Well ... taking my very life in my hands ... I removed those horrid small finger bow ... square backed ... uncomfortable grip frame and retrieved my old 1860 grip frame from an old rusted parts 1860 I got a long time ago and dusted them off for seeing how much work it would take to fit them to my 51 second gen frame.
Turns out that it made an entire day go by modifying them to fit half correctly.
First the grip frame was a bit longer along the frame and to the rear. Instead of modifying the brass grip frame, I surgically removed bits of wood to fit around the little ledge.
Not thinking about it ... I really should have been taking pictures of doing this for a show n tell ... BUT ... did not.
The next thing to do was to make the back strap fit the trigger guard like it should. Was a bit rough on the old rusty 60 I robbed it from. Bending it in just the correct places made it fir correctly.
The wood was proud by a bit right behind the trigger bow so took some off with a file here. The wood was small by 1/8th inch along the the brass trigger frame so instead of scrapping the project, I scribed a line and filed the brass round down to the line so that the wood looks like it fits better then it really does.
Stripping off the old cruddy finish, I began sanding and smoothing and blending.
Pretty fun project and it will end with two of my favorite revolvers combined to make an outstanding revolver.
Pictures of the finished product to follow. An 1851 Colts revolver with the super fine 1860 grip frame. Best of the best for this pilgrim.
Next will probably be to install a dovetail and sight. Very fun stuff.
