Tell me all about the Ruger Old Army

[kingstrider]

Well I'm looking for a new toy and am thinking of a Ruger Old Army. My requirements are sort of specific in that I want one in stainless with the 5-1/2" barrel and adjustable sights. But I don't know much about black powder revolvers other than they are a lot of fun. Can this weapon be loaded to the levels needed for deer hunting? What can you guys tell me about this that I may not already know?

[Old Ironsights]

(1) Ruger has stopped making them. :cry:
(2) AFAIK They never made a Stainless in 5-1/2" with adjustable sights (only fixed)

Your only option to meet your requirements is find & buy a 7" Adj Sights Stainless gun and cut the barrel... then re-attach the rammer lock point and use a NOS replacement rammer from a 5-1/2".

Sorry.

As for the rest:

Yes, it can be loaded to be adequate for deer. Your State Legality may varry, but you can add a .45LC cylinder which makes it legal in most venues.

The best bullet AFAIC is the Lee 200gr REAL. The 250gr works too, but I like the 200 better.

[Harry O]

I once had one that was blued carbon-steel with the long barrel and adjustable sights. It will have a lot more power than you expect for a BP front-end loader. That also means recoil. It can be downloaded very easily though. It is probably more accurate than you are.

I have seen one in stainless steel that was badly pitted. The guy never cleaned it. Even if you get one in stainless steel, make sure than you clean it.

I eventually got into BP cartridges and got away from the Ruger and sold it several years ago. Nothing wrong with it. It just meant very few shots at the range.

[Woodtroll]

Kingstrider,

Not to blatantly disagree with anyone here, but Ruger did make a FEW SS 5-1/2" adjustable-sight Old Armies. I had been watching for one for about a year, having seen some for sale some time back in Sportsman's Guide, of all places. I did not buy one then because, heck, Bill said Ruger would always make these, right? Anyway, I had never seen one up for sale in a year's worth of watching, so I asked the same question you did on the RugerForum.com. You can see the thread here:

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=332651&highlight=#332651

Looks like these are rare, and expensive. Maybe we could split the cost and share it? <G>

Sorry to bear bad news- hope this helps. Take care,
Regan

[Muddy Creek Sam]

Dick Dastardly at http://www.biglube.com makes a mold for 45 Big lube bullets for them.

Sam :-D

[44man]

I have killed several deer with mine. I use 41 gr's of Swiss FFFG for 1102 fps with a round ball. It does them in FAST.

[kingstrider]

Wow lots to think about here. I knew I had seen the short barrel fixed sight models before in stainless but there's no way I'd spend that much on one.

How well do the fixed sight models shoot to POA? I doubt I would use it much other than to fill a niche in my collection as I want a handgun I can use for whitetails during muzzleloader season.

Accuracy out to 50 yards is a must so maybe the longer barrel with adjustable sights will fit the bill after all. Has anyone tried the Lee conical boolit mold in one of these? I was wondering how they might perform for my intended use.

I've actually been sitting on the fence for this for a while but between the upcoming gun shows and online sites, I could probably have one up and running before the next muzzleloader season opens on December 13. Again all info is greatly appreciated so keep it coming!

[Lloyd Smale]

I played with one for a while. I had dave clements back bore the cylinder holes so it would hold about 7 more grains of powder and could easily get over 900 fps with a 240 grain bullet. I had mountain molds make me a wfn and a swc mold for them at 230 and 240 grain. I designed the bullet to hold a good quantity of lube and with no crimp grove and sized properly for my gun. Sad to say i never did have much luck with accuaracy with them though. I should have had them made as bevel based bullets as they were about impossible to seat straight. I experimented with running just the bases in a lee 451 die and that helped but still didnt really give me the accuracy i wanted for hunting. 44man probably has it right. If i was to fool with another id just stick to round balls. they shot real well out of my gun.

[S.R.Custom]

...I want a handgun I can use for whitetails during muzzleloader season. ...

You can do that? When I lived in Cincinnati 10 or so years ago, the Kentucky muzzle loader regs specifically prohibited muzzle loading handguns...

[44man]

Most states that allow handgun hunting will let you use a cap and ball during gun season but not during muzzle loader season.

[oldhickory]

I was just admiring mine, a SS 7 1/2" with the adjustable sights. I think it's Bill Ruger's masterpiece!

The Lyman Black Powder Handbook, published in 1974 gives these loads and ballistics for it, ( these are just a few of the 24 loads listed). All reduced loads use corn meal as a filler.

Round ball, 143gr.- 30gr.G-O, (now Goex)3F=858fps.

Round ball, 143gr.- 40gr. G-O, (now Goex) 3F=917fps.

Round ball, 143gr.-31gr. G-O, (now Goex) 4F=964fps.

Round ball, 143gr.-41gr. G-O, (now Goex) 4F=1036fps.


The most powerful load listed using a conical boolit weighing 185gr is;

35gr. of G-O, 4F powder attaining 905fps. and 335Ft./lbs. muzzle energy.

