Let's make it 101, and aim for 200!
Dang, I've been watching this thread for a long time, and always hoped to come in at #100, since I missed being "Number 7" a long time ago...
Oh well,
#101 is just fine too!
Here's a listing of
some modifications that I've done to my girl... Hope you all enjoy it.
Anyway, let's start off with a
modified front sight:
15+ years ago, I hand cut & filed one each of these for my Dad's and my Old Army's years ago, as the undercut partridge-style sights are better (for us) for target shooting. Plus, we don't plan to be doing any "fast draw" with them anyhow! My Dad is gone now, but my twin still has the Old Army -- we'll have to make a point to get them out this summer and make some smoke!
Since every decent front sight deserves a decent rear, my Dad and I both added
Millet rear sights to our Old Army's.
Some might question what this sight offers versus the stock Ruger model, and the basic answer is the WIDE and FLAT rear blade, which is the entire back of the sight. To us, this sight blade is more consistent in all lighting conditions; whereas the stock Ruger blade is inset into the sight body and you can sometimes pick up some glare off the sight itself.
One note... While we bought Millet sights intended for the Ruger Blackhawk series, if I remember right, we had to do some minor and very careful* filing to fit these correctly. (* As my late Dad would say,
"Just go slow and check the fit often, as the metal-take-off tool works MUCH better than the put-back-on tools!")
This mod of a
smooth trigger face is entirely personal; some may want it, others may not. My Dad kept his ROA trigger stock, but I didn't like the feel of the grooves on the trigger, so I filed them out.
I know I'll never have to shoot the Old Army "double action", but I do like the way the trigger feels now.
First, a necessary disclaimer: You are on your own and assume any and all liability for messing up your Old Army (or anything else!) if you work on your trigger without knowledge and/or guidance. The writer assumes no responsibility for anything you do.
(Whew, now that we've got that out of the way...)
I'll admit I got some expert help on these
trigger mod's, but it well worth it and greatly improved the trigger feel and pull on my Old Army.
The small red rectangle imposed on the pix below represents a "trigger stop", which is a small piece of aluminum inserted in the rear of the trigger pin (forget the exact name of that Ruger part). This piece is fit by trial & error, and was recommended by a friend who shoots Old Army's in the NMLRA Territorial Matches. He walked me through the process, and with his help and a good set of gunsmith screwdrivers -- and a bunch of assembly/disassembly steps -- the trigger stops dead just after she releases (used to be another 1/8" of travel or more!).
The dashed red circle indicates careful polishing work to the trigger's internals... I won't say any more other than the trigger now releases clean at 2.75#, using the stock springs.
Those two mod's are the best changes I've made to my Old Army and are most responsible for the great shooting she can do -- when I do my part, that is.
After all the prior mod's were done, I finished her off in style with a set of Silver/Black laminate grips custom made by Lett's -- they used to be the custom grip maker for Ruger, but I believe they are out of business now. I really like the way the silver/black contrasts with the stainless finish.
That's all for now...
Later I'll have to post pix of the
custom rammer I had made and the work I did to clean up the
forcing cone, which was really roughly done from the factory.
Tight groups!
Old No7
