The Blackhawk Bisley with the 5.5" stainless barrel and adjustable rear sight is Ruger's purpose-built handgun hunting configuration in .45 Colt. The Bisley grip frame absorbs recoil more comfortably than the standard plow-handle grip when running heavy bullets at handloaded velocities, and the adjustable sight lets you regulate point of impact for whatever load you settle on. Unlike the New Vaquero family of mid-frame revolvers, this is the large-frame Blackhawk — rated for the "Ruger-only" .45 Colt loads (25,000+ PSI) that handloaders push past SAAMI standard pressure for serious hunting performance.

At 46 oz and 12" overall length, this is the heaviest .45 Colt revolver in this catalog short of the Magnum Research BFR. The mass is intentional and useful: it absorbs recoil from heavy loads and steadies long shots from a rest. Compared to the standard New Model Blackhawk, this Bisley variant trades 7 oz of additional weight for the Bisley grip and the longer 5.5" barrel — the standard model uses a 4.62" barrel. Hunters who want the full Bisley package usually consider the additional weight a feature, not a cost.

The practical pairing for a .45 Colt hunting setup is this revolver plus a quality leather chest rig (Diamond D, Simply Rugged) and Buffalo Bore or Underwood "Ruger-only" 300-grain loads pushing around 1,200 fps. That combination puts you in respectable woods-defense and deer-hunting territory out to maybe 75 yards from a steady rest. For pure target use or steel plates beyond 25 yards, the adjustable sight is the difference between this revolver and the fixed-sight cowboy-action variants in the Vaquero line.