The RUGER OLD ARMY Club

[J-Bar]

Meet Frank!!

...Frank N. Gun...

Like his monstrous namesake Frank is assembled from parts not made at the same time.

A gun trading friend acquired Frank at a gun show. The gun had an R&D Conversion cylinder, no percussion cylinder, and no rammer. My friend sold the conversion cylinder, and luckily found a fellow trader with an extra percussion SS cylinder that was available. He located another trader with a spare SS rammer. At that point my friend learned that I was looking for an adjustable sighted ROA, so we did a deal. Frank's Ruger factory rosewood grips are still pretty decent, but I had a spare pair of Ajax polymer ivories in the drawer, and I think he looks pretty good all dressed up.

I have not yet disassembled him. The barrel is about 95% with just a couple of little spots in mid bore where the previous owner might not have been too conscientous. The way the action feels when cocked, I suspect Frank is a stranger to lubricants.

Smoothing the internals, getting a lighter hammer spring, and tuning this collection of spare parts is my winter project. I hope he is sociable and groups well when finished. Otherwise, since the previous posts demonstrate that ROA parts are hard to come by, Frank may just be a parts storage facility.

I'm already a member of the ROA club (#38), but this is just a renewal of membership!

 

[clepidus]

Clements said he could not get a base pin. Numrich does not have one so tomorrow I will hit our local gun show and see what they have to offer. Who knows I may get lucky.

 

[gunboat57]

OK, here's mine. I traded a well-used Marlin 22 mag rifle for it. I think I made out on that deal. A few scratches and needed some internal TLC but otherwise pretty good shape.

 

[ClemBert]

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 87. gunboat57

Welcome gunboat57. Did you shoot her yet?

 

[gunboat57]

No, I haven't shot it yet. I did get some proper sized round balls for it so I'm just about ready to punch paper. Maybe tomorrow, weather permitting. I have this feeling I'm really going to like it.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

OK Here is one of my Favorites. ROA with Elk Antler Grips.

 

[ClemBert]

ROA Club Members:

01. ClemBert 02. Eights 03. kanook 04. [email protected] 05. mykeal
06. adaptandovercome 07. 461 08. junkman_01 09. 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 87. gunboat57 88. Malachi Leviticus Blue

Welcome Malachi Leviticus Blue! Grips are beautiful...

 

[94RUGER]

Very nice looking set of grips there. Where can I get a set?

 

[Blue Hill]

Can I be number 89?
Near as I can tell, mine was minted in '84. I Just got it this weekend. I Bought it from a fellow in Quebec. It came with a set an RCBS round ball mould, a pound of Black Gold powder and a couple of nice wooden cases. $500.00 Canadian money which would make it cheap down south. She doesn't look to have had a lot of use and appears to have been well looked after. This is my first Black Powder weapon of any kind and I'm looking forward to taking her out to the range.
Photos should be on here (I hope)

 

[ClemBert]

ROA Club Members:

01. ClemBert 02. Eights 03. kanook 04. [email protected] 05. mykeal
06. adaptandovercome 07. 461 08. junkman_01 09. 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 87. gunboat57 88. Malachi Leviticus Blue 89. Blue Hill

Blue Hill: yes, you can be #89. Welcome!

 

[Blue Hill]

I think tomorrow I'll be able to try out my new to me gun. Went to the city and got some .457's and cleaning stuff etc. Also picked up a used holster and 86 lbs. of scrap soft lead so I'll be able to mould my own balls. I read somewhere that wheel
weight lead is too hard for pistol balls. Comments on that issue? I'll let you all know how she shoots.

 

[robert garner]

Blue Hill;
Wheel weights never were a problem for me, I shot them almost exclusively for 30 yrs.
They were free and I didn't mind the work it took to melt and clean them up.
Beartooth bullets advocates for even harder lead for accurate target shooting.
Make sure your loading lever is locked into place, it is possible and even likely that you will bend your cylinder pin if left unlocked,even with dead soft lead.Left unlocked when the ram contacts the ball the cyl pin is lifted up then pulled away from the barrel, and they aren't available apparently anymore as parts.
good luck
robert

 

[AbitNutz]

Frankenstein? I prefer Franken-Brad or George or Pierce. "Cause what I have done to my SS 51/2" ROA has enhanced its MANLY beauty"..like Brad Pitt or George Clooney or maybe Pierce Brosnan. (My wife picked the guys) (Hey! Wait a minute! My name isn't in there...hmm)

Power Custom stainless billet Colt style gripframe.
Clelment Bisley hammer.
Clement serated angled front sight.
Lee's action job with springs, trued barrel face, opened forcing cone. Removed warning label.
Banana river ram
Persinger black grips with blind screw.
Several classicballistx cylinders (no warning labels)
Kirst 45LC cylinder.
Belt Mountain cylinder pin.
Both Blomquist and Treso nipples.
SS hammer and trigger shims that took the side to slide slop out of them completely.

