Ruger Old Army -is it the best single action ever?-

[HARRYMPOPE]

I've shot these things for about 40 years and I am amazed when i get back to shooting them. They are so dang versatile whether you are shooting loose powder and ball ,paper cartridges , conicals or a conversion cylinder. It is not all that difficult to shoot inch groups at twenty five yards. I think of the single actions ive owned It is nearly as accurate as my Freedom Arms 454 Casull. And that is saying a lot.
My current "project " pistol I have put together with parts and the barrel looks like a literal sewer pipe. Yesterday, I fired one hundred consecutive shots without cleaning, and at the end of the day, it still shot spot on. I have Three others, but this beat up piece of crap is such a joy to have out at the range.

I think this is the finest firearm Bill Ruger introduced to the public. I wish he would have offered a .32 or .36 caliber CB on the single six frame...

316262

[Sam Sackett]

I think there are a lot of folks that will agree with you. They sure are getting pricey!

Sam Sackett

[HARRYMPOPE]

I had an Uberti Walker for a short time and I must admit it was pretty nice as well.

[HWooldridge]

The nice thing about the Ruger is that you can really stoke it up with a hefty charge and not worry about any damage.

[andy h]

Over here in England you can pick a blued ROA up for about $200-250 or a stainless version for $ 3-400 at the gun auction's , When I was working over in LA (USA) last year I went into American gun work's in Glendale to pick up some bit's we cannot get easily over here and showed the proprieter the UK auction websites and he was amazed how cheap our available to us gun's were , But for reloading component's over here now you are looking at $90 a pound for alliant powder and $130 a bottle for swiss black powder and some places nigh on $18 per hundred for small pistol primer's , Rip off or what.

[TD1886]

I have a Pietta 1860 Colt that will shoot an inch or less at 30 yards after I did a little tuning here and there. Remember the sigts on those are just a small front blade and a V notch on the hammer nose.

The ROA is KING in my book for cap n ball revolvers. That's probably why they quit making it the dirty scoundrels!!!

So I talke it you got that cylinder pin for your ROA??

[armoredman]

I would love to find a stainless ROA again someday. I handled one MANY years ago and turned it down...I was very stupid back then.

[namsag]

I have one, although I do not care for the plow handle grip and it is the only Ruger SA revolver I have that does not have a Bisley grip. I would love to have the Bisley grip on my Old Army but from what I understand that would be strictly a custom job all the way (I switched one or two myself). A Bisley Old Army would be an sweet sweet gun for me.

[M-Tecs]

I have one, although I do not care for the plow handle grip and it is the only Ruger SA revolver I have that does not have a Bisley grip. I would love to have the Bisley grip on my Old Army but from what I understand that would be strictly a custom job all the way (I switched one or two myself). A Bisley Old Army would be an sweet sweet gun for me.

These folks might be able to help. https://rwgripframes-com.3dcartstores.com/

[HARRYMPOPE]

I have one, although I do not care for the plow handle grip and it is the only Ruger SA revolver I have that does not have a Bisley grip. I would love to have the Bisley grip on my Old Army but from what I understand that would be strictly a custom job all the way (I switched one or two myself). A Bisley Old Army would be an sweet sweet gun for me.

I don't mind the standard grip angle. But I do think a Bisley old army would be nice.I shoot Rugers with the Bisley grip and like them fine but didn't feel it tamed top end loads enough to make it seem fun.

[namsag]

That is a cool site, thanks for posting!

[rockrat]

I wish they would have also made it in a 50 cal. to go with my T/C Hawken

[HARRYMPOPE]

A company was .50 5 shot caliber conversions but no longer does. I always wanted one of those

[FergusonTO35]

I wonder why nobody has ever made cap and ball conversions for Ruger Single Actions? I would think that would be appealing to a lot of folks, especially because then you could use a Super Blackhawk during muzzleloader season

[M-Tecs]

I wonder why nobody has ever made cap and ball conversions for Ruger Single Actions? I would think that would be appealing to a lot of folks, especially because then you could use a Super Blackhawk during muzzleloader season

Lack of a loading lever, wrong type of hammer design for caps and a host of other issues would make doing it cost prohibitive and it would still only be transferable with an FFL.

