60 grip on my Colt SAA

[bigted]

so I got this spiffy 3rd gen 5.5 inch Colt SAA with the plastic pony grips. never liked the sound of the clicks with these plastic style grips AND ... my big ol paw don't really fit the original small plow handle ... I shoot them ok but the 1860 grip frame is way more comfy for my large paws.

so having this older Pietta grip frame and the wood grip layin round I thought ... why the heck not see if I can get it to fit my pony.

first found that the screw holes were too small so had to enlarge them a skosh ... then as I went to fit the trigger guard to the frame bottom ... I see that the Colt trigger is longer so I set about clearancing the trigger guard as I didn't want to shorten the stock Colt trigger just yet. next I found that the rear two holes were just a fraction [RCH] too narrow so I wallowed the holes to fit the screw holes in the Colt frame.

after I fit the trigger guard ... the backstrap also needed the upper two holes enlarged to fit the larger Colt screws like the trigger guard needed ... after enlarging the upper holes it all fell together ... fit is very close and just a small bit of brass needed to be removed along each side to fit the frame perfectly.

now that I know it all works ... I will try to find a Uberti grip frame complete from a 1860 C&B revolver and shorten the trigger to fit inside the trigger bow. then I will polish the brass after all has been fit perfectly and redo the wood for a factory like fit and finish


now for the loads tried in her.

first began with wadcutters and trailboss ... 5 grains TB under a full wadcutter hollow base in 148 grain persuasion. not too bad but seems to wonder a bit with this load.

next I loaded 4 and then 4.5 followed by 5 grains of the TB under LEE's 158 grain semi wadcutter ... the 5 grain load did very well but the 4 and 4.5 grain loads wondered a bit more then I wanted.

next I loaded 25 loads of hornadays 158 grain FTX bullets over a load of 13.5 grains of IMR 4227. these buggers hit rite where I wanted them and clustered in a nice large hole for the 25 at 15 yards.

now I will load the Lee boolits over the 13.5 grain 4227 and also do some ladder loads with the same boolit over 2400 powder to find the sweet spot I hope.


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so this is my tale so far and I will report back with the other loads when they happen. just wanted to share a very fun pony revolver and a simple mod that worked out very well for me in my 51 and 61 Colts.

[DougGuy]

That looks right nice bigted!

[bigted]

thankyou kindly sir.

[rbertalotto]

Nicely done. And good to know it can be done! There is nothing like the feel of the 1860 grip frame. The best way to source 1860 grip frames is buy complete guns from Cabelas use the frame and sell all the other parts. Most likely the frames and grips will end up costing zero.

[bigted]

great idea. had not considered this avenue ... kinda explains some of the wee parts found on flea bay.

[bedbugbilly]

That looks great! And I bet your paws fit it better as well! Nice job - well done!

[bigted]

thankyou sir.

[bigted]

looks like I can not edit my posts so will have to post another here.

I loaded 12 loads of 13.5 grains 2400 powder under the Lee 158 grain boolit ... were warm and leaded my barrel to boot. these also printed around 3 inch low and the usual 2 inch left.

on another front ... I seem to be having the trouble of having ANY of the cast boolits as well as the 148 grain lead full wadcutters print around 2 inch to the left ... while the jacketed 158 grain Hornaday bullets print to point of aim in a nice centered group.

I don't pretend to understand the difference between the lead boolits and the jacketed bullets as far as horizontal differences in impact. I have loaded several loads with different powders and they all [the cast boolits] print to the left around 2 inch at 15 yards.

anybody?

[bigted]

so I will post my question in another post. hard to expect as much attention to a question that wonders off topic like this.

[doc1876]

You will definitely like the 1860. This was more common in the old days than what most people think. I have the new Great Western, and she came from the factory with the "60 grip on it, and I like it just fine. Dallas Stoudenmire had one with a cut down barrel, and that is what he used to shoot John Wesley Hardin with.

Now for a small history lesson. Marty Robbins sang a song about a sheriff with the Big Iron on his hip. This was about a gun owned by Andy Anderson the Hollywood holster maker. It was a 7 1/2 in ch Colt with an elongated 1860 grip frame, and this gun was worn by Steve McQueen in the movie Nevada Smith.