new toy ruger old army

[lonewolf5347]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/lonewolf5347/pop_wm_2101458-1.jpg
I did get a change to shoot the old army I pick up a few weeks back 99 percent mint made in 1976
The gun was shot in 76 6 times cleaned and never used again:The price shipped 365.00
I loaded 25 gr. 3F Goex 20 gr. cream of wheat ball and grease cookie .
The gun shot excellent 20 yards 2 hand hold free stand 2" group
I stripped the gun and found no rust or Pitts ;cylinder has one small ring mark other wise would say like new

[shooting on a shoestring]

Nice piece.

I've always had a soft spot for the Ruger Old Army, but never enough justification for the cash outlay. I still have and shoot my old Remington .36 clone Dad bought for me from Walgreens in Clovis, NM back in the 70s. Cap and ball is just plain good times.

Enjoy.

[missionary5155]

Good morning Lonewolf
And sometime when you have about 11 minutes give Ruger a call and ask them what loadings are acceptable in your Ruger.... Then you will really know what these revolvers are capable of. I heard and read all the claims and decided to one day get it from the factory.
But they are the strongest muzzle loader revolver ever built... to bad the cylinder is not as long as a Walker.

[oldhickory]

Good morning Lonewolf
And sometime when you have about 11 minutes give Ruger a call and ask them what loadings are acceptable in your Ruger.... Then you will really know what these revolvers are capable of. I heard and read all the claims and decided to one day get it from the factory.
But they are the strongest muzzle loader revolver ever built... to bad the cylinder is not as long as a Walker.

Hmmm, a cap and ball 45/70 revolver. You might be onto something there, Mike.

[Trey45]

I have wanted a Ruger Old Army forever. Nice score!

[jmh54738]

The Old Army is one of the most accurate revolvers that I have. For me, the sights will only regulate with round balls. The conicals shot so high that I couldn't lower the rear sight enough.
John

[whitetailsniper]

well i was going to start a new thread, but when i knoticed this,i thought why not post it in here,, i to have a ruger old army i bought used but never shot,i payed 350.00 for it , i took it out and shot both through it as did lonewolf,, i used round balls and conicals, and got the same results, i did as missionary suggested i called ruger,,from the tech what i got from him was without being told right out for there safty reasons,,this gun can shoot what ever you can load it with,meaning 20,30,35 grains powder ect. if you can seat the bullet over the load it will shoot. so knowing this i decided to step it up,,having the same problem with the sights i took the gun to magnaport,,had them insert a orange insert into the frnt sight,,and had the rear sight blade removed ,and had magnaport install a adjt. rear ghost ring sight,,,that was the ticket to sight problems,, then i got to thinking,,if this gun was there top blk. powder pistol,strong ,as well as sturdy,,then why does it have to shoot just round balls,and conicals.?? it doesnt! a 45 cal is a 45 cal. so thinking in this direction i decided to do some more digging,, this old army is there workhorse,so what i learned was i slugged my barrel to get an exact measure of its bore,,yep a true 45 barrel. from here i started to ask questions of the ruger tech. i was told a .453 daim bullet will work and more than likely give better accuracy than round balls and conicals. but the key is using a .453 diam bullet bb design to prevent bullet creep in the cylinder. from the prior shot.allowing the cylinder to cycle. now heres were things get interesting,,and it is at this point were i am currantly at,,,i bought a mold from fellow cast bullet member mihec, 45 270 this mold cast and drops out a .453 bullet in 45 cal. the mold also has 3 differant grain weights,,,,a 5 sided hp pin that weighs a 270 grain weight, a round hp pins are used it drops a weight of 275. and also has the ability to cast a fn bullet of 287 grain. im thinking,and now wondering if this workhorse will accurately shoot the 270 grain . its in the works,and im planning to see what the results are going to be. if this does what i think it will it will be a sledgehammer of a load for deer,and or pig. i will also crony it to see where the speeds are at. i got the gun ready,have the bullets casted,, im thinking of lubing these bullets in my rcbs lubamatic 2 press with spg lube. id like to get other members thoughts of the direction im going and taking. im interested in your thoughts,and if anyone else has done this.

