Ruger Old Army (SS, ca. 1978) at the Range Today

[Maven]

After a disappointing outing with my ROA last fall, I decided to try again. but with real BP instead of Pyrodex P. That session used a mix of home cast Lee .457" RB's and swaged RB's (Speer I think) + lubed felt OP wads + ~24gr. Pyro. P (thrown). As I said results weren't very good, particularly since I know the ROA can shoot into 2" or less @ 25 yd. from a rest (pistol butt only rested).

Today, in fact only a few hours ago, I tried Graf's (Wano) FFFg Shuetzen BP thrown with a 1.9cc Lee dipper, which theoretically means 30 - 31 gr. I also used the same cast .457" and swaged RB's as before. Ditto the lubed OP wads. Percussion caps were Rem. #10's (as before). One more thing, last year I purchased a set of Slix Shot nipples and I'm thrilled to pieces with them since they turned the ROA into a 100% reliable performer. (Both the factory nipples and Uncle Mike's nipples required 2 strikes of the hammer to fire, and sometimes 3: not a good thing!)

Anyway, what I learned is that the cast RB's are a better fit in my gun than the swaged ones, which resulted in much better grouping for the former. Additionally, the gun likes higher powder charges if I want to keep the groups 2" or less @ 25 yd. In short, I'm very pleased with the ROA, which now is as accurate as my [Ruger] NM Blackhawk and its bigger .44mag. brother.

[Battis]

If the #10 caps needed more than one strike to ignite, they were too small.
From an old Colt Industries pamphlet:
"Percussion caps are now made in sizes from nine to thirteen. Ten and eleven are the best numbers for the small and medium-sized arms, and twelve for the larger sizes, although, as different-sized nipples are sometimes met in specimens of the same model, no hard and fast rule can be given. It is better to have caps slightly too large than too small, as large caps can be pinched together at the bottom enough so they will stay on the nipples, but small ones must be driven down on the nipple by the blow of the hammer, and this process frequently cushions the blow to the extent of producing a misfire."

[Maven]

If the #10 caps needed more than one strike to ignite, they were too small. ...Battis

Thanks for the tip, but the #11's did no better than the #10's. However, the Slix Shot nipples take either size and, as I mentioned in my post, work perfectly. I.e., the only time it doesn't fire is when I forget to charge one of the chambers (LOL).

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Glad to hear that the ROA stainless is working out for you. I've never owned a ROA, but had a close friend who did and it was one of his favorites. And, with the rust hazard of black powder and Pyrodex, stainless is the way to go. I've had the best luck with No. 11s on my C&B revolvers.

DG

[winelover]

Besides the rust/corrosion advantage, the stainless ROA's have pinned front sight blades and can be readily changed out for taller ones, for the heavier conical bullets. Blue ones aren't pinned. Some states do not allow round balls for big game hunting, in pistols. Arkansas being one.

Winelover