Walnut Grips for my new Pietta 1873 Western II on their way

3sport

3sport

Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2022
Messages
215
Location
3 States
I recently got a new Pietta 45 Colt 1873 Western II. I really like it with one exception. The cheap plastic grips. I can not deal with those on this gun.

pietta (1).jpg


I found some nice Claro Walnut Grips from N.C. Ordinance that I finally "pulled the trigger" on ordering this morning. Should be here by Friday. These will make that six-shooter look much better and more period correct;

grips.jpg
 
Please report back on how it turns out. I hope you know you're going to have to drill a hole for a locator pin. The GWII doesn't have one.
 
If thats the one off of GI, thats a nice score,
Especially with the .45acp cylinder.
I was eyeballing that one too.
 
CraigC said:
Please report back on how it turns out. I hope you know you're going to have to drill a hole for a locator pin. The GWII doesn't have one.
Click to expand...

I had read that. If, for whatever reason, I don't want to tackle that, I will send it to my Gunsmith to install. But I appreciate the heads-up. I might have missed that fact when ordering. Luckily, I didn't, so I am prepared for the locator pin issue.

Will report back when complete with pics. Will update if I decide to "Gunsmith" the installation so you know why there is a delay. The sale post of the grips mentioned a "Template" for the locator pin being included. If so, that may be a very straight-forward thing for me to do myself. We'll see.

It is worth the extra work for me to have these walnut grips on the pistol. I really can not deal with those plastic grips. They take a decent replica and make it look far too cheap for me to enjoy.
 
Last edited:
3sport said:
I recently got a new Pietta 45 Colt 1873 Western II. I really like it with one exception. The cheap plastic grips. I can not deal with those on this gun.

View attachment 1205774


I found some nice Claro Walnut Grips from N.C. Ordinance that I finally "pulled the trigger" on ordering this morning. Should be here by Friday. These will make that six-shooter look much better and more period correct;

View attachment 1205772
Click to expand...
They look nice, I like the darker striping. I took the factory finish off my two Uberti's to make them look "more period correct" and was surprised to find nice pieces of walnut hiding under the reddish lacquer finish. I sealed them with Danish oil and waxed them and like the look much better.
IMG_3391.jpg
 
bangswitch said:
They look nice, I like the darker striping. I took the factory finish off my two Uberti's to make them look "more period correct" and was surprised to find nice pieces of walnut hiding under the reddish lacquer finish. I sealed them with Danish oil and waxed them and like the look much better.
View attachment 1205873
Click to expand...

Very nice. What a pleasant surprise, eh? I once had a home that had wall-to-wall carpeting in the living room and hallway to the bedrooms. I had a fireplace installed, and when the mason ripped up the carpeting to put in the hearth he found brand new oak floors hiding underneith. Of course I ripped up all the carpeting when he was done to enjoy new oak floors in my home at no extra cost to me.

Those six-shooters look great. Enjoy.
 
Last edited:
3sport said:
I had read that. If, for whatever reason, I don't want to tackle that, I will send it to my Gunsmith to install. But I appreciate the heads-up. I might have missed that fact when ordering. Luckily, I didn't, so I am prepared for the locator pin issue.

Will report back when complete with pics. Will update if I decide to "Gunsmith" the installation so you know why there is a delay. The sale post of the grips mentioned a "Template" for the locator pin being included. If so, that may be a very straight-forward thing for me to do myself. We'll see.

It is worth the extra work for me to have these walnut grips on the pistol. I really can not deal with those plastic grips. They take a decent replica and make it look far too cheap for me to enjoy.
Click to expand...
It's aggravating because they 'look' like normal two piece grips that can be easily swapped. It's the reason I haven't tackled it yet but maybe I should stop putting it off. I hate the plastic grips too.
 
CraigC said:
It's aggravating because they 'look' like normal two piece grips that can be easily swapped. It's the reason I haven't tackled it yet but maybe I should stop putting it off. I hate the plastic grips too.
Click to expand...

I hear you. That did not deter me because I just can't stand those plastic grips. The only other pistol I have with plastic grips is a late 1970s era Crossman 177 cal CO2 pistol revolver. But you'd expect that for a Crossman airgun. Not on a 45 caliber pistol.

My primary issue is that I sold my Drill Press about two years ago, so I'd have to freehand the drill. I will make a determination on doing it myself or gunsmithing it when I get the grips and the template.
 
3sport said:
I hear you. That did not deter me because I just can't stand those plastic grips. The only other pistol I have with plastic grips is a late 1970s era Crossman 177 cal CO2 pistol revolver. But you'd expect that for a Crossman airgun. Not on a 45 caliber pistol.

My primary issue is that I sold my Drill Press about two years ago, so I'd have to freehand the drill. I will make a determination on doing it myself or gunsmithing it when I get the grips and the template.
Click to expand...
I will say this, I'd rather have to do the locator pin in the grip frame, than the ferrules in the grips themselves.
 
OK Gents.

This was ridiculously easy. No drilling, no fuss, no muss. 5 minutes from start to finish.

The way the gun sat with plastic grips awaiting the new grips that arrived 1 hour ago;

oldgrips.jpg

But a nice surprise.
No holes to drill. The grips did NOT come with a drill template and I expected the worst. But they didn't need to. They have a cut-out
insert triangle that fits perfectly into the frame and aligns the grips beautifully. You just have to remove the plastic frame insert that basically falls out when you remove the plastic grips.

gripcutout.jpg

So you just pop in the walnut grips after the plastic insert falls out, screw them down and you are done. 5 minutes max if you take your time and don't have to hunt for the proper screwdriver. Otherwise, I may take 7 or 8 minutes. ;)

newgrips.jpg

Plastic grip insert for the old plastic grips is pictured above. Not required and won't fit with the new grips anyway. Save it for the old plastic grips if you ever (for some strange reason) want to go back to plastic.

NOTE: This was MY Model, a Davidson's Exclusive 1873 Great Western II. (1873 Gen II Single Action Revolver). But I would think (not sure) that the pistol's grip FRAME is going to be the same model to model. Just making this note in the event someone else orders these grips and they do not work out as easily.

LINK TO THE GRIPS THAT I ORDERED
 
jobu07 said:
Is it the photo or do they not fit the frame contour correclty?
Click to expand...

It's the photo. They look fine in "real life". The frame was a bit dirty from removing the old grips, like a black tar that I had to clean off after the photo, and that probably exaggerates the misfit appearance. They fit like the original grips. I'm very happy with them.

Here is a pic of the grips after cleaning the frame. Looks fine;

coltinholster.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

adcoch1
  • Locked
Pietta 1873 grip frame
Replies
7
Views
1K
Mizar
Mizar
Matthew Clark
  • Locked
Another Pietta 1873 SA Clone Brought Home
Replies
7
Views
621
GeoDudeFlorida
GeoDudeFlorida
kje54
My New Chiappa SAA 1873 22LR
Replies
1
Views
284
kje54
kje54
J
  • Locked
Homemade grips for 1873 SA
Replies
18
Views
897
Driftwood Johnson
Driftwood Johnson
Dave Markowitz
  • Locked
Pietta 1873 Millenium
Replies
3
Views
2K
BCRider
BCRider
Back
Top