That's not too shabby for a "cap&ball" revolver.

[44man]

Swiss powder will make the cap and ball sit up and talk! :mrgreen: It even works super in the Remington.
By the way, I would NOT use a boolit in the Remington. The cylinder is small in diameter and the nose of a boolit in the adjacent chamber is right in the cylinder gap and gets cut bad from the chamber that is fired.

[DLCTEX]

I shoot 255 gr. 454 dia. boolits in my ROA. I lightly taper the bases with a RCBS case chamfer tool to help with seating the boolit straight. If the boolit is started straight, there is no problem with boolit jump from recoil. I lube with bore butter at present, but have gotten by with Crisco. I use Pyrodex P for powder and have good accuracy. The round ball is the most accurate, IME. DALE

[leadeye]

Saw two for sale at the 1500 show today for $300 a piece, good condition, but not what I was looking for.

[mooman76]

It seems like you may be straying from the SS model. If you deside to get something else and plan on using it for deer I would get one in a steel frame to stand up to heavy loads or maybe even go with a colts Dragoon or Walker. They can dish out some heavy loads. I bought a used one from a friend years ago, cheap because the frame was kind of loose and I thought I could fix it or buy a new frame. The frame ran almost as much as a new gun so that was out of the question. Funnu thing was the fram always tightened up after a couple shots. Anyway I asked him what he was using for loads to lossen the frame up and he tod me he usually just filled up the cylinders and pressed a ball in. Just a slight overload I think!
By the way I just remembered an artical I read years ago doing a comparison on the Walker Colt to a 44 Mag. and in the comparison the Walker Colt got more penetration than the 44 mag with lead bullets.

[44man]

True, there is no way to compare penetration to velocity.
We did a test today on wet newspapers with the .475 Linebaugh, .470 and .577 Nitro express. The .475 actually out did or matched the .470 with solids. The .577 soft nose made a HUGE wound but penetration was poor.
The Walker was made for 60 gr's of BP. I don't think there is any way to over load it. As long as a ball will seat so the cylinder will turn, you can't hurt it. Something else is at work, lack of lubrication or something.

[kingstrider]

Most states that allow handgun hunting will let you use a cap and ball during gun season but not during muzzle loader season.

Gotta love living in Kentucky! Under current regulations, black powder revolvers fall within the muzzloader category. We have separate seasons for modern firearms and black powder and are allowed to use black powder weapons during the modern gun season but not vice-versa. I'm hoping to have one up and running within 6 weeks for the next muzzleloader season..

[44man]

That would be great. But many states specify single shot only so a pistol could be used but not a revolver.

[Meatco1]

I sent in an Old Army to David Clements for a bit of modification sometime ago. It is due back this Dec. Talk about an increase in accuracy & overall stopping power!!

Here is a couple of links to what is being done to it.

http://imageevent.com/fiveshooter/ccgoa
http://www.clementscustomguns.com/rugerrevolvers.html

By the way, a friend of mine is getting 1200 fps with a 285 gr bullet. He switched primer caps, to Rem., and bumped up the 777 load to 57 gr

David only does these conversions once a year, so should anyone decide to have one done, be prepared to wait.

Richard

[451whitworth]

Meatco1, that is a very cool Ruger Old Army. what a great idea.

[44man]

Meatco, what was the total cost with the two rams?
I have thought about the conversion but am worried about the expense.

[Meatco1]

44man:

I did not buy the extra ram. I did however speak to David about one, and he let me know that he had modified his ram design, and that the one he makes now would work for both ball & conical with no problems.

I would agree, the cost for this .50 is far more than any other BP pistol I own, but then again, it is kind of a "one off", unique, attractive, & very, very strong. I did have David "deep bore" the cylinder he took off, and will use that on my 5.5" standard ROL. The cost for his "deep boring" was an extra $50.00, and will gain an extra 100 fps over the standard ROL.

I look at this one as a niche gun. More power than the Walker, less weight, faster to handle, easier to clean, and certainly less cumbersome.

Kind words, 451!!

Respects,

Richard

[kingstrider]

I sent in an Old Army to David Clements for a bit of modification sometime ago. It is due back this Dec. Talk about an increase in accuracy & overall stopping power!!

Here is a couple of links to what is being done to it.

http://imageevent.com/fiveshooter/ccgoa
http://www.clementscustomguns.com/rugerrevolvers.html

By the way, a friend of mine is getting 1200 fps with a 285 gr bullet. He switched primer caps, to Rem., and bumped up the 777 load to 57 gr

David only does these conversions once a year, so should anyone decide to have one done, be prepared to wait.

Richard

Hey Richard, if you don't mind my asking, what was the ballpark price for the additional work? Now that would suit me pretty well!

[Meatco1]

Hello Kingstrider:

If you go to Davids link (posted), and scroll down on the "Ruger" list, all of his options & costs are provided.

Richard