robhof
Member
Too bad that's not the very rare Ruger flask, but the 5 1/2" is a great gun and collectable. They're such good shooters though, it would be hard to make it a safe queen.
The RUGER OLD ARMY Club
- Thread starter ClemBert
- Start date
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 48. rdstrain49 49. FirinFlatTop 50. rem1858
51. straight-shooter 52. edorfox 53. KevininPa 54. Ringo1234 55. pohill
56. The Don 57. jeepcoma 58. Dave Markowitz 59. Chazz 60. andrewstorm
61. Steel Wheels 62. Legionnaire 63. NineMilePete 64. 94RUGER 65. Acorn Mush
66. R.Ganister 67. Boom-stick 68. Buddy 69. Ghost Dog 70. BML
71. Cult of 1858 72. Jaymo 73. bigbore442001 74. Engineer Bill 75. azyogi
76. Dr. Leaky 77. Clermont 78. Indy4570 79. ozarkguy 80. Plastikosmd
81. mrdo1 82. bax504 83. Constrictor 84. BC Mosaic 85. clepidus
Welcome clepidus. Nice commemorative! Yup, if it's been shot then it's a shooter. Just take good care of it so it doesn't get ragged out.
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 48. rdstrain49 49. FirinFlatTop 50. rem1858
51. straight-shooter 52. edorfox 53. KevininPa 54. Ringo1234 55. pohill
56. The Don 57. jeepcoma 58. Dave Markowitz 59. Chazz 60. andrewstorm
61. Steel Wheels 62. Legionnaire 63. NineMilePete 64. 94RUGER 65. Acorn Mush
66. R.Ganister 67. Boom-stick 68. Buddy 69. Ghost Dog 70. BML
71. Cult of 1858 72. Jaymo 73. bigbore442001 74. Engineer Bill 75. azyogi
76. Dr. Leaky 77. Clermont 78. Indy4570 79. ozarkguy 80. Plastikosmd
81. mrdo1 82. bax504 83. Constrictor 84. BC Mosaic 85. clepidus
Welcome clepidus. Nice commemorative! Yup, if it's been shot then it's a shooter. Just take good care of it so it doesn't get ragged out.
George Mabry
Member
Bill, that happened to me about 30 years ago. I was shooting a S&W Model 19 on a police qualification course when I saw something go flying off the gun. This was a timed event and I had just so long to get off 18 shots on 2 reloads so I didn't stop shooting. When I did my first reload, I didn't have time to inspect the gun but I did try to get a good look at the cylinder because that is where I was afraid the metal came from. I was relieved to see that the cylinder seemed to be intact. But after that quick look, I went back to shooting. When I fired my last round I took a good look at the gun before putting it back in my holster and that is when I noticed that the spur on the hammer was missing.
George
Engineer Bill
Member
Hello All,
Thanks for all the suggestions. I was absolutely sure nobody knew about them kittens. I know a great welder who described how to prep for welding - grind away each side of the hammer and spur at a 45degree angle save an 1/8 inch strip down the center of each to interlock and make sure they are exactly in the original relationship. The welds were over filled so I'd have plenty to file off and get back to a nice flat surface, had it apart so I jeweled the hammer sides - chuck a pencil, eraser side down, in the drill press add some valve grinding compound. Do practice on something else first.
Happy New Year - I'm back in business - Engineer Bill
Thanks for all the suggestions. I was absolutely sure nobody knew about them kittens. I know a great welder who described how to prep for welding - grind away each side of the hammer and spur at a 45degree angle save an 1/8 inch strip down the center of each to interlock and make sure they are exactly in the original relationship. The welds were over filled so I'd have plenty to file off and get back to a nice flat surface, had it apart so I jeweled the hammer sides - chuck a pencil, eraser side down, in the drill press add some valve grinding compound. Do practice on something else first.
Happy New Year - I'm back in business - Engineer Bill
The Lone Haranguer
Member
I bought one in 2002 to play with. I had some fun with it, but shooting cap-and-ball with real black powder makes one very appreciative of the self-contained, smokeless powder cartridge. 
I found it very accurate (until the bore started to foul, whereupon a quick cleaning would restore the accuracy) while still delivering some kick with 35 grains of powder. Something else I noted was that the recommended #10 caps didn't work very well. I was unable to push them hard enough onto the nipples with my fingers, and when I fired the gun, it took two "trips" around the cylinder before the hammer drove the caps down enough to seat and fire them. Number eleven caps solved that problem.