[TD1886]

I wonder why nobody has ever made cap and ball conversions for Ruger Single Actions? I would think that would be appealing to a lot of folks, especially because then you could use a Super Blackhawk during muzzleloader season

Let me tell you that the ROA loaded using Triple Seven is very potent indeed, but to answer your question kind of, the same reason Ruger doesn't make the ROA anymore.

[Don Purcell]

There were probably others but Elmer Keith had his OA fitted with the Ruger brass Superblackhawk gripframe. That would be sweet.

[M-Tecs]

There were probably others but Elmer Keith had his OA fitted with the Ruger brass Superblackhawk gripframe. That would be sweet.

Ruger did make some ROA with the brass frame. A friend purchased one NIB with a brass frame. I don't remember if it was the Dragoon style Super Blackhawk frame. He has since passed so I can't ask him.

If I remember correctly the ROA uses the XR3 Red frame so any of the brass aftermarket XR3 Reds frames can be fitted. For Bisley frames normally a Bisley style hammer is used.

[HARRYMPOPE]

My first year Old Army had an aluminum xr3red frame,later they were steel.The trigger blade and slot in frame is slightly different and won't work without modification on all old model 3 screw Blackhawk frames.Im not sure of the other years though?

[contender1]

"I would love to have the Bisley grip on my Old Army but from what I understand that would be strictly a custom job all the way (I switched one or two myself). A Bisley Old Army would be an sweet sweet gun for me."

Actually it's NOT hard to use a NM Bisley g/f on a plow handled gun, by making a simple item.
You can make a trigger return spring adapter to use the ROA action parts,, and put the adapter piece in the NM Bisley g/f. Easy & simple to make. I'll post a picture of one later.

And the ROA's that shipped from Ruger with the brass g/f do use the Super Blackhawk grip panels.

Ok, here's a picture of an adapter.
The angle cut piece is cut that way to allow the hammer to operate. The side-to-side hole is used to pin it into the frame, (through an existing hole,) and the hole in the end is for the trigger return spring to go into. The opening in the top was a slight mistake in over cutting, exposing part of the trigger return spring hole. Didn't affect function. The material starts as a piece of aluminum or brass square stock, cut to length, and hand filed & drilled, ( you can use machinery,! It fits in the slot of the NM Bisley g/f where the spring goes for the NM trigger return.

https://i.postimg.cc/905W7Znk/003.jpg (https://postimg.cc/CB7TyBYC)

[6string]

The Ruger Old Army, being that it is not a reproduction, cannot be used in International muzzleloading competition. Given it's bulk, weight, and high sight line over the grip, that may not be a big deal, though, as it still wouldn't be ideal.
Two of the best reproduction cap & ball revolvers suitable for high level match shooting were the Hege "Match Maximum" (a very nice Remington 1858 repro) and the Feinwerkbau "History #2" (a very nice Rogers & Spencer repro). Both were made in Germany until recent years.
Also, Andy Baumkircher built some excellent handmade copies of a variety of cap & ball revolvers. He is retired now, but his guns are very sought after.317268
317269
Pedersoli makes a very nice copy of the Remington 1858 built for competition and fully compliant with MLAIC rules. It is probably now the preferred choice around the world for match competition use.

My old buddy Mario Cruz, who lived in Portugal, posted this video shooting the Pedersoli in practice.
https://youtu.be/uZ8EYQ9ng30

And, "Cap & Ball" in Hungary made this informative video about the Pedersoli, including load info, bore and chamber dimensions, etc. that I think many of you guys would enjoy:
https://youtu.be/M3cHmmjct8U

[warren5421]

I have a pair of fix sighted ROA's that have brass grip frame/trigger guard fitted by a gunsmith. I knew a guide in Alaska that had several hunters that used the ROA to take black bear one year. Loaded with a full cylinder of 777 and a round ball it should stop any North American animal, even Mighty Mouse.