Response to improving the Ruger Old Army..........
On bringing back the Old Army......no way its gonna happen. Are we to expect Ruger to start re-tooling again and pushing aside the very profitable and fast selling Vaquero line to re-start-up Old Army production again for a few cry babies wanting it back when they ignored it WHEN it WAS in steady production. Ain't gonna happen. Stronger cylinder pin? Why? Again why? What is wrong with the the cylinder pin. It is as strong as it can be. The only reason it bends is when you forget, again, forget to lock that damn cylinder pin latch all the way to the right as it should be. All of the time. To the right. Clockwise! It is as strong AS CAN BE! Too much press about bent cylinder pins from, I will put it mildly, complaining shooters, WHO FORGOT to turn that latch to the right, locked, does not make it a weak part. Hell, all that brute leverage exerted on that loading lever while loading and forcing a bullet into that cylinder, and guess what, SOMEONE, some really nice guy, [wink] forgot to turn and lock that pin,and we start calling that pin a weak part! C'mon now! lets try to understand the workings of how all these parts work together to give you all the durability the gun was designed with. All those heavy duty lever loaders out there were designed to make it easier for YOU, the shooter, not the Old Army. The pistol was made to take a beating, a good licking AND keep on ticking. It is as strong as can be. Just dont ever, ever forget to lock that pin after replacing the cylinder, and the pistol will outlast you, guaranteed. On the bottle necked chamber to hold a smaller caliber, and longer bullet? Ala .30 caliber luger, .22 jet magnum, .22 hornet, or putting it mildly, a 44/40. Small bullet, lots of powder, right. Thats kinda hard to imagine on a cap & ball cylinder. Whatcha gonna do if you push that ball or bullet too far in and ends up dropping into and ratling inside your sexy shaped cylinder chamber.Whooops. You would have a nice very expensive rattle in your hands. Cha cha cha, shake shake shake,whoops! Lets leave that idea to cartridges, and cartridges alone. Long range steel targets, chickens and boars etc. where meant from the very start to be used with powerfull magnum class pistols with very flat shooting cartriges of the .454 Casull, .357 maximum type of performance and the like. Historically Correct? What, again. Too much has been said about this term by some very ill infomed shooters that it has spread like wildfire, contaminated the minds of new shooters and now it is called A FACT. Those guys that say those words, do not have, own, or are the least familiar guys in regards to the Old Army. Armchair experts fondling their brand new brass framed $150.00 cap and ball revolver kits and trying to pick up a turd by its clean end, is what they are good at. The Ruger Old Army was not, again, was not meant to in the slightest, a representation of anything historic. NOTHING! Just like a bicycle, looks the same as a hundred or more years ago. But should you build one today and it does not look like anything from the 19th century, then your superior bicycle built with the best materials and engineering available today would be what, Not Historically Correct !!! The Old Army IS what it is. Not anything else, past or present. Got all worked up again, whew. Now where are those pill bottles I just put down next to my glass of water. Need some help here next time guys. Gulp, gulp, gulp. Ahem.