I found it very accurate (until the bore started to foul, whereupon a quick cleaning would restore the accuracy) while still delivering some kick with 35 grains of powder. Something else I noted was that the recommended #10 caps didn't work very well. I was unable to push them hard enough onto the nipples with my fingers, and when I fired the gun, it took two "trips" around the cylinder before the hammer drove the caps down enough to seat and fire them. Number eleven caps solved that problem.The Lone Haranguer said:
That there is blasphemy in these here parts.
Someone get a rope! Who says you can't shoot a ROA with cartridges? Watch and learn grasshopper: Ruger Old Army shooting BP Cartridges
Well.... It did at least shoot nice!
I went out to the ranch to shoot the new addition to my collection and fell in love with it. It will not be sold while I am alive! I only got six shots off as when loading I realized the previous owner screwed up and neglected to use a starter to get the ball in the cylinder causing the center pin to bend. They then obviously attempted to bend it back into shape so when I went to push my load down, it bent even more.
It wasn't to big of a deal, I removed the rod and all the loading assembly, and straightened it out again. I loaded the cylinder out of the weapon and then reassembled without the loading pieces. It shot like a dream. It was extremely accurate and very comfortable to shoot.
As soon as I got home I started searching for the center pin and found it at Numrich and it should be here early next week if not sooner. I look forward to learning from some of you more experienced ROA shooters!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
I went out to the ranch to shoot the new addition to my collection and fell in love with it. It will not be sold while I am alive! I only got six shots off as when loading I realized the previous owner screwed up and neglected to use a starter to get the ball in the cylinder causing the center pin to bend. They then obviously attempted to bend it back into shape so when I went to push my load down, it bent even more.
It wasn't to big of a deal, I removed the rod and all the loading assembly, and straightened it out again. I loaded the cylinder out of the weapon and then reassembled without the loading pieces. It shot like a dream. It was extremely accurate and very comfortable to shoot.
As soon as I got home I started searching for the center pin and found it at Numrich and it should be here early next week if not sooner. I look forward to learning from some of you more experienced ROA shooters!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
arcticap
Member
clepidus said:
The cylinder base pin can get bent if it is not pushed in all of the way when the ball is rammed.
clepidus, some of us can't figure out if you are talking about the base pin, the rammer, or the loading lever. The base pin goes through the middle of the cylinder. The rammer is what makes contact with the ball to push it in. The loading lever is what you grab with your hand to actuate the rammer.
J-Bar
Member
I have a hunch the base pin bent because the base pin retaining pin was not locked and allowed the base pin to come out part ways when attempting to seat a ball. Don't ask me how I know.
If you have to use a ball starter, your balls are much to hard. Use pure lead balls in the ROA. Save the wheelweight castings for bullets in cartridges.
If you have to use a ball starter, your balls are much to hard. Use pure lead balls in the ROA. Save the wheelweight castings for bullets in cartridges.
MCgunner
Member
I have no problems seating .457" conicals in my ROA cast of wheel weights. Most are cast of range scrap, anymore, alloy unknown, but they work fine.
The bent pin was just a guess from what I saw in the mechanics. I am sure you are right about locking the pin in. I was shooting Hornady .457 round balls and they went in pretty smooth after I started them with the starter from my old Optima . 50 cal. I have a lot to learn and will probably buy a 45 LC conversion kit.i am learning more each time I flip through this forum. Any recommendations on where the most cost effective kit is?
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 48. rdstrain49 49. FirinFlatTop 50. rem1858
51. straight-shooter 52. edorfox 53. KevininPa 54. Ringo1234 55. pohill
56. The Don 57. jeepcoma 58. Dave Markowitz 59. Chazz 60. andrewstorm
61. Steel Wheels 62. Legionnaire 63. NineMilePete 64. 94RUGER 65. Acorn Mush
66. R.Ganister 67. Boom-stick 68. Buddy 69. Ghost Dog 70. BML
71. Cult of 1858 72. Jaymo 73. bigbore442001 74. Engineer Bill 75. azyogi
76. Dr. Leaky 77. Clermont 78. Indy4570 79. ozarkguy 80. Plastikosmd
81. mrdo1 82. bax504 83. Constrictor 84. BC Mosaic 85. clepidus
86. did
Welcome did! I like that brass square back frame. Nice grips too!
