Ruger Old Army questions

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sgt.rock

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A friend showed me his Ruger Old Army black powder revolver. He has never fired it. His is a 7.5" stainless from 1976. He got it used but it looks like it has had no more than 3 cylinders worth run through it. Great condition. I cleaned it up a bit.
He mentioned to me that when he got it in the late 80's, he was told a conversion cylinder exists to shoot 45 L.C. or 45 schofield. I looked it up using my GoogleFu and sure enough there are cylinders out there.
Has anyone here owned a Ruger Old Army BP and did you get the cylinder to convert or hear of it??
 
Don't own one, but they are considered the ultimate in C&B revolver design. Hard to find & usually come at a premium. Congrats on the find!
 
Ive had 5 or 6 pass through my hands over the years.

Never been interested in the conversion cylinders as I would rather have a Blackhawk or other dedicated cartridge revolver. The cylinder will cost about the same as a whole second gun and has to be removed from the frame for loading.

30gr of FFFg and a 457" ball with a little lube on top gives me groups that are as good as any other centerfire handgun.
Be sure that the lock screw for the loading lever and axis pin is engaged before loading or it will come forward a bit and bend. Seeing as these are discontinued parts aren't easy to find.
 
vagrantviking said:
Ive had 5 or 6 pass through my hands over the years.

Never been interested in the conversion cylinders as I would rather have a Blackhawk or other dedicated cartridge revolver. The cylinder will cost about the same as a whole second gun and has to be removed from the frame for loading.

30gr of FFFg and a 457" ball with a little lube on top gives me groups that are as good as any other centerfire handgun.
Be sure that the lock screw for the loading lever and axis pin is engaged before loading or it will come forward a bit and bend. Seeing as these are discontinued parts aren't easy to find.
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250 American

Edit: But a very wise heads up on the lock screw!
 
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DANCESWITHEMPTIES said:
I can vouch for the Kirst being a pia at times...
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Oops. Forgot to add.....a Belt Mountain cylinder conversion kit is the bee's knees with these.
As long as you have the longer barrel.
The less common 5.5 inch barrel ROA required you to remove the front load lever latching position to utilize the really handy Belt Mountain accessory.
The longer 7.5 inch barrel easily clears the Belt Mountain cylinder pin.
Of course the Belt Mountain kit when installed you must load all cartridge and cap and ball cylinders off the handgun.
 
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Very interesting. If I decide to just shoot it as is without getting a conversion cylinder, where would one get the lead balls and patches? A cursory google search yeilded nothing. No balls or conicals in stock anywhere. I also need a source of caps and maybe new powders. It came with an old cannister of FFFg and a can of F powder, and a lee round ball mold. I am not set up to cast so I need lead balls patches and caps minimum to get sorted out.
I cant believe there are even shortages of anything. Ridiculous world stage.
 
Track of the wolf out of the States is a good place for balls & patches & what not. Maybe not the cheapest, but I always had great service from them. Rusty Wood over here gets mentioned a lot as well.
 
Excellent build and accuracy but darn heavy. I shot 200grs cast bullets to spice it up a bit.
 
sgt.rock said:
Can you elaborate for me please? Are the .457" lead balls big enough to seal the chambers without a wad usually? I am a complete black powder newbie
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The 457" ball should have a thin ring shaved off all around its circumference when seated. You want to be sure there's a fire proof seal often supplemented with some Crisco or black powder specific lube over top. It also keeps the fouling soft.
It's always important to have a good fitting cap on all loaded cylinders that are loaded to be sure the blast from the firing nipple doesn't set off another one.

There's been a big bump in cap and ball revolver shooting in the last few years. YouTube has a pile of videos on every aspect of using them.
 
The cylinder axis pin CAN be found, after-market, as I discovered last year here in UK. Not cheap at around CAN$60, but when there is no other place to go.....................the new one is better-made than the original, so I have no fears of it should I ever need to use it.
 
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