Ruger Old Army...talk me in or out of one.

[pull the trigger]

I've been looking at cap and ball revolvers. I'd like one made with quality. Been looking at the Rugers. What say y'all? Thanks!!

[Outpost75]

Great guns. If you want to shoot anything other than round balls you will want a higher front sight.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

No doubt one of the, if not the, best BP revolver ever made.

[shooting on a shoestring]

IN!
Get one!
The Ruger Old Army was the apex in the development of cap and ball revolvers.
For the sake of shooting, they’re great.
For the sake of replica, they miss the boat.

My first cap and ball was a Pietta Remington Navy clone (36 cal). Dad bought it for me for Christmas about 1972 or so. He got it from Walgreens when they were closing out their black powder stuff. I’ve enjoyed it being a good shooting clone. I like the size. It fits me.

The Ruger Old Army is essentially a large frame Blackhawk and it’s a big gun. It’s not a clone of anything. It’s just a well made, stout, big boomer. If you like the Old Army and aren’t interested in a replica, you really should get one. They’re drying up, but there’s still some good ones in circulation.

[siamese4570]

Nope, not going to try to talk you out of it. You came to the wrong place for that. I have one and it is one of the most accurate guns that I own and I own several. Buy it!
Siamese4570

[pull the trigger]

I wondered what they were modeled after. I was looking at the 1858 Remington also, but am concerned about quality.

[contender1]

If you wonder why they aren't easily found,, well, I'm doing my part in trying to hoard them. I own several. If you want the best BP handgun,, get one.
Bill hit a Grand Slam in that design!

[stubshaft]

The best C&B revolver made! I own a couple of them and the accuracy is superb. You'll have to find someone else to talk you out of it...

[M-Tecs]

I thought I would be happy owning one. I was wrong I now have two. One for RB and one with a higher front sight for conical bullets. The RB shoot incredibly accurately but I wanted a heavier bullet for hunting so I picked up a second one.

[Outpost75]

My Ruger Old Army .45 single-action blackpowder revolver, has adjustable sights and a 7-1/2" barrel.

I have for it two extra fitted percussion cylinders which I ordered from the factory.

As the revolver comes out of the box it is sighted for round balls and heavier bullets shoot way high. To use heavier bullets it really needs a higher front sight 1/8" higher than the one which comes on it. I started by welding a blob onto the existing blade and filing it in, but after a while I decided that the factory rear sight was less rugged than I wanted, so I had Richmond, VA gunsmith Jerry Kieffer set up the revolver exactly as I wanted it. He set back the barrel to establish cylinder gap at 0.006", which is the minimum for reliability with black powder. He recut and lapped the forcing cone, line bored and true ALL FOUR cylinders both .45 ACP Kirst cartridge and Ruger cap & ball, shimmed the hammer, did a trigger job, the works. For me the cost was well worth it, because this revolver is accurate, reliable and thoroughly dependable in the field.

The original factory rear sight was replaced with Hamilton Bowen's "Rough Country" rear sight. I also had fitted a custom NECG front sight with interchangible blades to enable accurate zeroing by swapping blades. My hunting load with the Lee 250-gr. R.E.A.L. bullet hits exactly on at 25 yards with all the Pyrodex P or Goex 3Fg the chambers will hold. A charge of 35 grs. of 3Fg or "P" gives ballistics about the same as a .45 Colt cartridge gun, approaching 900 fps with 250-gr. bullet. Typical groups are 2 inches or less at 25 yards. It shoots clear through a deer from any angle and leaves a good blood trail because the loading lever reforms the Lee R.E.A.L. bullet into a .45 cal. wadcutter!

I set up this Ruger to hunt deer seriously because it was not legal to carry a cartridge handgun during the blackpowder season, but I wanted a quick follow-up shot capability. Carrying a .45 or larger blackpowder revolver along with a muzzleloading rifle is OK where I live now. I have killed a half dozen deer with it at short range from my tree stand, and it is effective at reasonable range within 25-40 yards, where my ability to make well-aimed, vital hits is adequate.

I also have a .45 ACP cartridge conversion cylinder from Walt Kirst, which works very well. They make .45 Colt conversion cylinders also, but I didn't want to chance accidentally getting a "too hot" load intended for my New Model Blackhawk, so I stuck with .45 ACP and any 230-grain (non+P) "Personal Defense" load shoots to the sights.

[Dan Cash]

I have had two ROAs, both stainless. Gave one to my dear friend and shooting partner. A .454, 225 grain TC bullet from an Accurate mold seated over all the 3 F Old E you can get in the chamber (about 32 grains), is standard fare for both these revolvers. So loaded, it will center hit an 8" plate at 25 yards with a six O'Clock hold and has enough wallop to drop a deer at 30-50 yards. BUY AN OLD ARMY.

[smoked turkey]

As anyone who has one will tell you.."buy it!"

