Ruger Old Army Q's

[ShooterAZ]

I recently picked up a Ruger Old Army, new in box. I ordered a Lee .457 round ball mold, and have picked up some Pyrodex P, CCI #11 caps, felt wads, etc locally. My main question is: Can I use 1/3/96 to cast round balls? I have a ton of this alloy, but nothing softer. If not, what alloy would you recommend?

I read somewhere that you don't necessarily have to use pure lead in these. I won't be doing any hunting with it any time soon, so expansion is not an issue. Thanks in advance for any help....Shooter.

[243winxb]

I used pure lead many years ago, with black powder. On seating the ball, it should shave some lead to seal the chamber. If you use an alloy, the ball may be to large in diameter also. Best to follow the instruction manual, as i did.

[ShooterAZ]

Does pure lead cast OK with no tin?

[Baja_Traveler]

You will find it difficult to get complete mould fillout with pure lead and no tin in a conical mould. When I tried it I got rounded edges, but in a RB mould you should have no problems using pure lead.

[ShooterAZ]

Thanks guys...I will try casting pure and go from there.

[thegatman]

I have used pure lead in my Old Army. It shoots very well with the ball ammo but not too well with the conicals. Like 243 WinXB says, It has to shave the lead to make a good seal.

[ShooterAZ]

I ordered a .457 round ball mold, the bore slugs .4525+/-... so I sure hope I will be shaving a ring of lead!

[DLCTEX]

I have shot WW balls in mine with no problems. I also have shot Boolits sized .454 and they work well if care is taken to get them started straight there is no bullet jump in the cylinder. Pyrodex P works well for me with great accuracy.

[docone31]

Keep the mold hot for good castings.
You do not need tin with an hot mold.

[ShooterAZ]

I have shot WW balls in mine with no problems. I also have shot Boolits sized .454 and they work well if care is taken to get them started straight there is no bullet jump in the cylinder. Pyrodex P works well for me with great accuracy.

WW? So I might be OK with 1/3/96? I may try a few. I have a ton (literally) of this alloy. I may try a little just for grins

[uscra112]

Yeah, I'd use what you have until you've proved that it doesn't work. Me, I use commercial swaqed roundballs in mine. The one time I cast in a Lee 456-220 mold, I added a smidge of tin, on general principles more than anything. No problems with them, but I only plink with the thing, so after I used that lot up I went back to the roundballs, of which I have still several hundred to go.

There's a couple of old Ed Harris articles on making the ROA work on the Intarweb. Can't remember where, though.

[garym1a2]

I tried the lee 200gr SWC boolit once. It was made of WW, I could bairy get it half seated and it was a royal pain to dig out. Be carefull with normal boolits. I have gotten decent results with WW round balls, I did need tin to get the balls to flow decent. Gun is very accurate with a stiff charge.

[ShooterAZ]

I did read and print Ed Harris' article on the ROA. He says that the ROA is the finest C&B revolver ever made, and that his was more accurate than most cartridge revolvers he ever fired. I can't wait to shoot mine!

[Maven]

WW? So I might be OK with 1/3/96? I may try a few. I have a ton (literally) of this alloy. I may try a little just for grins

I don't generally have a problem with using what you have in ML rifles. However, in a BP revolver, you will be putting more pressure on the loading lever with a harder alloy v. pure Pb. Also keep in mind that Ruger presently doesn't have a huge inventory of parts for the ROA, so if you damage the loading lever, you'll be in somewhat of a bind finding a replacement: Not impossible, but not easy either.

[44man]

I made a loader for mine. I remove the cylinder and push balls in with it. I use a compressed load of Swiss 3F for deer. 41 gr. I don't like using the lever. I get a little over 1100 fps with a pure ball.
If you play with harder lead I would get a tool. I see them for sale now and then.
Pure lead alone casts just fine, I might have cast a million balls and boolits of all kinds with it.
The Ruger likes to be shot slow for top accuracy with a RB, 20 gr of powder and cornmeal filler. I lose accuracy with my deer loads but the gun kills them like crazy.
Boolits are not good for deer, not enough room for powder but they shoot nice for targets. I made a mold for a boolit that does well and many .45 boolits also work.
Some don't consider it a hunting gun but the last deer I shot went straight up and fell dead right there. :bigsmyl2: I just keep ranges short.

[garym1a2]

Only item to add is when using pyrodex, CLEAN VERY well. The blue ROA will rust in not clean. The hammer needs clean well. Mine had minor pitting from not good cleaning.

I wonder whats a max load for round balls though. My feels good with 35gr.

