Bird's Head build ideas

I, too, am mesmerized by the birds head grip, though for an 1862 Colt Pocket Police (Uberti).

I've looked into the expense of an additional backstrap and grip panels so that I can convert it back to it's original grip for field use against waskily wabbits and such. But I've also thought about it for an 1858 or 1863 Remington. But once done there's no going back...

on the taylors and co website, which is an importer of pietta products under parts, under the category of pietta parts listed under the 1873 parts they sell a thunderer backstrap, and as ive been told 1873 grip frames are compatible with 1851 and 1860 frames, this would probably be better compatible with a pietta 1860 than modifyling an uberti part

But I like the 5 shot original version over a chopped '51 version. But I understand it suffers from cap jamming.

ive had plans to convert my 1860 army into the slim version... since its not really true to spec anyway having a navy/saa grip on it... someday i think it would be nice to have one chambered in 44 special 6-shot, but that might require a slightly longer cylinder requiring the forcing cone to be shortened, and the barrel to be drilled out and sleeved which would be ok to me.. but thats way too much work than id be willing to spend on something like that right now

also... if you wanted to make this thing slimmer, lighter, it would also make sense to find some alternative to that giant wedge sticking out the side

Is there a birdshead grip/backstrap/trigger guard available that fits the Uberti 1862 police?

The channel for the hammer had to be opened up a mite, as the Pietta's 1861 .36 Navy hammer was wider than the Uberti's Thunderer had been. The screws for the grip frame to screw into on the pistol's frame were slightly too large as well, so I drilled them out slightly larger, as well.

1873, 1851, 1860, 1861, 62 police, etc... these all use the same grip frames if im not mistaken, in fact, from the 1851 up until the last of the 1860 series and conversion models they essentially used the same frame... so that thunderer backstrap from taylors made by pietta should fit a pieta 1860... i cant confirm this though because i dont have one

"Is there a birdshead grip/backstrap/trigger guard available that fits the Uberti 1862 police?"

Not that I'm aware of. Gotta make it... I've been looking as I really would like one.

Those may be the same with a Pietta, but wouldn't be with a Uberti.

Jayson, the Thunderer is made by Uberti, not Pietta.

The birdshead grip on the Pietta 1873 pictured in the link in post #13 above doesn't have checkering like the Pietta .36 Gold Rush C&B version does:

http://www.traditionsfirearms.com/product_info.php?products_id=159&osCsid=602757646a3068defc810428969d2ecc

And in France the Gold Rush is also sold in .44:

http://tecmagex.com/fr/pietta-1860-colt-gold-rush-begins-44.html

http://www.broma.fr/revolver-pietta-poudre-noire-/391-pietta-1860-goldrush.html

the Uberti is the one on the right. it's called a ''Thunderer...'' it's cool that jason found something similar by Pietta...should make fitting much easier, but it wouldn't have helped me as it didn't exist when I made mine, and I had set out to make [as much as possible] a ''matching'' set.

Wow those birds head grip pistols look great. I wonder if anyone ever made a Walker with birds head grip and shorty barrel

i think the idea of using a walker would defeat the purpose though... considering its a 4.5lb pistol that was greatly made obsolete by superior metallurgy that allowed for smaller, lighter pistols.... remember, even with black powder loads in the 1840s, 1850s, many of those walkers actually blew up on the battlefield

on another note... i was looking at a photo of thunder mods on the 1860s... mentioned one idea i thought would be great if someone could slim down and smooth out, or completely eliminate that giant snag-prone wedge sticking out the side...

but another idea if someone wanted to make it more carry friendly would be to take the spur off the hammer.. perhaps use a rounded hammer like you see on many 1911s... i could certainly imagine that working.. ill give it a try once i get the proper tools to shape one.. but i wont complain if someone beats me to it

The birdshead grip on the Pietta 1873 pictured in the link in post #13 above doesn't have checkering like the Pietta .36 Gold Rush C&B version does:

http://www.traditionsfirearms.com/pr...810428969d2ecc

And in France the Gold Rush is also sold in .44:

http://tecmagex.com/fr/pietta-1860-c...begins-44.html

http://www.broma.fr/revolver-pietta-...-goldrush.html

Click to expand...

That's where I got the grips for mine from. Then I put them on a Pietta 1860.

crazyjennyblack said:

I just discovered that Cimarron has exactly what I want. They call it the "Thunderball" and it has the 3.5 inch barrel with ejector, and thunderer grips from the factory. All I gotta do is order it sent to a local FFL....

Methinks I will be buying something online very soon!

Click to expand...

i like cimarron... they use mostly uberti parts, but they offer configurations that uberti does not... such as additional caliber selections, grip shapes, barrel lengths, etc

crazyjennyblack said:

I just discovered that Cimarron has exactly what I want. They call it the "Thunderball" and it has the 3.5 inch barrel with ejector, and thunderer grips from the factory.

Click to expand...

I was very surprised to learn that Cimarron's "Thunderball 8" is made by Pietta which means that it does not have Uberti's Thunderer grips.
But I'll bet that the Thunderball was intentionally named to be confusingly similar to their rival's Thunderer.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=451350&highlight=cimarron

Some of the Thunderball 8 grips are checkered and others are smooth:

http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/cartridge-revolvers/thunderer-1/thunderball-stainless.html

http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/thunderball-45-colt-3-1-2-in-model-pp346.html

There is always the newest run of Ruger Vaquero Birdshead...
I briefly owned this excellent version in 45ACP!



Cool thing about Ruger is the transfer bar safety, so you can carry 6 rounds safely......

I prefer the feel of the Thunderer grips

That's a beautiful Ruger and both sets of grips look awesome!