The RUGER OLD ARMY Club

[sigep749]

Dumb question, but has Ruger discontinued production?

 

[Nite Ryder]

I've have some Ruger Old Armies for quite a few years. Also have two conversion cylinders for the two stainless steel guns with adjustable sights. I have quite a few boxes of BP cartridges for these two with the conversion cylinders, but I've never shot any thing but cap and ball loads in them. I've had the two ROA with non adjustable sights for about 5 years, but have never shot either gun.

 

[Patocazador]

You can come to grief on revolvers that have mismatched barrel ID's and throat diameters. I have an 8-3/8" S&W 25-5 in 45LC. The barrel ID is .452 and the cylinder throats are .458! If you size to .452 it will shoot just about anywhere except where you aim it. If you size to .458 it will lead the barrel from back to front almost immediately and accuracy quickly falls to horseshoe pitching levels. The half-a$$ed thing that sorta works is sizing to .455 with super hard, pure linotype, water quenched bullets. I finally found another cylinder that was at .452 and wonder of wonders...it shoots very nicely.

I hope this helps...your mileage may vary...

I traded off the same gun (S&W 25) because it shaved lead.
The new owner said he didn't care. I wonder if he still feels that way?

 

[AbitNutz]

rockdc...yep a .452 and .454 will do. You're right, RCBS doesn't make a .455. I don't know if Lyman does or not. I have an RCBS Lubrisizer but I mostly size on a Star Luber. I bought a .455 from lathesmith on the cast boolits forum. It was cheaper, better quality and he already had hole layout that works well with BigLube bullets...they hold a lot of grease. I'm sure you're aware but RCBS and Lyman interchange but Saeco and Star do not. (A star can make you crazy setting it up...)

It really doesn't matter if it's .454 or .455 as long as the cylinder is small enough to swage the bullet down and hold it tight. If it's at all loose, and you shoot heavier loads, the bullet may jump...which is a giant pain. Although I have found that if a bullet does jump, it's usually just in the first, clean cylinder full. After that, I guess the crud puts enough drag on it to hold it.

The reason I went with .455 is that I wanted to see there was any difference between just lubing a bullet at the size it dropped from the mold versus sizing it down and lubing it. The molds I have, with the soft lead I have, all seem to drop at .455. I'm sure one day I'll poison my pot with something that will make the lead weird and the "as cast" size will change. The difference in "as cast" size between super hard linotype (of which I have half a ton of..literally. I used to be the IT guy at a newspaper) and soft lead lead is shockingly different.

Anyway, I saw no real difference in "as cast" and sized and lubed in my ROA. I guess the gun doesn't care if you push a .455 it in to a .452 hole or a .454 in to a .452 hole....as long as you don't mangle them in the process. It does care how deep the bullet is and how compressed the charge is.

Did I say "thank god!" that the barrel ID and the cylinder throats on the ROA's available cylinders match?

 

[toolslinger]

Sigep yep Ruger discontinued the ROA . Now folk want a mint and a limb for them.
Most folk that is, if you lurk the auction sites you can still find good deals sometimes.
In the past year I have found a blued and a stainless adjustable site 7 1/2'' for under $400.00
Good luck finding a fixed site in any config for under a $1000.00

 

[AbitNutz]

It's true...it's getting ugly out there...

 

[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 90. Power Keg
91. SUMIKITO 92. ChasMack 93. Larry Flett 94. RugerShawn 95. tdperry
96. Rettech 97. renoman 98. tk1971 99. Curator 100. Dan Carey
101. Old No7 102. Muddydogs 103. Oldnamvet 104. 6.5x55swedish 105. crazysccrmd
106. Jim, West PA 107. rodwha 108. Varmiter 109. Indian Outlaw 110. Patocazador
111. Fingers McGee 112. h0use 113. Huntingsaddles 114. GregP42 115. esims
116. Doak 117. BubbaGoose 118. FreddyKruger 119. Calvados 120. ruger357
121. wap41 122. DurangoKid 123. Yamavira 124. Onty 125. 4speed
126. legend 550 127. bri1462 128. regniflow 129. CageDodger 130. HPBroker
131. mattusmc45 132. 303 133. Jersey Joe 134. Psycho 135. Cast of One
136. sammass 137. jgray 138. bothenook 139. keybuck 140. davepool
141. whitetailbob 142. eddie56 143. wklaus 144. cane 145. dickydalton
146. Sumika 147. woodnbow 148. DMZ 149. white smoke 150. karlthev
151. The-Reaver 152. Beetle-Bailey 153. cwo2lt 154. snakeman 155. BHP FAN
156. grter 157. aHFo3 158. Joe Meyer 159. Wild Tom Hipshot 160. mntns2oceans
161. Btc624 162. kendak 163. pardiniman 164. d-a 165. toolslinger
166. imforguns 167. EmGeeGeorge 168. MRRAGPICKER 169. ALJS 170. Nelg_Kir
171. Head Space 172. mbpennin 173. blfuller 174. gifford 175. BullSlinger
176. jannas1258 177. wkfg 178. rockdc 179. Nite Ryder

Welcome Nite Ryder! Nice collection!

 

[AmateurSharpshooter]

Here's my dues for this awesome thread!

I've owned this beauty for years now, I enjoy shooting it! I show a right side holster and a cross-draw holster on a belt that I tooled and stitched.

 

[RMc]

Now if Ruger would bring out a 5 shot 50 caliber Old Army with 209 ignition for the hunting crowd!