[cajun shooter]

Just something you may want to consider. Pyrodex is the most corroisve propellant made!! It is many times more corrisve than the real Black Powder. It is also harder to ignite than standard BP.
Living in Flagstaff , you should not have a problem finding some real BP to fire.
I have been firing the real thing for several decades and have never encountered a problem.
I shoot a SASS match on Saturday and don't usually clean my guns till Tuesday of the following week. I use Ballistol and water which is called Moosemilk for my cleaning and EEZOX for protecting my guns.
I have seen guns fired with Pyrodex in the morning, show signs of rusting that very same evening. I sent a shotgun that was new back to the factory gunsmith for some needed work. I advised him I wanted the gun fired with BP as that is what I use in it. He advised that he had a friend who loaded BP shells and he would use those. Well it turned out his friend used Pyrodex for loading his shotshells and said it was BP. This is how my gun came back to me.http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_59204d711c5f5bb33.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=98)

[ShooterAZ]

The ROA manual says flush barrel & cylinder with hot water, I'm not sure I like the idea of subjecting any gun to water like that. I bought some T/C black powder bore cleaner. I'll try that first. How do you guys clean yours?

[M-Tecs]

Hot water and soap works very well for BP. I keep tying different products but I keep going back to soap and water.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Hot water with a little dish soap.
and...

Only item to add is when using pyrodex, CLEAN VERY well. The blue ROA will rust in not clean. The hammer needs clean well. Mine had minor pitting from not good cleaning.

[Baja_Traveler]

Check out THIS (http://www.biglube.com/BulletMolds.aspx?ItemID=1302742a-9e12-41e5-881f-f99340c6d9e6) stainless cylinder loader - awesome deal...

I also have 4 of his moulds including THIS (http://www.biglube.com/BulletMolds.aspx?ItemID=09d6fdda-c105-4c87-b269-68ebfdaba982) one for my ROA. I'll be shooting it for the first time this weekend.

I clean mine in the kitchen sink with soap and hot water. If you use really hot water, just dry the parts off with a towel and the residual heat will evaporate any moisture left you couldnt get to. Then a good wipe down with a RemOil cloth.

[ShooterAZ]

OK...hot soapy water it is then. This is my first BP gun...so a little bit of a learning curve for me. Thanks for all the replies guys.

[garym1a2]

What I like about my 1860 is that the front end comes off and I can dunk the cyl and barrel into soapy water and it cleans easy.
with the ROA a good cleaning takes some time. Of course the ROA is a better gun.

[ShooterAZ]

I'm gonna take it out and shoot it for the first time tomorrow, I can't wait. I feel a little twinge of guilt, because it is new in the box, never fired. Oh well. I even occasionally shoot my collector grade M1 Garand. I'll be sure to clean it well, and oil it afterwards.

[44man]

I take the wood panels off and toss the whole gun in the laundry tub.
Hot water dry and spray inside and out with Sheath or Barricade.

[GMW]

I have been shooting bp guns for 40 years and I do most of my hunting with one of my custom flinters or if the weather is lousy, I go to my bp carthridge in my Shilo Sharps. I agree with Cajun Shooter as for Ballistol, it does everything. However, hot water is not necessary, it causes flash rust, which happens very quickly. Cold water, no soap, then moose milk then straight ballistol will keep your bp guns clean and ballistol is excellent for wood and leather. I shoot pure lead in any bp firearms.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

YUP, a little dish soap and hot water is hard to beat, as the above fellows state....I think I have tried most of the alternatives in the last 50+ yrs..good luck

[winelover]

I also use Pyroxex "P" in my SS ROA with satisfactory results. Just be aware that ROA's tend to shoot high with the heavier "deer" loads and there is not enough downward adjustment in the rear sight. The fix is to install a taller front sight blade. Easy enough on a SS model, (pinned blade) just call Ruger and get the highest blade that fits a BH. Not so easy on the blued models with non replaceable blades!

My load is 30 grains of Pyrodex "P" under a Oxyoke Wonder Wad, with either round ball or Lee conical cast from pure, topped off with Bore Butter. I tumble lube the conicals with Alox just cause I have it on hand. Makes for easier loading IMO.

Off hand accuracy with both is fairly even @ 25 yards (2 1/2" C-C) although the conicals do print higher.

Winelover

[44man]

Cold water actually cleans BP better. My gun is stainless so when clean I use hot water so it dries fast.
Pyrodex is the hardest to clean. The stuff needs 1000 patches! :veryconfu
My .54 uses the stuff and I never get a white patch so I soak the hot bore with LPS-3. Ballistol also will work. Good stuff.
LPS turns to a waxy coating and all it needs is a patch, 3 caps shot and load.
I like Sheath or Barricade sprayed into my Old Army, it will displace any water and lube the internals.

[243winxb]

To get a good fill out with pure lead, maximum heat & bottom pour spout in full contact with the mould. Like pressure casting. I cleaned with hot soapy water. Spray with WD40, then oil. Grips off.