Finally splurged for a Ruger Old Army ...

[erich]

You all have been instrumental in keeping me interested in the single-actions, and I appreciate it. I've owned cap and ball revolvers before (a brass 1851 .36 and a Pietta .44 1860) but never much did anything with them. I realize that a C&B revolver is pretty old tech compared to a lot of the modern stuff that you all shoot, but I sure have been having fun reading up on these.

Anyhow, I finally saw one that seemed like a great deal and made a last-minute GB bid that worked out. Great seller had it to me in a couple of days, and the thing is prettier than described. There's a small spot of rust on the topstrap, a small chip in the RH grip, and a small spot of corrosion about 2" inside the bore. Other than that, it's pretty darned nice, with pretty LH grips and new nipples. I'm very pleased for the price paid - it's not as cheap as a Cabela's 1858, but it'll last forever and ever.



Unfortunately, it arrived right when I returned from the shooting range, so it'll have to wait at least until next week for a shakedown. I bought some .457" Hornady balls, cheap shortening, and 3F 777 to use in it, and am looking forward to the next range trip.

Any advice? The Clements boring-out of the cylinder to permit bigger charges (not interested in a caliber conversion) sounds interesting . . . and an action-tune (though this has such a nice action it's hard to believe) and barrel-shortening (not to 5.5" - maybe 4"?) might be of interest.

[Lil Dudey]

erich very nice C&B revolver. I will eventually get one later on . You can use Am Way Scrub Bud to remove the rust without removing the blue. I have use Am Way Scrub Buds to remove rust off a S&W 38 Special Model 36 that I inherited from my mother and guns that I restored without a problem.

[erich]

Thank you, sir: I've used 000 steel wool just kissing the rust spot in a pool of oil before. Haven't done anything on this gun yet, so might try your method. Always good to hear another tip!

[Lil Dudey]

You're most welcome! I have used 00, 000 and 0000 steel wool with Kroil oil that really works great removing rust.

[erich]

Kroil is wonderful stuff!

[Hobie]

The left grip panel is darn pretty. These are good solid revolvers.

[erich]

Thanks, Hobie - I wish you could feel the action, too. I'm a guy who tends to like shorter barrels in general so I was thinking of sending this one off to be cut down, but the more I look at this gun, the more elegant it seems to me. It really truly is a "real gun" - it puts my previous C&Bs to shame.

What fun!

[Frank V]

Congratulations Erich, heck I'd go for a cylinder conversion to .45 Colt. Though Ruger advises to use .457 RBs so the bore might be too big to get really good accuracy. I'll bet with a full charge of 3Fg (I think they were about 40grs) you'd really make a RB scream. Might be interesting just that way.

Now a 4" bbl? The only downside I could see would be the loading lever would be shortened too, & that might make loading a chore? It's gonna be fun.
Let us know.
Frank

[461tim]

I commented on your post over at the Ruger Forum too, but I just love the Old Army so much it merits another post. The conversion cylinder is a must have for me, I shoot .45 Colts all the time and the accuracy is great. This is actually my only .45 Colt as blasphemous as that is to admit.

[wickerbill]

Oct 25, 2010 18:07:04 GMT -5 Frank V said:

Congratulations Erich, heck I'd go for a cylinder conversion to .45 Colt. Though Ruger advises to use .457 RBs so the bore might be too big to get really good accuracy. I'll bet with a full charge of 3Fg (I think they were about 40grs) you'd really make a RB scream. Might be interesting just that way.

Now a 4" bbl? The only downside I could see would be the loading lever would be shortened too, & that might make loading a chore? It's gonna be fun.
Let us know.
Frank

No, the reason they call for .457 rb's is to size them into the chamber. You cut a ring of lead all the way around the ball and there is very little chance of a chain fire.
Bill

[erich]

I understand that the bore is .452" . . . I've been giving the conversion cylinders very serious thought, even though they'd about double my investment in this thing.

[erich]

Could not have been a more perfect day for shooting. Cool, sunny, still. Range 5950'>sea level, c. 58 degrees F, c. 20% humidity.



I put 35 grains of 3F 777 into the ROA, under Hornady .457" balls, over Winchester magnum #11 primers. I did not use over-ball lube (on the advice of someone familiar with 777 in revolvers) or under-ball wads. Got an average velocity of 1102 fps/ES 27.80/SD 11.53/ME 396 fpe - not bad at all.

The gun is accurate:

Benched at 10 yds


Offhand at 10 yds


I did find that I would sometimes have a "pfft" instead of an Earth-shattering-kaboom when I tripped the bang-switch (no more than once per cylinder, always fired on the second try). I got serious about making sure the caps were seated, and still had some issues. Might try different magnum caps.

The 777 worked remarkably well in this gun. There was a ton of smoke (people gathered 'round when I did rapid-fire offhand - looked like a tire fire out there) and some in-barrel crud, but - while the outside of the cylinder got dusty - it never needed to be cleaned in the course of 6 cylinders. I did wipe the thing down with a windexed patch a couple of times, but only the outside, and mainly so I wouldn't get filthy handling it. Clean-up was a breeze, or as much of a breeze as it could be with the Chinese-puzzle rammer and all the nooks and crannies. 3F Triple-7 is good stuff!

Serious dilemma here: should I buy a .45 Colt cylinder while Midway has their 15%-off sale (thru tomorrow) or should I stick with the C&B for a while? I could even see buying a spare Classic Ballistics cylinder - I really had a ton of fun with this thing today.

[Lil Dudey]

If it was my revolver I would buy the 45 Colt cylinder.

[majorKAP]

Oct 30, 2010 18:23:16 GMT -5 Lil Dudey said:

I would buy the 45 Colt cylinder so you can use both.

That's is awfully generous of lildudey. If he is willing to buy a 45 Colt cylinder for you to use, take him up on the offer!



You know, the ROA uses #10 nipples. If you happen to be using #11 caps and find them a bit loose, having to pinch them for a snug fit, that could be the cause of your misfires. I replaced mine with stainless #11 nipples and I use #11 caps. Never had a misfire since.

Really though, as far as the extra cylinder for 45 Colt....save your money. They work, yeah, but they're slow to empty and reload, much like what you're doing now. Plus, you'll be limited to black powder or cowboy action type loads. The cost of one of them puts you awful close to the cost of a good used 45 Blackhawk.

On second thought, heck, it's your money. Do what you want!

[blkhawk73]

The OA's are fantastic looking revolvers and I've been tempted quite a few times by them but I just cannot get to the wallet to buy another black powder firearm.
However, now I got me thinking...maybe a ROA in .41 mag prehaps... Hmmmm...