Uberti 1873 and 1860 question

[Texas Moon]

Ever since that thread about snubby C&B's got posted I've been contemplating creating one.
So my question is this: Does the back strap of the 1873 SAA clone fit the 1860 Army clone?
Reason for this is I like that birdshead grip Uberti makes on the SAA.
If it would fit the 1860 it would be a simple matter to swap it out versus chopping up and reshaping the original. Plus it could easily be switched back.

Opinions please.

 

[Oyeboten]

Seems like an M1860 Colt would make for one ugly Snubulator though.

Or are you only considering to swap out the Grip?

Saw an old Colt Bisley recently which had been made into a Snub, and it looked pretty alright, as do any of the Dragoon shaped forms with the square-ish area forward of the Cylinder...you can cut those anywhere and they look good.

I think some ( 'some' ) makes of Backstraps will fit several of that makes other models, since I have seen Threads where someone did it...but, I do not remember what make they were.

A Bisley Grip on an 1860 might be pretty cool...keep us posted!

Might call Uberti and see what they say far as theirs.

 

[Texas Moon]

I was thinking about trimming the barrel on an 1860 as well as rounding off the grip.
Thought about heating and hammering out the original but this really is more of a project than I wanted to take on. Even the wood grip is available.
With the factory rounded grip it might make for a simple conversion.
I'm talking about the birdshead shaped grip not the Lightning grip.

 

[Hellgate]

The SAA grip shape is the same as the '51 navy. Whether the grip FRAME is similar, I don't know. What I do know is the different makes of 1860 Armys do not have compatible grip frames to just swap onto another gun. i.e. I have swapped out Navy grips for Army grips using the Pietta grips & frames for Pietta guns but they will not fit Uberti or ASM even if the same model. The screw holes are just off enough to make life difficult.

 

[StrawHat]

Texas Moon

Ever since that thread about snubby C&B's got posted I've been contemplating creating one.
So my question is this: Does the back strap of the 1873 SAA clone fit the 1860 Army clone?

The odds of a clean switch go up if the grip is made by the same maker as the frame. There is some handfitting involved. Given that, there may be some mismatching of parts. Even on Colt made SAAs the grip frame may not be interchangeable from one to another without work.

 

[CraigC]

There will be some fitting involved but the grip frames 'should' interchange. Though I would heed the warning above and not cross brands.

The Bisley receiver is exclusive to the Bisley grip frame. The Bisley grip frame cannot be installed on any other sixgun without an unsightly step at the back of the frame. On the rearmost mounting surface, the Bisley receiver is taller than any other.

 

[rcflint]

Uberti Birdshead

I put birdhead gripframes on other Uberti revolvers. The one you want is for the Thunderer, that will fit the SAA, 1851/60/61 frames by Uberti.

I got the parts from VTIgunparts.com.

 

[Curator]

I have modified two of my Uberti Cattleman (1873) by fitting 1860 Army grip frames (trigger guard and backstrap) This gives me a larger grip to better thandle the recoil from heavy bullet .45 Colt loads. The parts bolt right up---but--- outside surfaces do not match up to the frame. Hand fitting/filing is required. This is not too bad if this is a one way conversion and not expecting to switch back and forth.