[winelover]

Just buy it. Stainless is the way to go. Not only is clean up easier but the front sight is pinned, unlike the blue ones. Makes for easier changing of the front sight for shooting the heavier conicals.

254810

Winelover

[smkummer]

Yep, my first bought about 1976 for $125 and still have it. I really wanted the reintroduced colt dragoon but it was $200! The colt navy was $125 but I wanted a 44. Shot it a lot with mostly round balls. Great memories. Got so good with it, we threw large cans or plastic jugs up in the air and hit them. If I remember it shot about 60 rounds and it was so fouled up, it stop revolving. As inherently in the Ruger/ Remington design with the top strap. I since added both of those colts and that was the one advantage to the colt design. Of course now there is a spray cleaner that will keep them shooting as long as you like. And we never downloaded either but less powder would be good too, as well as pyrodex or other substitutes ( a memory from back then was I had one can of pyrodex before it wasn’t anywhere to be had because of the accident at the factory that killed the founder). I have small hands and the Blackhawk grip frame fits fine but nothing feels better in my hand then a colt 1851 navy or 1860 army. But they have issues as well including usually shooting high with fixed sights.

[ShooterAZ]

I own one and love it. It's a blued 7-1/2" model. I have both the LEE 200 and 250 grain REAL molds for it, but my best accuracy comes with the good ol' round ball. The round ball is no slouch when it comes to killing deer either, it really puts them down. If you can get your hands on one for sale, buy it!

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I bought a stainless one new and it was everything the previous posts said it was. It was also way too heavy for one handed shooting, at least for my small hands. The 1858 Remington is perfectly safe and I have no trouble shooting them with one hand. If you have strong arms and hands, the ROA is the best ever. Ruger has no parts for one if anything should break.

[Alstep]

Great gun, you'll never regret getting one.
There was a rumor a while back that Ruger was going to put them back in production again. Anything to it???
Don't see any mention of it on their web site.

[bullseye67]

Good morning,

Buy one...or two!
I have a blued and then found a SS, yes, found quite literally. I was at a modern gun store, all black plastic and very 3 gun orientated, and in the one display cabinet there was a Ruger box, black and yellow and long. I knew it had to be a late 70’s early 80’s revolver. I was expecting a Blackhawk. When the clerk pulled out the box, he said “Wow it’s heavy I thought it was a display box” then he tosses, yep tosses the box on the counter, opens it up and says “blah... just one of those crappy old cowboy guns”. It was a new or as close to new SS Ruger Old Army!! I could barely keep a straight face....I said hummm....I hear nobody wants those “old cowboy guns”. What are you asking? He flips the box around 2-3 times all the papers go on the floor, as I am picking them up, he yells at the other guy “what are we asking for this thing?” I hear back, “the price is on the box.” Sure enough there is a price sticker, which is as old as the box, of $168.50.....he says in a total disgusting voice “ I knew these things were crap!!! My Airsoft practice pistol was more than this.” I said “it looks like it’s been here for a long time, would a $100.00 dollar bill get it?” I had some AR bits and a Reddot in my basket......he said “if you are buying that stuff?, It’s yours for $100.00?”

At the one range we have a walk and shoot black powder trail. They are a lot of fun to walk along and shoot the hidden targets along the trail. I believe Ruger is making a mistake not making a limited run of ROA every 5 years. I am sure they would all sell, especially if they included a regular cylinder with the cap and ball. Both of mine shoot to POA with round balls and about 6” high with the REAL boolit. I prefer round ball. Makes for lots of fun shooting and they rock the steel plates....ding....ding

Respectfully,
Bullseye67


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[flyingmonkey35]

Do you want one. If so proceed to step 2

Step 2. Can you afford it with out going in debt if so buy it. If not save up and buy it.

Step 3. Will you incur the wrath of the siginifact other in your life. If no buy it.
If yes. Is it worth it or can you wait and sweeten the pot first.

Step 4. Buy the gun.

Step 5 buy every thing you need to load it.



Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[pull the trigger]

Thanks folks. Appreciate the pep talk.
Winelover, you have the worst camoflage I've ever seen!!

[winelover]

Those are my tracking clothes. I never go after a deer till after 30 minutes has expired. Give it a chance to lay down and expire. In the meantime, I go back to the house and change out of my camo. Keeps the hunting outfit, blood & sweat free.

Winelover

[pull the trigger]

Good plan.

[John Van Gelder]

If you have the opportunity to purchase an Old Army, do so. It is probably the best percussion revolver of all time, not representative of classic black powder revolvers, but a good useful tool.

[SSGOldfart]

When you but it start looking for a kriest cylinder for 45LC gives you many options.

[Lloyd Smale]

"HAD" two. HATE CLEANING GUNS!! So theres my answer. had one of them I sent to dave clements bored a bit deaper to hold about 5 more grains of fff and I had a mold custom made that casted a 230 grain wfn and a 240 grain swc fit to that gun. Intended to kill a deer with it but after all the load development and cleaning that summer it went down the road with the other one.

