Grip Frame Swapping?

[mohavesam]

Is the frame easily swapped from a MkIII 22/45, to a MkII 22/45?

I want only the option of replaceable 1911 panels on my MkII guns, without milling down all of them!

 

[mohavesam]

Anyone done this?

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

Is the frame easily swapped from a MkIII 22/45, to a MkII 22/45?

I want only the option of replaceable 1911 panels on my MkII guns, without milling down all of them!

Some would not say easily..............but yes it can be done with some effort. On the Ruger Mark III 22/45 pistols, the assembly folks at Ruger felt a tighter fit of the upper to the lower was more necessary, rather than the quasi-loose fit involved with the original 22/45. So, they came up with a rather "Neanderthal" method to tighten things up.

They smash down the Mark III 22/45 receiver to gain a tighter fit with the "lug" in the front end of the Mark III grip frame:

Now, one might get lucky when swapping the Mark III receiver onto the Mark II grip frame, and have it fit but most often, that smashed down metal will need to be relieved via carbide moto-tool bit, due to the work hardening of the metal that Alley Oop done with his club.
Once the cavity has been brought back to an "as normal" shape as possible, then the fit can be tried until you achieve what you're after.