[whitetailsniper]

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[lonewolf5347]

I was upstate this week and tried a few different loads all using .457 ball I loaded 35 gr. 3F goex a wad .450 and a grease cookie on top of the cylinder.I was surprise the gun like 40 gr. 3F Wad no difference grease cooking or not and about 20 yards 2 hand hole 5 shots in around 2" group
I can say from what I see i will bet the cylinder can hold 43 grains and a ball and no grease cookie.I did find as the load increase the POI did also .I was aiming at 15 yards 6 o'clock hold and the bullets hitting the 10 ring;I did notice at 40 grains the bullet climbed about
5" high center of the bull 3 round almost touching
I can say the ball .457 makes a big hole

[JanZ]

I read that when Bill Ruger proof fired the ROA he filled a cylinder with Bullseye, stuffed a ball onto it and the fired it from a safe distance, the gun withstood the test.

I'd have thought it would have turned into a grenade.

They are regardless of the story one well built and very accurate cap and ball revolver and I'm happy to own one.

[rhbrink]

Lonewolf5347 I can't tell by the picture but my Ruger (stainless) has the front sight pinned. I have made a couple of replacement front sights taller. I knocked out the pin and used the old sight for a pattern cut and filled the base to fit, drilled a new hole 1/16, left the sight plenty high and filed to suit the load that I was using. Not that hard to do, and you can do this with a few hand tools. Hacksaw, file, and hand drill.

[MiHec]

Maybe off topic.....


I have build round ball molds for this one.

Mistakenly (actually suggested by my friend who wanted this one) I declared molds to be .454.

Actually they cast .457 RB.


If anyone is interested here is the link (http://mp-molds.com/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=13)

[RBak]

Here are a couple of my BP Pistols...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/RussB256/Guns/3bppistols.jpg

I don't always shoot Bp in the 45-70, but it handles 62gr FFg Goex, pushing a .458 350gr cast bullet, quite well. I also have the .450 Marlin cylinder for the BFR but I have only fired 20 or so loads through it. i will save that for the Elephants and such, should they ever decide to invade my little vegetable garden.
Recoil with BP is nothing compared to full house using smokeless, and even that is nothing compared to full loads in the .44 Mag....with the 5.5" barrel the .44 Mag Blackhawk definitely has an attitude with full house loads.
However, with .44 Special Loads it is a true lady's gun....much like the 45-70 in the BFR.

The ROA has been engraved, and spends more time in the Gun safe than on the range. My daughters gave me the gun for my birthday when I turned 65 and retired, so it is kinda special, if you know what I mean.

The 1860 Army Pietta gets shot the most...it is accurate, and is probably the 'most fun' gun I own...nothing like the feel of a Colt when it comes to handgun pointabilty, there is just that certain "something" that is hard to explain.

I have planned, several times, to pick up another one made by Uberti, but every time I shoot the thing I ask myself 'why'?
I know Uberti is supposedly a better gun, and possibly even more accurate...depending on who you're talking to, but when you become really well acquainted with a handgun, it's hard to justify shelling out the bucks for another one just to see if that other guy was right in his assessment.

This is all my handguns with the exception of an old 1911 that was probably in the truck when I took these pictures several years ago. It's the only auto I have ever owned in my entire life, and I'm getting on up there in age.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/RussB256/Guns/allpistols.jpg

Russ

[John Taylor]

I have had several Old Armys over the years. Remember reading someplace shortly after they came out about loading conicals backwards, makes a wad cutter. My blue model seemed to shoot best with 2F. I took a SS in a few years back and have not shot it yet. Was thinking of selling it then Ruger quit making them so it is staying for a while.