Mako, that's an Army grip, right? Did it come that way?
Yes it did, which is why I bought it. I have big hands and prefer the Army grip. I have never seen an original '51 or '61 with the Army grip but you could order the '60 with the Navy grip from Colt's back in the day. pbbbbbbb, little girl handed West Point graduates. I have seen pictures of originals with Navy grips and they had brass trigger guards with brass back straps. The brass back straps jump out at you when you see a color picture or in a collection.
I have '51s (Leech & Rigdons) and '61s which I can easily shoot with the smaller grips because they are mousegun caliber. Basically the power factor of a .380 ACP. The '60 army shooting balls is actually equivalent to a .38 spl. (140gr ball at less than 950 fps by my chronograph...)
I actually like the size of the later Dragoon Grips, I want my pinky on the grip and not underneath it. I made the mistake of getting one pair of '71-'72 open tops in .38 Spl with the Navy Grips and another pair in .44 with the Army grips. I wanted an "early model" and a "Late model" I wish they were all Army grips.
Know anyone who wants to trade a pair of .44 spl (or .44 Colt) with Army grips for a pair of consecutive serial number 7 1/2" barrel .38 spl revolvers with Navy grips? I don't care if they are Conversion Models or '71-'72s (barrel length doesn't matter). The .38s are very clean and shot very little.
~Mako