Got the 12/22!!

[Charlie Bison]

I received the 12/22 today. The gun is so neat and the fit and finish is beautiful like the rest of my USFA's, but the grips look awful in my opinion. Look like cheap white plastic. Does anybody know where I can get walnut grips that I can fit to it?
Thanks

[Grogan]

Charlie,

You'll have to give us a report on how your 12/22 shoots!

My Longhunter Special .22 "Plinker" SAA shoots like a house afire...couldn't be more pleased.

You can find Walnut SAA Grips in a kit form over at Dixie Gun Work's site for pretty cheaps.  But, it looks like they'll take a LOT of work to get them whittled down to where they'll be close to final fitting.

Perhaps if you'd like something much closer to "final fitting" than those, you might take a look at these.

http://www.collinscraftgrips.com/kits.php

Of course for MORE $$$ he'll fit them to your grip frame and they'll come back finished and all ready to just screw your Backstrap & Triggerguard (with stocks) back onto to your revolver.

Then, they'll look more like this.

http://www.collinscraftgrips.com/pistol_grip.php?ID=206&grip=Very+fancy+Walnut+Single+Action

[Grogan]

Going back to the topic of the Grips for your USFA SAA, the Collins Craft Stocks arrived back with the Trigger Guard and Backstrap off my Sheriff's Model.

There's good and bad news on this.

The Good News is that they were truly beautiful!

The Bad News is that, when attached back onto my revolver they were NOT (did not) "fit" properly. 

I contacted Mr. Collins on this immediately and he said, "I fit them well, with your parts mounted on the Model P (Colt) Frame that I have here.  I'm sorry they don't fit your revolver well, so please return them and I'll fully refund your money."

This didn't really solve my problem as I WANT beautiful Walnut Grips on my revolver, so I sent him back the Grips and asked for a partial refund and for him to send me one of his Grips Kits...I'll make 'em work myself. 

[Charlie Bison]

Going back to the topic of the Grips for your USFA SAA, the Collins Craft Stocks arrived back with the Trigger Guard and Backstrap off my Sheriff's Model.

There's good and bad news on this.

The Good News is that they were truly beautiful!

The Bad News is that, when attached back onto my revolver they were NOT (did not) "fit" properly. 

I contacted Mr. Collins on this immediately and he said, "I fit them well, with your parts mounted on the Model P (Colt) Frame that I have here.  I'm sorry they don't fit your revolver well, so please return them and I'll fully refund your money."

This didn't really solve my problem as I WANT beautiful Walnut Grips on my revolver, so I sent him back the Grips and asked for a partial refund and for him to send me one of his Grips Kits...I'll make 'em work myself. 

Thats probably the route I will take making the kit. Are they fancy walnut?

[Capt. John Fitzgerald]

"I fit them well, with your parts mounted on the Model P (Colt) Frame..."

And therein lies your problem.  The Colt frame is smaller than the USFA frame.  The grips probably did fit perfectly when attached to the Colt.  When attached to the USFA frame they "stretched" out to their proper, USFA size, causing the grips to fit poorly.
Just got out the calipers and compared a Colt to a USFA.  I won't bore you with measurement details as I did not disassemble the guns when measuring and everything was done "hand held" so the measurements were not exact - but they were close.  There is definitely a size difference between the two along the back of the frame where the grips fit.   

[Hoof Hearted]

"I fit them well, with your parts mounted on the Model P (Colt) Frame..."

And therein lies your problem.  The Colt frame is smaller than the USFA frame.  The grips probably did fit perfectly when attached to the Colt.  When attached to the USFA frame they "stretched" out to their proper, USFA size, causing the grips to fit poorly.
Just got out the calipers and compared a Colt to a USFA.  I won't bore you with measurement details as I did not disassemble the guns when measuring and everything was done "hand held" so the measurements were not exact - but they were close.  There is definitely a size difference between the two along the back of the frame where the grips fit.   

I have run into this problem also. As well as lack of parts interchangeability between USFA and Colt revolvers. It seems that USFA claims to be interchangeable but the reality is they are different in many aspects.

It would suit Collinscraft to invest in a USFA

[Grogan]

I have run into this problem also. As well as lack of parts interchangeability between USFA and Colt revolvers. It seems that USFA claims to be interchangeable but the reality is they are different in many aspects.

It would suit Collinscraft to invest in a USFA

I suggested that to him also...

In fact I suggested that USFA might even supply an inexpensive (maybe a reject part?) rough, unfinished, Frame "blank", none of the machining or finish completed, EXCEPT that portion where the Trigger Guard and Grip Frame attach.