The RUGER OLD ARMY Club

ROA Club Members:

1. ClemBert 2. Eights 3. kanook 4. [email protected] 5. mykeal 6. adaptandovercome 7. 461 8. junkman_01 9. lonewolf5347 10. rcflint 11. MCgunner 12.madcratebuilder 13. AbitNutz 14. eastbank 15. robert garner 16. philuk44 17. HUnter58 18. arcticap 19. BullRunBear 20. theotherwaldo 21. SC Slowhand 22. Prairie Dawg 23. wittzo 24. Tallbald 25. Smokin_Gun 26. OB One 27. jungle 28. plumbernater 29. daveinvegas 30. JanZ 31. George Mabry 32. Benmathes 33. Loosenock 34. higene 35. Rock Island 36. Erich 37. robhof 38. J-Bar 39. Nomad, 2nd 40. TAURUSBOB 41. martindl99 42. Vermonter 43. wasatch 44. fogg64

Welcome wasatch and fogg64. :D

That's some collection wasatch! :what: I know there's a few fellas here green with envy.

fogg64, is that grip frame aluminum or steel? Nice piece!
 
Anybody know the weight difference between the aluminum and steel grip frames? Are there aftermarket ones available? I think AbitNutz was talking about one.
 
Frames

Andrewstorm, $50 is really good price if they are old model frames. They are bolt on, and if your lucky they will match up and you won't have to do any fit/finish work.

If you don't buy them all, I would be very interested in buying them.

Let me know, you can email me at [email protected].

Thanks

Mike
 
Vermonter. Yes, there are after market frames available from Power Custom "http://www.powercustom.com/". David Clement, IMHO, is "THE" gunsmith on Ruger Old Army's will ONLY fit stock Ruger grip frames and Power Custom. There were some other after market frames for a bit. Brownells sold but they are no more. Power Custom is known for making only high quality pieces/parts.

Power Custom, from what I can tell, sells two kinds of after market frames. One is the model I bought; the 2 piece Colt style. This version is available in blue or stainless steel and in "old" or "new" model. I'm not sure what the difference between old model and new besides the trigger slot is narrow on the old model.

My ROA is a 5-1/2" stainless so I bought the stainless "old" style. Even though my trigger is wide David Clement told me to get the old version and he would open up the trigger slot. So there is something more to it besides the trigger width.

The second version that P/C sells is the Kieth No5. There's a ton of info on this and I might well have ordered it but P/C made it quite clear that they are NOT AVAILABLE in stainless.

None of these frames are cheap in price or quality. They are top of the line in workmanship and materials. The old style, billet stainless Colt that I bought was $239.00...yeah, I know. That's a lot. When you add in what it cost me to have Clement's fit it and the custom grips made, that are now required after you do this...it makes less sense than Rush Limbaugh on one of his Oxycontin trips.

However, it's a hobby to me and it doesn't have to make economic sense. It's what I wanted. Anyone who has gone through a custom gun or custom car project can testify that if you start thinking about making economic sense...just walk away.

Anyway, I digress. There two after market grip frames available; both by Power Custom. Colt style, and Kieth No5.
Both must be fitted and will need custom grips.

As a side note, I talked to David Clements and he is thinking about making hammers for the ROA. I'll be in line for one if he does. Anyone else who would like David to make some...please bug him. He's likely tired of hearing from me.

I'm quite literally sitting here waiting for the USPS to run to see if they're brought my ROA back from the grip maker....
 
Just out of curiosity...has anyone ever done/seen a grip frame that has both a birds head profile and the back of the trigger guard squared?

Not sure if that would look goofy or cool. It would sure look different...
 
low 3 digit serial # and no steenkeeng owner's manual warnings on the barrel

7068-153518112011.jpg
 
My loading stand. Next to it you can see my 5 1/2 stainless ROA. Loading stand? What for?

Ok, I will come clean. I shoot Cowboy Action Shooting with a pair of ROAs, a '73 rifle and a SXS shotgun. There is a class for the likes of me and it is called Frontiersman. It is one of the blackpowder catagories. Well, having shot plenty of pure lead .457 balls, I got into shooting projectiles, namely a big lube bullet that weighs close to the balls at something like 158gr if I remember right. Still curious on why I would do such a thing just to shoot at steel targets only as far out as 15 yards. Well pards, it is because I like smoke,fire and lots of it. However spotters sometimes listen for hits instead of looking for them. There is smoke a plenty when I am up and I have to use yellow glasses to see through it myself. I would finish a stage and see the spotters holding up fingers for misses, when I knew I had cleaned the stage. I needed dings and not splats. Casting my own bullets of wheel weight lead seemed to be the way to go and I could get a six gang mold for the bullets too. I could only cast two at a time and needed pure lead for the balls I cast. I shoot a lot and I had to get into casting for financial reasons. Plus a six gang mold goes fast. So... there is no easy way to load up to 120 bullets for a match with the standard lever, so I bought the stand that allows me to load them up with ease. Drop 3f powder from a flask with a 30gr nipple on it, then add special bullet and ram. go to the next chamber until the cylinder has 5 rounds loaded. Reinstall the cylinder and when up to shoot, cap them up at the loading table along with loading my rifle the required number of rounds. Pistols are always loaded with 5 rounds, hammer down on an empty chamber, the number of rifle and shotgun can vary in cowboy action shooting. So with big lube bullets no lube issues ever, nice star on muzzle, no wads and no overball lubing either. The fit of the bullets ( I size them to .454 ) the soft felix type lube and no danger of chain firing from the front of the cylinder, although I have witnessed an ROA chainfire from the nipple end with no damage to anything except the shooters underwear.
You can see in the picture that the mouth of my chambers has a chamfer on them. It helps on loading the bullets. If you shoot balls you should not do that as the sharp rim shaves a nice ring of lead if you use .457 balls as recommended for good fit.
I guess I should also mention that my ROAs are smithed to use a lighter hammer spring. Always use the ROA springs if not slicked up or you will end up hitting caps twice to fire off. Ask me how I know. Since I only use mine for competition, I have modified them so much that I could never sell them to anyone except another cowboy shooter. I think I will keep them until I pass on and maybe take them with me.

