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Post-flint cap n ball...Ruger Old Army

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Looking at second hand Ruger c and ball. Nice shape but has a mammoth thick, black, rubber grip. Is it possible to remove grip and replace with wooden hand grip?

Thank you!
 
Yep. I don’t think they came that way. Mine doesn’t and the many I’ve seen posted or in books don’t.
 
I have a set of Starrett grips on mine - sometimes. In two pieces, they are very much hand-filling and somewhat over-sized, but still look pretty good, IMO. The main benefit is that they are ambidextrous, and since I am too, they suit me very well. I recall that I paid around $90 for them, but that was waaaaay back in the late 80s. Dunno where you'd find them now, TBH.
 
ROA are going up in price pretty fast as they are not made any more in regular production so if under 500.00 and in good condition it is probably worth snagging. I have a 200 th year in blued steel and will be keeping hold of it. I've never known one not to shoot very well and they are made of 4140 barrel steel which makes them very strong as are all Ruger arms.
 
While we're on the subject of ROA, I don't have one but what would be average load for them? I have heard it was on par with a Colt Walker.

Average load for ball is anything between 20 and 30gr of 3Fg. Like any other BP firearm, you will have to figure out the best load for YOUR gun - mine has a sweet spot at 23gr, for instance, and since I only paper punch at 25m, I don't need the extra punch of the top load - plus I save on powder, too.

The Colt Walker load was anything between 45 and 55gr, by all accounts, and it would be very hard to load ANY ROA up to that level - no point in trying TBH. If you want a .44 Magnum go buy a .44 Magnum.
 
My ROA favors a 35 grn load using either 3F Olde E or T7. The Olde E charge weighs about 38 grns. There’s room for over 40 grns volume (45 using T7) whereas the Walker holds about 60.
 
Looking at second hand Ruger c and ball. Nice shape but has a mammoth thick, black, rubber grip. Is it possible to remove grip and replace with wooden hand grip?

Thank you!
Those guns originally had the same grips as the Ruger Blackhawks. Easily found on line.
 
That’s probably a pachmayr grip. Uglier than homemade sin but very comfortable with heavy loads in the .44 mag and .45 Colt. Hogue makes a similar grip.
 
I love Ruger and own an absolute PILE of their cartridge thumb busters and Double Actions .....but could never pull the trigger on an Old Army .
 
Everyone should have at least one Stan... seriously, they’re the cream of the percussion revolver crop. Even out of production all these years, parts are available; if you can’t keep one of these running, you’re just not trying very hard.
 
Everyone should have at least one Stan... seriously, they’re the cream of the percussion revolver crop. Even out of production all these years, parts are available; if you can’t keep one of these running, you’re just not trying very hard.
Like any Ruger they seldom ever break! About the only thing that does go south is the loading lever when used improperly.
 
I've got one in stainless and it's absolutely beautiful. It doesnt seem to scratch up. Took a while to accepting the round loading lever setup because I'm a staunch traditionalist, but it works very well. Nice adjustable sights good sight picture. Trigger pull is nice and got used to wide trigger. Different center of gravity than my 1861 and with the extra weight the recoil feels different as well but it is sweet to shoot. Faster to R&R cylinder than a Remington. The longer cylinder bushing changes the line of flash getting to the front of the barrel arbor and doesn't bring fouling rotational problems
 
I have ROA made in 1989. Out of all the handguns I’ve owned and still own it’s the most accurate one I’ve ever shot. 25 yards off of a sandbag and it’s pretty much a one hole wonder. I have a bunch of ribbons I’ve won with it at matches. I fill the chambers using a 20 gr spout with my finger over it which gives a charge of about 17 gr Goex 3F, and do the same thing with a 10 gr spout using cream of wheat. Seat the ball and fire away.
 
I deeply regret selling my 1976 issue ROA. I used it many years with after market grips. The originals were walnut. if you do remove grips make sure you don't lose the screw. They are not all the same and finding replacements is a difficult task. DAMHIK :mad:
 
Everyone should have at least one Stan... seriously, they’re the cream of the percussion revolver crop. Even out of production all these years, parts are available; if you can’t keep one of these running, you’re just not trying very hard.

Apologies for raining on your parade, Sir, but the whole point of many posts on this forum over the years is the night-on TOTAL LACK of spares for the ROA. Back in 2010 I called up the spares department from here in UK to get some rear frames screws and was offered the last four there were. I also asked about a replacement cylinder pin - it has a half-moon cut-out where the locking screw locates and is a weak spot where the pin can bend if somebody forgets to turn the screw and then tries to load up. The answer was that there are none. And this is from a very nice lady at Ruger themselves. You'll note that my phone-call was just two years after production ceased in 2008 - so much for Ruger's promise to support OOP firearms for a full ten years.

There ARE after-market cylinder axis pins of the short quick-release kind - for those people who reload off the frame. I don't, and over here, where the ROA is hugely popular and much-sought-after, I don't know anybody who does, bearing in mind that here in UK a spare cylinder counts as another firearm.

BTW, a pal is coming over to collect me and his new to him ROA from our LGS tomorrow. It is the high-shine version, and is MIB - for just over $1150. A plain stainless steel/target sights version, used but very fine, is going for around $850.
 
Gavin do you use any lube?
No I never have. I only shoot six rounds at the matches so it never needs it to keep the gun from fouling. At home when I’m shooting I just shoot until it needs cleaned. I’m a firm believer that chain fires happen from the nipple end not the front of the cylinder. There is no way a spark makes it through tightly compressed cream of wheat and an oversized ball that was rammed into there shaving a ring of lead off. To me all it does is create a mess. I avoid chain fires by using snug fitting caps. That’s my theory anyway lol. I’ve shot 1000s of rounds from cap and balls for years without a chain fire. Maybe I’m just lucky. I bought my Old Army used and whoever had it before done a fantastic trigger job on it. The trigger pull is right at being too light for comfort. In my previous comment I stated my OA is the most accurate handgun I’ve ever owned. That includes all modern firearms too.
 
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