What to do with Old Army with bad barrel

Betcha that the ROA is really in need of a good cleaning.
Start with following the instructions that came with the piece as far as take-down. Hot soapy water is a great start.
You have the best BP revolver around these days.
New nipples ARE available.
My ROA is the most accurate handgun that I own and I shoot only home cast round balls.

Here's the link to Clements, they can re-barrel it long or short, or change it to 50 cal. 5 shot.
http://www.clementscustomguns.com/rugeroldarmy.html

There is/was a guy that would convert to ruger to a 50 cal.
Another conversion see at friendship are ruger in 36 cal. Probably expensive in either case.
Installing a new barrel was a common thing with Italian made Remington repros. H&H barrels once did that work.

It is something any good gunsmith should be able to do. How much it costs is another matter.

But. Black powder and soft lead is pretty forgiving of barrel imperfections. It may shoot fine after a little cleaning.

It's so bad at the end of the barrel that as I scrubbed it with a brush, the metal disappeared and took the rifling with it.

Click to expand...

Now, that deserves a picture.

.50 caliber belly gun..... the very idea brings a tear to my eye.......

I completely agree with what another couple of people have said: TURN IT INTO A .50 CAL! If I had an ROA that wasn't quite right, I'd sell my girlfriend's cat to bankroll one of those.

Wow. That is just UGLY! I presume that is a blued gun, right?

I think I'd have it re-lined or rebarreled, whichever is cheaper. After looking at prices for barrel liners on Brownells, either way may be expensive.

Gee, I'd have figured SS would be impervious to all but the most corrosive chemicals.
Must had some bad mojo left in that thing too long after shooting it.
What a shame.

My understanding is stainless is resistant to rust, but if it is neglected enough to allow it, stainless will pit big time, even more than blued steel.

Stainless is more resistant to rust but when it does it is worse.

Time to reline that bore. Not too hard to do, can be done at home with care.

Brownells has all you need.


Willie

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Sorry for your 'loss'.

It doesn't look as bad as I was expecting. Shoot it first. If it doesn't do well, it's time to make lemonade.

A gunsmith could set the barrel back a thread, recut the forcing cone and take an inch or so off the front. If Clements is still doing the 50 I'd be tempted to go that route, or maybe he has a take-off barrel he could fit.

In any event, keep us posted. I think a few of us would like to know what happens.

My first thought was also a clements .50 conversion...

That looks bad, Psycho. It is really sad to see damage like that. A dollar to a donut hole says the previous owner used Pyrodex and didn't clean it properly. BTDT, and the tee shirt is lousy.

Hope you can find a suitable solution that doesn't set you back a whole bunch more buck$.

Sell the barrel on ebay, someone will pay you too much for it. Get a .45 cal., 3-screw, Blackhawk barrel (any length you like) and call it a day.

Stainless steel isn't!

Stainless steel (in firearms) is rust-resistant, not rust-proof. Take any stainless steel firearm to the coast and leave it on a boat in salt water and watch the brown lines appear.

However, oiled metal does not rust.

As noted before, use of Pyrodex OR black powder contributed to the barrel's condition. Pyrodex residue corrodes faster than black powder.

Take "Swathdiver's" advice and move on. Life is short enough.

If it were mine, I'd try to sent it back to Ruger!

I have a pair of 7.5" Stainless fixed sight ROA barrels.
They came off the ROAs I had re-barreled with 12" barrels.
I could be convinced to sell them.
--Dawg

I would still like to see how it would shoot pure lead balls. You might as well shoot it and post pictures in the interest of science!

I second J-Bar,,,

I second J-Bar,,,
Try a cylinder or two,,,
The dang thing might shoot straight.

How many opportunities do you get to provide solid information.

Aarond

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Dawgs' answer

Get a barrel from where p dawg got his ,or buy his take off. I would like a 10" myself. So dawg , what's your source for long ROA barrels? Oh .and please do shoot it first psycho.