact that it belonged to your Dad is what makes it really special. Hope you enjoy your time here.
Mike

 

[PonyLover]

Does the factory letter mention the grips? I ask because of the fit. I know ivory shrinks, but that's a large gap on the right side.

 

[weagle99]

Neat old gun that was refinished in the past. The front sight has also been filed down. I also think the cylinder base pin is a non-Colt replacement. Looking at the cylinder the gun might be slightly out of time with an early rising bolt.

Are those real carved ivory stocks? In some pictures they appear to be plastic. If real they are a rarity in my experience.

 

[RayRay]

Thank you very much..

I can't help you with the history, but that sure is a beauty!


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[RayRay]

Thank you everyone.. The letter doesn't say anything about grips, but is does say the finish was blue. So I guess it was refinished for sure. It must of been a long time ago, because it appears to have holster wear on it. I'm pretty sure the grips are Ivory. I remember my father saying nickle plated Colt with Ivory grips. I didn't know that the ivory can shrink. That may explain the poor fit.

 

[JohnnyP]

How about a photo of the bottom of the grips, or better yet the inside of the grips.

 

[RayRay]

 

[RayRay]

I will work on better pics of the grips

 

[weagle99]

Looks like they could be ivory but the picture still isn't the best. Can you take a shot in bright light? Seeing the backs would help also.

 

[RayRay]

Here are the pics of the back.

 

[RayRay]

Colt Letter

 

[Chaffee]

It sure seems like there are a lot of Bisleys made in 1907. The only one I have left is an '07 (and a .32-20) and another I had was an '07. My friend's is an '07. GB seems to have quite a few '07's as well. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd get out 'A Study...' and look up the numbers.

 

[JohnnyP]

The pictures aren't the best, but grips look like ivory. I don't believe they are Colt though as the workmanship and fit just don't look like Colt.

Strange that 10 Bisleys in .32-20 would be ordered at the same time.

 

[RayRay]

Sorry for the quality of the pics.. Not quite as clear as I would like.

I agree with you on the workmanship/fit. I think a little adjustment can make it fit better, but not like you would expect from Colt. One thing I know for sure, someone spent quite a bit of time carving on these things. There are allot of diamonds on there.. and they do look pretty close to the original grips.

 

[mswill]

Here's a pretty good thread on ivory. If interested in the needle test, post #6 is about as good a description as I have seen.

http://www.coltforum.com/forums/lounge/67311-real-ivory-not.html#post493890

 

[RayRay]

Pin test is complete.. I heated a needle over the stove until it was as red hot as I could get it. I then applied it to a spot on the back of the grip. I was unable to get any smoke at all. I did the test 4 times, to the same spot, with pressure & It barely made a tiny little dot. I held it there for 10 seconds trying to smell something. I think I may of detected a slight hair smell, but it was very faint, so I'm not quite sure.

I did some reading up on Schreger lines in Ivory. The article said " Ivory will have Schreger lines, most apparent in elephant ivory. These lines may be cross-hatched ". In the pics below, i think I can see some on the bottom of the grip, but not sure though.

I used a magnifying glass to look for pores that bone would have and couldn't see any. The pores should be easy to see, because dirt will get into the pores in time. The surface looks very smooth.

The article also said ivory should feel cool when pressed to your cheek. These grips are nice and cool to the touch.

I'm thinking these may be real ivory.

 

[RayRay]

I just found this pic of fake, aged grips that look like mine on Buffalo Brothers Cowboy Store web site. What do you think of their grips compared to mine. My gun was purchased in the late 70's. They have only been around for 10 years.

This is the only pic they had.

 

[RayRay]

bump