[thegatman]

Buy it. Mine shoots great with round ball. Added new nipples from Tresos. Hold caps better.

[RJM52]

Have had a stainless for about 18 years...have only shot it a few times but it's a GREAT shooter. Found a set of OEM Lett simulated ivory grips for it and it a really stunning piece.

Also had two of the high polish 5.5" fixed sight guns...but at $1200 they were just too valuable to shoot so I sold them for a hefty profit...

My long time hunting/shooting partner died ten years ago next month...one of the last gun shops we were in together had a blue Old Army with the very rare brass gripframe. They were only made one year...1970 I think... I told him buy it or I will. He never did get to shoot it...his brother now has it.

Bob

[John Van Gelder]

Te Lee 200 gr. "heeled" bullet is a good choice, I recovered s number of those I shot into a wet sand bank at about 300 yards, the bullet retained enough velocity that there was some appreciable deformation even at that range. The recovered bullets averaged .60. The load was all of the Pyrodex that would allow the bullet to seat.

[bullet maker 57]

I sold one to a customer a while ago. He calls and says we have a problem with the old army. Seems the barrel is bulged and he wants his money back. That is not going to happen. There is a powder cut on the top strap. According to the Ruger engineer, the only way that either one of these things can happen is a smokeless powder charge. It is a crying shame that this happened. I'm trying to find a barrel for it. Like looking for hen's teeth.

[TomAM]

I sold one to a customer a while ago. He calls and says we have a problem with the old army. Seems the barrel is bulged and he wants his money back. That is not going to happen. There is a powder cut on the top strap. According to the Ruger engineer, the only way that either one of these things can happen is a smokeless powder charge. It is a crying shame that this happened. I'm trying to find a barrel for it. Like looking for hen's teeth.

David Clements has some barrels for sale:
http://www.clementscustomguns.com/itemsforsale.html

[bullet maker 57]

Thanks for the heads up Tom AM. I'll get in touch with him.

[John Van Gelder]

bullet maker 57

There are these folks out there that have no comprehension of the difference between black and smokeless powder. I grew up in the Finger Lakes region of NY, in the little town closest to our farm
there was a little gun shop that dad and I used to frequent, the owner related a story to us about a fellow that came in one day and wanted a can of gun powder, when asked what kind he had no idea. The owner recommended that he do some reading and to come back after he knew what he needed.

[yeahbub]

The ROA is the best! I drizzle American Pioneer 3f through a powder funnel into a .41 Mag case with extra in the funnel, tap the case three or four times with a screwdriver to settle more in, pour the case-full into the chamber and seat a LEE 200gr REAL sized and lubed in a .454 sizing die. The nose of the REAL ends up some .050 below the cylinder face on mine with this amount of AP. This load delivers good power. A .357 case-full with a 250gr works well. You can use conventional lubes with American Pioneer. Unlike BP, it's also readily compressible, so you can get more in there than with BP. I read that Black MZ is a more energetic version of American Pioneer but I haven't managed to find any just yet. American Pioneer has exhibited no tendency to corrode in either blued or stainless guns, as far as I've been able to tell, and it really does clean up with water.

The next great advance will be to put together paper cartridges for easy reloading in the field. Loose components are fine when you have a table handy to hold all your accoutrement, but for a plinking-at-stuff woods walk, paper cartridges can't be beat. Many Youtbe videos for this, but Paper Cartridges My Way (if I remember the title correctly) is one of the simplest/quickest way of doing so.

BTW, there's an easy way to "heel" a conventional cast boolit so the base driving band is correctly sized to enter the chamber mouth. Most high-power rifle cartridges have tapered bodies and the taper can be used to reduce the diameters of driving bands along the boolit's length. An 8x57mm sizing die with the decap/expander stem removed works perfectly for this. My ROA chambers are .453 in diameter, so, with a conventionally sized and lubed boolit, I insert it heel-first into the 8x57 die and use a Lee push-through die stem to force the cast boolit in far enough to get sufficient reduction in the heel driving band for easy chamber entry. It will also work for the Pietta and Uberti repro revolvers on which the chambers are .447 to ~.450, you'll just have to run them in a bit deeper. A long punch is used for ejecting the boolit from the die. For use in paper cartridges, the heel band should be at least .005 smaller than chamber diameter for easy entry when wrapped with the paper of the cartridge. The most durable paper I've found is "end wraps" paper for doing permanents on hair, available at beauty supply places. It's $3-4 for 1000 and each sheet will make 2 cartridges.

[Lance Boyle]

Nope, not going to try to talk you out of it. You came to the wrong place for that. I have one and it is one of the most accurate guns that I own and I own several. Buy it!
Siamese4570


My buddy was given one by his uncle. We shot that thing in the sandpit as young lads. Easiest pistol to be accurate with that I ever fired. Close second was a Walter PP in .32.

The Ruger easily lay them into a playing card with little effort.