Parts Interchngeability

[Bugscuffle]

In checking out the "Frankenpistol" thread on this forum I got to thinking. I realy do want short barreled .45 L.C. with birdshead grips. I'm just too cheap to spend $600 for one. How many, if any, grip frames will interchange with other makers. For example does a Pieta  grip frame screw right onto an Uberti, or is there any other combination?

[Major 2]

It's been my experience Pietta will not direct fit....
Course one can braize in the brass screw holes and redrill , then file for a reasonable facsimile of a fit....

however, Al Sharpton might disagree 

[sack peterson]

They will bolt on, but they are not "interchangeable" in any meaningful sense.  Here's what you run across:

Screw patterns line up.  Threads are the same size.  But size of the screw heads is different, so you end up ordering a complete new set of screws.

Cylinder frame widths are different.   Pietta's revolver has a more dramatic taper to the front.  A Pietta TG won't properly cover the bottom of a Uberti cylinder frame.  Vice versa, you'd have to narrow out the edges on Uberti TG.

Uberti's cylinder frame seems to be a 1/8 inch larger vertically.  Pietta's TG / BS go on a bit kitty wampus as a result.  The other way around, I recall the Uberti TB / BS gapping on a Pietta frame.

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

Bugscuffle ... perhaps a better option would be to check out VTI.  For the Uberti you get a 3" sheriff barrel and a birds head back strap for $175  and have a better chance of a good fit.  I believe you would have the same option for Pietta.  This would be better than trying to mix unrelated manufacturers.

[Pettifogger]

Buy the time you buy the new grip frames, new screws, new grips, etc. you will have probably spent more than $600.00.