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 48. rdstrain49 49. FirinFlatTop 50. rem1858
51. straight-shooter 52. edorfox 53. KevininPa 54. Ringo1234 55. pohill
56. The Don 57. jeepcoma 58. Dave Markowitz 59. Chazz 60. andrewstorm
61. Steel Wheels 62. Legionnaire 63. NineMilePete 64. 94RUGER 65. Acorn Mush
66. R.Ganister 67. Boom-stick 68. Buddy 69. Ghost Dog 70. BML
71. Cult of 1858 72. Jaymo 73. bigbore442001 74. Engineer Bill 75. azyogi
76. Dr. Leaky 77. Clermont 78. Indy4570 79. ozarkguy 80. Plastikosmd
81. mrdo1 82. bax504 83. Constrictor 84. BC Mosaic 85. clepidus
86. did
Welcome did! I like that brass square back frame. Nice grips too!
clepidus said:
Well clepidus...you have the ROA in your hands...you tell us if the base pin retaining pin is/was in the locking position or not. The base pin is locked in when the base pin retaining pin is turned all the way clockwise. Just use a coin and put it in the slot and turn it to the locked position. It sounds like you didn't have the base pin locked if you ended up bending it. BTW, did you ever find a source for a new base pin for your ROA. It would appear that all the factory parts are now gone forever.
As for a 45 Colt conversion cylinder for your ROA you have two choices. One made by Kirst or one made by Howell. Those are the only choices. There are numerous retail sources from which to purchase the conversion cylinder from such as MidwayUSA.
I made a video to show the details of using a ROA conversion cylinder.
p.s. I find the Hornady 0.457 round balls rather easy to ram into the cylinder. There is no reason to use a "ball starter". They just slide in rather easy and shave a nice lead ring.
Last edited:
arcticap
Member
Belt Mountain Replacement Base Pin
Belt Mountain makes a replacement cylinder base pin for the ROA but it doesn't work with the rammer.
It's used alone and is primarily designed for use with conversion cylinders when the rammer is not needed.
It can make for a quicker cylinder change without needing to fumble with the rammer assembly.
It's a precision made pin, and if you don't mind loading off the frame then it will work fine with the ROA's C&B cylinder.
It's listed near the bottom of this page:
http://www.beltmountain.com/ruger.htm
Belt Mountain home Page:
http://www.beltmountain.com/
It's on back order at MidwayUSA:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/68...-ruger-single-action-old-army-stainless-steel
Belt Mountain makes a replacement cylinder base pin for the ROA but it doesn't work with the rammer.
It's used alone and is primarily designed for use with conversion cylinders when the rammer is not needed.
It can make for a quicker cylinder change without needing to fumble with the rammer assembly.
It's a precision made pin, and if you don't mind loading off the frame then it will work fine with the ROA's C&B cylinder.
It's listed near the bottom of this page:
http://www.beltmountain.com/ruger.htm
Belt Mountain home Page:
http://www.beltmountain.com/
It's on back order at MidwayUSA:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/68...-ruger-single-action-old-army-stainless-steel
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ClemBert, the pin was already bent to start with because I had some resistance when disassembling for my initial inspection and even more when I put it together. After reading through the previous posts in the forum though, I have no doubt that I did not have the retaining pin locked and that I bent it even more. I have straightened it to at least close to the condition I received it in though.
I am slightly irritated with my mistake and very willing to pay for the replacement parts as well as a conversion kit since my actual cost on this piece was less than $20.00. I was purchasing a dresser on craigslist to replace the one my children destroyed and when I went to pick it up from an older woman, it was found while removing the drawers for transport. She told me it must have belonged to her husband who passed away a few months earlier and to keep it.
Anyway, Im going to order a conversion kit next payday but would still like the original part as well.
I am slightly irritated with my mistake and very willing to pay for the replacement parts as well as a conversion kit since my actual cost on this piece was less than $20.00. I was purchasing a dresser on craigslist to replace the one my children destroyed and when I went to pick it up from an older woman, it was found while removing the drawers for transport. She told me it must have belonged to her husband who passed away a few months earlier and to keep it.
Anyway, Im going to order a conversion kit next payday but would still like the original part as well.
It appears Numrich Arms bought out Ruger's Old Army spare parts. Numrich's website lists the loading lever, in both blue and stainless, for the 7-1/2" barrel. Give Numrich a call, you may get lucky.
http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Products.aspx?catid=8347
http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Products.aspx?catid=8347
Clermont said:
I checked out that website when clepidus first mentioned his problem. The website STILL shows them as being sold out. If I were clepidus I'd give David Clements a call.
Last edited:
robhof
Member
I bent mine when I 1st got it and while waiting for a replacement, I put the pin on a lead ingot and tapped with a hammer as I rotated it. It works fine and I still have the replacement for backup. That's been 5 yrs. since I did that and she's still working fine.
My links shows the loading levers, in both finishes, for the 7-1/2" barrel as being in stock. But it is the loading lever for the 5-1/2" barrel that requires a phone call.
http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Detail.aspx?pid=290790&catid=8347
http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Detail.aspx?pid=290780&catid=8347
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