Ruger Old Army

[ldasr]

Many Thanks

To start with this is the first forum I have ever been on. I thank all of you for your help. I went to the range today think I have found a load I can live with. 35G of P, a wonder wad and the .457 ball. I used cci #11 caps. In researching caps I discovered there is a difference. It seems a hot cap will effect the pattern and in my case an adjustment in powder. I did bench rest but was still a little wobble. Pattern at 25 yds 2 7/8 wide 2 1/2 high (6 shots). I'm sure I can do better if I could hold still. I will be hunting Deer in Iowa late December. My Knight rifle is the main gun but if I get a shot at 25yd or less the Ruger will come into play.

 

[mykeal]

ROA is not a deer hunting weapon

Shooting a whitetail with an ROA is not good hunting practice. Unless you are experienced and and a very, very good shot I don't recommend it. The load is just not powerful enough to cause a kill unless you hit a vital spot directly. The chances are much greater that you will wound the animal enough to cause flight but not enough to incapacitate it quickly. All the experienced hunters I know that use handguns use Dragoons or Walkers with heavy (for those guns) loads, and then only if they have a 25-35 yard profile shot.

 

[Shawnee]

I'm with Mykeal on deer hunting with the ROA. Will add if you carry the ROA in addition to a muzzleloading rifle you're gonna discover the ROA is a whale of a lot more portable at the beginning of the day than it is at the end of the day.

I deer hunt with a Ruger Super Blackhawk - no rifle - and it is astounding how many pounds that revolver can gain in 6 or 7 hours!

 

[MutinousDoug]

Idasr,
You might ask yourself how you are going to cock your ROA without "your" deer hearing it at 25 yds?
I wouldn't hesitate to hunt from a stand with a ROA and a 3" group is adequate, but the gun would be in my lap, cocked, gloved thumb between hammer and frame, after getting into position. A little awkward up there when you've got a rifle to deal with too.
I'd probably use a conical bullet too.
Agree with Shawnee re: carrying weight. Bought a Blackhawk .41 mag after a cougar sniffed up my ground blind while bow hunting. Sold that after not seeing another for 15 years. Carry a Ruger Bearcub as backup now (.22lr: better grouse/rabbit gun).
/be glad to never see a cougar that close again.
//In the woods, anyway.

 

[ArmedBear]

Isn't the Old Army a simple single-action?

If so, you can avoid the CLICK and just hold the trigger while cocking it, right?

I don't have one; I have a few similar replicas, though, including both of the guns that inspired the ROA design (58 Remington and Rogers & Spencer). I thought the internals were similar.

 

[Jamie C.]

If so, you can avoid the CLICK and just hold the trigger while cocking it, right?

Yeah, you can avoid all but the click of the cylinder bolt falling into place by holding back the trigger.

Just don't let your thumb slip off the hammer while doing it.


J.C.

 

[mykeal]

Whitetail alert sequence

MOST of the time a whitetail reacts to two alerts; he/she looks at the first and flees at the second. The alerts can be any combination of sight, smell or hearing. Thus if a whitetail senses you by, for instance, seeing motion, it will first look at you to see if there's really a threat. This will put it on alert. If it then sees another motion, or hears a click, it will flee.

The trick is to make sure that the first alert is the click, so that the second alert is the smoke from the barrel. You can do that if he/she does not see you take aim or get an smell alert.

Avoiding the click by holding the trigger will work on an ROA, but you need to have practiced it several times as it is not easy to do without unnecessary motion that might cause the second alert (assuming first alert was taking aim).

And again, an ROA is not the weapon of choice for whitetail without much experience and expertise. You just take too great a chance of wounding rather than killing. It's not worth it, in my opinion.

 

[Zeke/PA]

It seems like I get to extol the virtues of the Old Army about once a month on this forum.
I shoot a home cast .457 ball over 30 grs. of 3x with just enough corn meal to allow the ball to seat 1/16 inches below the mouth if the cylinder.
I also grease the cylinder mouth.
This load is very accurate in my pistol and I use it often for squirrel hunting.
I have taken one deer with the Old Army.
A large doe came within 20 yds. of my treestand one morning.
With my butt on the platform, my back against the tree and the pistol across my knees, I shot the deer behind the ear resulting in an almost instant kill.
I truly love the Old Army and it is without a doubt the most accurate handgun in my arsenal.
Respectfully, Zeke

 

[motorcycle_dan]

Zeke, Good fer ya

Happy for you. ROA is a fine C&B pistol. But I notice you need a bigger Arsenal.

But we are each "best" with what we are most familiar (wives excluded)

I've got an old 1911 with which I can beat up bowling pins at 100 yards. Never had to blood track a bowl'n pin tho... I suspect it would not have walked too far.

 

[unspellable]

ROA inspired by?

As for the ROA being inspired by the Remington or Rogers & Spencer, I always thought it looked somewhat like a Whitney. Probably borrows a point here and a point there, most of them from the Blackhawk.

 

[Chuck Dye]

Lyman's Black Powder Handbook, first edition, gives the ballistic coefficient of a .457 round ball as .064, weight as 143 grains. The heaviest load listed for the Ruger is 41.0 grains of FFFFg yielding a muzzle velocity of 1021 fps. Be aware that equal loads of different brand powders can produce significantly different velocities.

The Lyman book is, to me, a must have for black powder shooting. Try you local gun shops first, they need the income.

 

[ldasr]

Wasp Nest

Wow, never thought I'd stir up so much controversy. First of all I've been hunting Deer over 45 years and have never lost one. I only take killing shots or they walk. My best friend shot and killed a deer at 60 yards with his Ruger using 43g of P. I intend to use mine from a box stand and only if the Deer is less than 20 yards. Thanks Huck Phinn, I will purchase the book asap. By the way unspellable, I will be hunting in Sac County on private land.

 

[Zeke/PA]

Motorcycle Dan,
Actually my arsenal is quite extensive and the Old Army is one of eleven handguns.
I use only two for hunting however, one being a Super Blackhawk (six deer kills) and the other the Old Army.
I shoot MOST of my handguns often and the Old Army is the only one capable of consistant cloverleaf groups at twenty yards(bench rest of course).
My hunting is mostly done from a treestand and using archery disapline, clean quick handgun kills are possible.
For my annual squirrel hunt this year however, I may shelve the Old Army in favor of my new Savage rifle in .17HMR.
Respectfully, Zeke