Converting a uberti cattleman to a bisley?

[cloakndagger]

Got a chance to shoot a bisley at the range this weekend, and I REALY liked the feel of it. Now... the problem is, the gun fund is being channeled into the workshp building fund, and according to SwMBO, i already have one too many SAA clones (only two....sheesh) so my questions are this.
1) CAN a saa (uberti) be converted to a bisley (donor revolver is 45LC with chamber throating and action work already done)
2) what parts do I need and where can I get them?

Thanks Guys

[35 Whelen]

I too love the Bisley...both the way they look and feel. I tried this awhile back and if memory serves, the holes line up but the top of the grip frame is too high on the revolver frame. In other words, the Bisley main frame is taller at the rear than a standard SA.

Notice the slight difference in heights of the rear of the frames. You can see the Bisley is a tad taller by comparing the tops of the frames relative to the loading gate.




35W

[cloakndagger]

Aah... probably that geometry is what makes it so much easier on my hands too bad that seems to rule out a retrofit..

[Silver Jack Hammer]

You might as well face your problem at the root of the source. SwMBO says two is enough, or too many? I've got over a half dozen different Colt SAA's a couple Ruger's a couple Italians...

When you have one gun shooting well and you like it, leave it alone and start another project gun on another platform.

On a side note, did you know that John Wayne's Colt that he used throughout many of his later films had a Bisley trigger guard welded onto the trigger guard so he could fit his large finger with a glove on through the trigger guard to spin the pistol?

[cloakndagger]

O boy... guess its time to start another fund.... and man, id love a set of grips for my vaquero like the duke had...

[Silver Jack Hammer]

I was in Sportsman's Warehouse the other day, they had an Italian model called the "Rooster", it's got grips like what the Duke had, a brushed finish imitating worn nickel but did not have the oversized trigger guard. The price wasn't bad either, in .45 Colt. I don't know if it was a Cimarron who exactly put their company logo on it. The Duke movie gun had imitation ivory with grooves in the left panel for fingers. I think I read somewhere the grip was called catlin. I have not found a website explaining what catlin is. The Duke stained the grips himself with tea.

[Char-Gar]

When I was a kid those orange-yellow Catalin grips with finger grooves were quite common on all manner of handguns. I bought several handguns with those on them, the last being a Smith and Wesson 38-44 Heavy Duty. I detest those things because I am left handed and they just plain look cheesy, cheap and phony. They are also as slick as snot on a glass door knob. I always figure they is why they had those finger grooves.

It seems that recently, they have become collectable and I went to looks for the ones I took off over the years but they are no where to be found. I don't recall if I sold them, traded them or just threw them away, but at any rate I no longer have them.

I doubt if Wayne tea stained his grips, as that is the way they all look, and they came that way.

The American Catalin Corporation took over the Bakelite patents in the 30s. It is an early plastic that is hard and slick used for all kinds of things "back in the day".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalin

[bedbugbilly]

Don't mind me . . . I just stopped by so I could drool over that Colt Bisley that 35 Whelen shared . . . what a great looking Colt! Sure makes a person want one!

Nothing like single actions!

[DougGuy]

I have a nice set of those old Catlin finger groove SA grips but the left grip panel broke in half. What glues that stuff? Superglue don't hold it.

[35 Whelen]

Don't mind me . . . I just stopped by so I could drool over that Colt Bisley that 35 Whelen shared . . . what a great looking Colt! Sure makes a person want one!

Nothing like single actions!

Thanks, but sadly it's not mine. It belongs to my uncle and I had it for a few weeks while I fitted and installed a new hand and just generally went through it end to end cleaning it up. FWIW, it's a 1901 model and chambered in 41 Colt.

35W

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Char-Gar,

I said: "The Duke stained the grips himself with tea." You said: "I doubt if Wayne tea stained his grips, as that is the way they all look, and they came that way."

To avoid a urinating contest I'll just add that I read that in an American Rifleman article years ago. The article was on the Duke's Colt and listed all the different serial numbers of all the different parts of his Colt. I thought the article was credible.