boom pop Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 I have 1851 and 1860 pietta .44 pistols, will pietta .36 cylinders and barrels work on those frames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griff Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 The .44 cylinders require the frame to be "notched" to fit. I don't know if the arbor dimensions are different. I don't have any .44s measure, maybe someone else does? But, as the barrels would also require being changed out, there may be an issue with the barrel locating pin placement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lead Monger Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 I can take the 36 cal. cylinder and barrel from my Pietta 1851s and mount them on my Pietta 1860 Army 44s. Functions just fine on the pair of revolvers. Of coarse the 44 caliber cylinders will not fit on the 1851 36 caliber frames but the 44 barrels go right on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Crimes Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Mine are the same as Lead Monger. I have the 1851 short barrel in .44 and my .36 barrel and cylinder fit the 44 frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 9 hours ago, Lead Monger said: I can take the 36 cal. cylinder and barrel from my Pietta 1851s and mount them on my Pietta 1860 Army 44s. Functions just fine on the pair of revolvers. Of coarse the 44 caliber cylinders will not fit on the 1851 36 caliber frames but the 44 barrels go right on. 9 hours ago, Major Crimes said: Mine are the same as Lead Monger. I have the 1851 short barrel in .44 and my .36 barrel and cylinder fit the 44 frame. How is the bolt to cylinder fitment? IIRC the 36 cal cylinder is slightly smaller in diameter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lead Monger Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 When testing a pair of revolvers with swapped cylinders and barrels I found cylinder rotation, indexing, bolt drop and lockup and trigger reset all worked just fine. Cylinder end-play was not a problem either. I have my hammer faces cut back and polished so they do not strike the nipples and both revolvers fired five chambers each without a hiccup. I do not use them mixed in this manner. I like the 51s to be 51s and the 60s to be 60s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Crimes Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 As above for me. My hammers haven't been worked I just fit Slix nipples to my guns and do little else with the Pietta's. I had a pair of Pietta 51's in .36 with spare cylinders and spare short barrels (3" I think?). I sold the .36's with their 5.5" barrels and bought the .44's. I tried the spare cylinders and short barrels on the 44 frame and had no problems. I haven't used them that way since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom pop Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 Thank you all that helps a lot, have a wonderful year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 so i take it the reasoning behind all this is to have the 36 caliber with the larger 1860 grips ? otherwise why bother ? im curious and seriously want to know not being a smart a$$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeaconKC Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 If you have bigger hands [like I do] the Army Grip is far more comfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 that makes some sense - ive wondered at why one would want to change all these bits out , but why not just shoot the 1860 army's from the start ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lead Monger Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 Curiosity plays a big part of it for me. How much interchangeably is there within a frame group. Multiple barrel lengths for a favorite frame would be a common example of parts swapping. Maybe 7.5” and 5.5” barrels for a pair of C Masons or running a favorite pair of 1860 Army frames with 1861 barrels and cylinders just to see how they feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 Easier to swap the grip frame. AFAIK all Pietta open top grip frames are interchangeable. And AFAIK the same is true for all Uberti open tops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 (edited) SEDALIA!! Yepper. All Pietta Open Top grip frames/sets are a universal fitment. ALL Pietta Cap Guns are built on the basic 1851 frame and then altered "as required." Uberti Open Top guns are the same but sometimes take a little more fiddling. Pietta/Uberti DO NOT interchange. Lots and lots of fitting to do that. Uberti also changes the basic frame size starting at the 1862 and going back/down. Forgot. Every once in a while a stepped 1860 cylinder will fit and 1851 frame. VERY CLOSE tolerance there. Usually a No-Go. Edited March 28 by Colorado Coffinmaker Add a couple of Tid Bits 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 good info to know , fun thread , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cholla Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 On the reverse, the grips on my 1860s were too big, so I traded for 1851 grips and frames. Now I can reach the hammer easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 ok , i never heard anyone else mention this but i would probably be in that same court if i were hoping to compete with these , i have smaller hands as well , i suppose that is why i prefered the 51s to the 60s , ive actually gotten very fond of my 58 revolvers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom pop Posted March 31 Author Share Posted March 31 On 3/28/2024 at 12:37 AM, watab kid said: that makes some sense - ive wondered at why one would want to change all these bits out , but why not just shoot the 1860 army's from the start ? Because all my 1860 are .44 and the lead and powder cost less to shoot .36 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pee Wee #15785 Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 I changed out a pair of 60 Armies grip frames with the Navy grip frames as they fit as good as the Army grip frames. If you don't look close you will think they ar 61 Navies. I liked using them when ever there as a rotating star, worked better than a .36. I got the grip frames and grips from VTI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 (edited) 6 hours ago, boom pop said: Because all my 1860 are .44 and the lead and powder cost less to shoot .36 i kinda figured that at out after thinking on it but does it save that much ? Edited April 1 by watab kid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Looks like store bought balls are $4/100 higher. But I cast my own from recycled lead so that's not a financial burden. Last shooting I did with Ruger Old Army I used 19 grains of powder and 19 grains of cream of wheat. I don't think that's any more than a 36. I'm not going to any trouble converting from 44 to 36 to save powder and lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lead Monger Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 I very much enjoy shooting a pair of Uberti 1861 Navy 36s with 15g of 3F Swiss and an eras gone conical. The 1860 Army 44s offer a more visible impact o steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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