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Post by tincanbandit on Jul 3, 2015 8:55:06 GMT -5
Not sure if anyone else here has tackled a project like this before, but I am following the lead of another amateur gunsmith from North Carolina (he doesn't appear to be a member here). Anyway I was restoring this 3 screw Blackhawk that I bought in pieces as a project (many of the pieces were missing and I had to search high and low for them). After getting the gun to function and a somewhat failed attempt at rust bluing the gun (http://tincanbandit.blogspot.com/2015/05/ruger-old-model-blackhawk-project-part-4.html) I decided to adapt this 1860 Colt brass grip frame to the Ruger. I am pretty sure this is from an Italian replica (I bought it on ebay for $24). The grip frame has the trigger guard portion and the back strap, but came with no screws  We will need to accomplish the following: Make clearance for the wider Ruger trigger and possibly the hammer drill a hole in the rear of the trigger guard for the trigger return spring and plunger make clearance for the hammer strut/main spring assembly build a mount for the hammer strut plug and re-drill the front trigger guard screw hole (it is the only one that doesn't line up) find all the correct screws Make a custom set of grips, including drilling a hole and installing an indexing pin |
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Post by tincanbandit on Jul 3, 2015 8:55:54 GMT -5
this picture shows the Colt & Ruger frames side by side, you can see the hole in the back of the trigger guard on the Ruger grip frame  We (my friend who is a machinist) drilled from the front, the same way Ruger did it here is a picture of the fixture he built to drill the hole, setting it up to mimic the angle and depth of the hole on the Ruger    |
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Post by tincanbandit on Jul 3, 2015 8:56:45 GMT -5
the next part of this project involved filling and re-drilling the front trigger guard screw. The Ruger's hole sits closer to the trigger guard loop and it overlaps with the original Colt's hole, so simply re-drilling isn't an option (at least not a very good one). The old hole was threaded for a larger screw, the screw was bottomed out, then silver soldered in place. The new hole was drilled and counter sunk for a perfect fit with the Ruger screw (The Colts screws had slightly larger holes)  we left a little bit of the screw sticking up, it fits in the recess of the Ruger frame and acts as a guide.  |
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Post by tincanbandit on Jul 3, 2015 8:58:33 GMT -5
I was able to source the two missing screws. the larger one is the Main Spring screw, the other one is the screw that attaches the back strap and trigger guard sections together at the bottom of the grip.  next up: The building of the main strut/spring boss. I wanted to use the old Main Spring screw as the mount. I measured the angles on my Ruger Single Six. I will try to mimic the angle and the location of the stock boss.  I had this bracket in my scrap metal pile, that had the right size hole, thickness and a 90 degree bend already in it...  I cut and filed away until I had the correct shape and angle  This is what the end result looks like, it is far from perfect...but then again so am I  I will refine it a bit, cleaning up the edges, polishing the slot and then blue it   |
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Post by tincanbandit on Jul 3, 2015 8:59:07 GMT -5
I knew that I would have to make clearance for the main spring/strut assembly, so I broke out the dremel and carved out a channel that was just a bit wider than the spring/strut assembly  I also made clearance on the back strap for the strut where it meets the hammer  Trial fitting, I had to modify the spring/strut boss numerous times to get the angle just right, I also opened the slot up some (length wise) to prevent binding  |
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Post by tincanbandit on Jul 3, 2015 9:00:12 GMT -5
function test with all springs and parts, the only thing missing are the grip panels   Time to figure out the grip material. I have the following wood on hand: Bloodwood, Purpleheart, Walnut (American Black, straight grain), Oak and Mahogany. |
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Post by tincanbandit on Jul 3, 2015 9:01:19 GMT -5
Since this project is a copy (tribute?) of another gunsmith's work work and his bloodwood panels look really good with the brass, I decided to use the bloodwood. I have this 4x4x4" chunk, I'll have to swap the blade on my saw and cut off some 3/4" wide slabs  |
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Post by tincanbandit on Jul 3, 2015 9:01:56 GMT -5
I will make templates for the grip panels from cardboard, one thing to be wary of is that the top corner where the grip panels meet the Ruger frame, is not a 90 degree corner. I see a lot of grips where a gap is left in this location due to poor fitting. I will try to avoid that  I also purchased this grip screw and escutcheon set from Gun Parts Corp.  |
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Post by tincanbandit on Jul 3, 2015 9:02:28 GMT -5
Time for some math....(I know I hate math...) anyway, if we don't plan out the thickness of the grips, we won't know how much material we need to cut and how long of a locating dowel we can use. I measured the Colt brass grip frame and compared with the stock Ruger XR3-RED  The Colt frame measured approx. .442", the Ruger XR3-Red is about .513" thick a difference of .071" Next I measured the Ruger grip frame with the factory grips attached (at the widest spot, the heel)  They measured out to roughly 1.542" thick. I like the feel of a palm filling grip, and these factory Ruger grips feel pretty good, so I will attempt to make my grips (including the frame) about the same width. I cut 3/4" wide pieces for the grip panels, I will file/sand them down to get close to the 1.5" overall thickness. I will fit the top corner 1st, then drill for the locating pin, then fit them to the grip frame  Before fitting the grip panels I needed to install a dowel/locating pin to keep the grips from moving. The Ruger's grip locating pin is about .80" wide, I found both 3/4" (.75) and 1" roll pins at the store. I purchased the 1.0" wide ones (1/8 diameter). The protrusion on the Ruger pin is about .1435" (.80-.513=.287/2=.1435). So I drilled a 1/8" hole, pounded in the 1" roll pin and filed it to .144" protrusion on each side.  |
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Post by jayhawker on Jul 3, 2015 12:24:06 GMT -5
Nice job so far. Are you sure the grip frame is '60 Army? Looks short, '51 Navy.
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cj3a
.30 Stingray
Posts: 403
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Post by cj3a on Jul 3, 2015 13:09:40 GMT -5
Well done.
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Post by tincanbandit on Jul 3, 2015 14:56:45 GMT -5
Nice job so far. Are you sure the grip frame is '60 Army? Looks short, '51 Navy. could be, I am far from a Colt expert Do you happen to know the dimensions? I couldn't find anything online |
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Post by tincanbandit on Jul 12, 2015 22:16:13 GMT -5
I found the rear edge of the trigger frame stuck out a little more than the pistols frame. A small file cleaned it up  Fitting the corners first, hoping to avoid any gaps between wood and metal.  |
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Post by tincanbandit on Jul 12, 2015 22:20:53 GMT -5
I then drilled the 1/8" holes for the dowel pin and the grip screw  I cut the grips close to their final dimension and did a trial fit  now time to remove everything that doesn't look like a proper grip panel |
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Post by tincanbandit on Jul 12, 2015 22:26:33 GMT -5
The screw that came with the escutcheon kit was too short, I found these brass ones at the local nut & bolt monger, but the head would not fit in the escutcheon recess, So I taped up the threads and chucked it into my drill, a file supplied the necessary friction  I wrapped the metal parts in tape to protect them and let me know when I was close  I then moved to a 1/2 round file to begin contouring the wood  Getting close, the trick is to mimic the Ruger factory grips in shape and profile, but also making sure both sides are identical  |
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