 

[toolslinger]

Dave Clements will make you one for $1200.00...maybe his website says he waits till he has 4 orders before he builds and you need to provide the base gun and no 209 ignition.
I suspect that if Ruger actually came up with one they would be 6-900 bucks and if all us die hard Holy Black shooters bought one they might sell...100 eventually.
I hate the fact that the ROA got discontinued but the fact is if they had been profitable they would not have gone away. Ruger basically ran themselves out of the market. They manufactured more Old Armys than there were folk that wanted them.

 

[rockdc]

I am from Sweden and I am a life member in SASS (Cowboy Acton Shooting). I have had my ROA since 1982 and I have shorten the barrel to 5½" and removed the barrel address.

I might need to do the same thing someday. The adjustable sight 5 1/2" ROAs are the rarest. And, they look like a great option. Anyone recommend a good gunsmith to do the job?

This pic is from Wild Tom's post.

 

[rockdc]

Found my answer; Dave Clements lists it on his website. Now to find a suitable 7 1/2" stainless adj. sight ROA to get shortened. Or, maybe 2; one each in black and SS......

 

[fossil]

New Old Army pic

Thought I would add this pic from a forum and ROA Club newbie.. Really liking this one...

 

[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 90. Power Keg
91. SUMIKITO 92. ChasMack 93. Larry Flett 94. RugerShawn 95. tdperry
96. Rettech 97. renoman 98. tk1971 99. Curator 100. Dan Carey
101. Old No7 102. Muddydogs 103. Oldnamvet 104. 6.5x55swedish 105. crazysccrmd
106. Jim, West PA 107. rodwha 108. Varmiter 109. Indian Outlaw 110. Patocazador
111. Fingers McGee 112. h0use 113. Huntingsaddles 114. GregP42 115. esims
116. Doak 117. BubbaGoose 118. FreddyKruger 119. Calvados 120. ruger357
121. wap41 122. DurangoKid 123. Yamavira 124. Onty 125. 4speed
126. legend 550 127. bri1462 128. regniflow 129. CageDodger 130. HPBroker
131. mattusmc45 132. 303 133. Jersey Joe 134. Psycho 135. Cast of One
136. sammass 137. jgray 138. bothenook 139. keybuck 140. davepool
141. whitetailbob 142. eddie56 143. wklaus 144. cane 145. dickydalton
146. Sumika 147. woodnbow 148. DMZ 149. white smoke 150. karlthev
151. The-Reaver 152. Beetle-Bailey 153. cwo2lt 154. snakeman 155. BHP FAN
156. grter 157. aHFo3 158. Joe Meyer 159. Wild Tom Hipshot 160. mntns2oceans
161. Btc624 162. kendak 163. pardiniman 164. d-a 165. toolslinger
166. imforguns 167. EmGeeGeorge 168. MRRAGPICKER 169. ALJS 170. Nelg_Kir
171. Head Space 172. mbpennin 173. blfuller 174. gifford 175. BullSlinger
176. jannas1258 177. wkfg 178. rockdc 179. Nite Ryder 180. AmateurSharpshooter
181. fossil

Welcome AmateurSharpshooter and fossil!

 

[aHFo3]

As ROA Club Member #157 I have a confession to make: I sold my last Old Army. I've found that I enjoy shooting and handloading modern metallic cartridges more than the black powder. I haven't gone so far as to own a plastic gun, but I fit somewhere in between. I hope you all understand.

 

[rodwha]

Blasphemy!

 

[BullSlinger]

Get a rope!

aHF03, have you been getting into Momma's little pill bottle? No longer shooting black powder? It's a good thing for you that it is Christmas time.

 

[Patocazador]

I wish everyone (except me) would sell their ROAs. I'd have all I wanted when the market was bloated with them.

 

[snakeman]

I enjoy my old army, but that sucker is HEAVY!

 

[AbitNutz]

They all come back sooner or later. In a few years he'll be whinin' about the ROA that he sold.
If I had all the (insert cars, guns or motorcycles) I got rid of I'd have twice the money and half the wives.

 

[robhof]

robhof

Whenever I've sold a gun for a reasonable price, I usually find them going for much more on the auction sites, so I stopped selling them and only trade one if I have two or more of the same kind.

 

[bri1462]

Loading lever "catch" fell off the dang barrel

Hi everyone, Merry Christmas! It's been a while... I acquired a Kirst for my pistol and everything with it works great. However, after about 30 rounds of .45 acp, the piece attached underneath the barrel that the loading lever latch holds out against - fell off the gun. Where I live it's hard to find gunsmiths, and some won't even work on revolvers. I'm sure some of you guys have some metalworking knowledge ( I have none! ) and I'm wondering how you might go about reattaching that thing. Would I silver solder it? I'm teachable and fairly handy - think I could do it without making it look like crap?

Also, has anyone tried to track down an extra base pin retaining pin - I'm looking for one of those to fabricate a "clembert" pin for easier cylinder changes (Clembert, is that named for you? Vice Versa?). Having a difficult time finding one online. Thanks everyone...

 

[J-Bar]

I bet Ruger would fix that for you free of charge. Call them to find out.

 

[elhombreconnonombre]

Looking to buy my first ROA

Found a ROA at a shop in Houston over the holidays: sn 140-46419 (1981 I believe), blued finish, adjustable rear sights, 7 1/2" barrel, very clean, near new stainless nipples, minor dings on the grips, no box or instructions. Fellow is asking $395.

 

[BullSlinger]

Go for it

I don't think you will find a better price so I would but it if it were me.