There may be more but I can't remember. There is one thing that I wish some would make...something that would allow it easier to hand turn the ram lock screw. Just a knurled knob would be great.

Truth is that it is actually somewhat more accurate and allows me to shoot faster. It's not all looks.
The accuracy may be just me deciding to to shoot better.

I also screwed around with the load completely. I use 40 gr of several different powders. All the cylinders have been deepened....I like 777. I use 210 BigLube bullets and had the mold modified By Hollow Point Mold Service for as big a HP as was practical. They shoot great, better than anything else and drop at 200 gr.

I use a D/D loader, which makes life loading bullets just a pleasure compared to trying to do it on the gun.

 

[Blue Hill]

Quote:
Wheel weights never were a problem for me, I shot them almost exclusively for 30 yrs.
They were free and I didn't mind the work it took to melt and clean them up.
Thanks Robert. I have access to pretty much all the wheel weights I want for free, so I'll give them a try as well once I get going. It'll be intersting to compare the two for accuracy and ease of loading.

 

[robert garner]

free wheel weightshey buddy gotta dime? gettin' wheel weights round here anymore is like trying to get a free lunch at a Chinese restaurant.
Seriously if'n ya get a lot of em find you a steel 5 gallon bucket knock one hole in the bottom and use a rosebud to melt the lead quick and easy!
good on ya
robert

 

[Blue Hill]

I've been doing a lot of reading about casting my own bullets as well as gathering the gear and supplies I'm going to need. The more I read, the more confused I get. I'm pretty sure I don't need to size round balls, but do they need to be lubed?

 

[junkman_01]

No. Use a lubed wad under or grease over the ball when loading.

 

[AbitNutz]

I still need a replacement cylinder release screw. The stock one is slotted and sometimes you need a screwdriver or dime or whatever.
All I want is a release screw that is slightly larger and knurled, so I can just turn it by hand.

I don't want a big key or gigantic knob. All I'm asking for is something in SS, slightly larger in diameter, perhaps a bit longer and knurled so I can grip it and turn it by hand. Maybe a nice arrow or mark to indicate which way is locked and which way is open.

 

[Legionnaire]

Nutz, couldn't agree more. That's the one fault I have with my ROAs. It would be nice to not have to use a tool to pull the base pin retaining screw. I've been casually thinking about having a machinist make a couple for me ... eventually.

 

[AbitNutz]

Belt Mountain should do it and I wrote them so several times. All they need do is use one of their knurled ends put it on the end of one of Ruger's locking screw.

 

[Blue Hill]

Nutz, have you thought about making one of ClemBert's pins?

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=370620&

 

[arcticap]

Belt Mountain should do it and I wrote them so several times. All they need do is use one of their knurled ends put it on the end of one of Ruger's locking screw.

Where will they get the locking screw from?
For example, Numrich is sold out of them and Midway no longer stocks it.
It would be nice if anyone made even a standard replacement Base Pin Retaining Pin Assembly without any attachment.
There must be a reason why there aren't any replacements currently being made.

 

[AbitNutz]

Belt Mountain makes entire cylinder pins for Colt's and Rugers. They can make whatever they like with equipment and expertise they have.

After writing them abut 50 times...I have some small hope they've given in.

 

[AbitNutz]

There's not a built in market for the cylinder release screws, There is kind of one for cylinder pin itself. If you have a Kirst conversion most folks buy the cylinder pin as the ram is no longer needed.

I can turn my stock cylinder release screw by hand but I have a but I have a bit of arthritis and a fair amount neuropathy witch causes me all kinds of problems trying to turn the screw to get the cylinder out. I shoot nothing but modified BigLube bullets and you really must use a loader lest you go Bat$hit trying to use the on gun ram.

 

[Jaymo]

I would like to have one of their base pins. Do they make one specifically for the ROA, or does the one for the BH fit the ROA?

I still wonder why the ROA didn't use a spring-loaded detent pin that you push in, to release the cyl pin?
To my mind, that would have made more sense.
Or am I missing something?
If I had a scissors-knurler, I'd start making the knurled release pins.

Maybe I should look into that. All I need is the knurler, the correct alloy stainless steel rod, and (the hard part) time to do it.
Maybe, I'll make one for mine, as a prototype. I can ask my friend, who owns an auto machine shop and is a fellow shooting enthusiast, if he has a knurling tool. If he does, perhaps he'd let me knurl it in his shop.
The resulting prototype would tell me if it's worth it to tool up for it.