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ROA Club Members:

1. ClemBert 2. Eights 3. kanook 4. [email protected] 5. mykeal 6. adaptandovercome 7. 461 8. junkman_01 9. lonewolf5347 10. rcflint 11. MCgunner 12.madcratebuilder 13. AbitNutz 14. eastbank 15. robert garner 16. philuk44 17. HUnter58 18. arcticap 19. BullRunBear 20. theotherwaldo 21. SC Slowhand 22. Prairie Dawg 23. wittzo 24. Tallbald 25. Smokin_Gun 26. OB One 27. jungle 28. plumbernater 29. daveinvegas 30. JanZ 31. George Mabry 32. Benmathes 33. Loosenock 34. higene 35. Rock Island 36. Erich 37. robhof 38. J-Bar 39. Nomad, 2nd 40. TAURUSBOB 41. martindl99 42. Vermonter 43. wasatch 44. fogg64 45. BConklin 46. Howdy Doody

Welcome BConklin and Howdy Doody....and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!
 
Hi:
No Idea--Bought 'em from the fella who had 'em done.
I paid $1350 for the pair.
--Dawg
I have shot those two Rowdy Yates Shilen barreled 12" buntlines. Filthy let me shoot them and I did with 5 rounds from each one. I was surprised that they were not muzzle heavy at all. Since I know Filthy and I know Rowdy, I have to tell you that there was much more invested in the pair, especially if you got all the extra cylinders with them too.
I am glad you have them, but I never knew they were for sale or I would have at least made an offer. The pictures do not do those ROAs justice.
Hope to shoot with you one day. :)
 
ROA Club Members:

1. ClemBert 2. Eights 3. kanook 4. [email protected] 5. mykeal 6. adaptandovercome 7. 461 8. junkman_01 9. lonewolf5347 10. rcflint 11. MCgunner 12.madcratebuilder 13. AbitNutz 14. eastbank 15. robert garner 16. philuk44 17. HUnter58 18. arcticap 19. BullRunBear 20. theotherwaldo 21. SC Slowhand 22. Prairie Dawg 23. wittzo 24. Tallbald 25. Smokin_Gun 26. OB One 27. jungle 28. plumbernater 29. daveinvegas 30. JanZ 31. George Mabry 32. Benmathes 33. Loosenock 34. higene 35. Rock Island 36. Erich 37. robhof 38. J-Bar 39. Nomad, 2nd 40. TAURUSBOB 41. martindl99 42. Vermonter 43. wasatch 44. fogg64 45. BConklin 46. Howdy Doody 47. bushrod2

Welcome bushrod2!

What's a big boomer?...40 grains Triple7? :D
 
Max loads of whatever I have on hand. I've tried them all!! I've got the original Walnut grips, a set of ivory, set of stag,etc. but these rubber Hogue fingergroove grips are the most comfortable of all bar none and provide the most control. They are longer than standard plow handle grips and provide extra room for the pinky finger.Even in the coldest of weather, with a bare hand they are comfortable.I made a special loading stand just for these grips. No matter the load, with a home cast round ball and full cylinders of powder this is one of the most accurate revolvers I own. Just wish I could use it for bowling pin shoots(too much smoke for that)
 
Anybody know where I can buy replacement ROA stainless nipples?
Just like to have a spare set.
Everywhere I check just says discontinued from factory. I called Ruger and they had none. But I did get a nipple wrench from them.
 
One of the things that I do like about Ruger nipples is they are hex shaped so I can use a nut driver or small socket wrench to remove them. It's much nicer than the usual T-handle nipple wrench.

One of the things I don't like is that the flash hole is pretty large and there is a lot of blow back. This results in the caps being obliterated and cap crap and general black powder filth gumming up the works.

I do like Treso's better. They said to be made of Ampco alloy. Ampco is supposed to be very hard and apparently rust resistant. It's also a cool gold color. They're only drawback, to me, is that they are not hex shaped and require the less convenient conventional nipple wrench.
One of the advantages that Treso has is a much smaller flash hole and thus less blow back. The smaller hole is not forgiving of any contamination. Any oil or solvent that you failed to completely clean out may cause a misfire. Since black powder substitutes are more difficult to ignite in the first place, the combination of Treso nipples, Pyrodex and anything but squeaky cleanliness could result in a misfire.
This, of course, can happen with stock Ruger nipples but it just seems that the smaller flash holes are more prone to it.

To avoid this, before I go shooting, I run a nipple pick through them and hit the cylinder with compressed air, then fire a round of caps with no charges. After I take those precautions all is well and reliable.

Also, the flash hole is so much smaller that I have never found a nipple pick that fits. I have made a little widget that holds a needle. It's not nearly as nice as the dedicated nipple picks but it does work.

Uncle Mike's are no longer available but they still can be found here and there. They're stainless steel, are hex shaped and also have a smaller ignition hole. You would think that this would be my nipple of choice but not so. For whatever reason, I have more ignition problems with these than any other. I can't find out why.

Blomquist are the hardest, have the small flash hole and are available with a hex head. They work really well and while not stainless or Ampco, I've not seen any rust.
Service is absolutely top notch and they are the least expensive.

I install all nipples using ant-seize and have never, ever had a problem getting them out.
 
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