Getting Ruger Old Army soon

My local seller had this Old Army in stock for a while and I've been thinking about it. Couple days ago, he announced 50% off for all Ruger, Colt and Remington revolvers. I've decided to finally get rid of my old Beretta 71 and turn the money into a nice BP revolver.
Should pick it on Friday.
Any known production flaws I should check before paying?

Also willing to hear some tips about loading and such....I've been around muzzleloaders quite a bit, though never had a percussion revolver before. Would like to try those combustible paper cartridges.

Welcome to the "dark side!"
Shooting a BP revolver will result in many smiles. A load of 30 grns of BP under a round ball will be all you'll need. Just be sure to clean thoroughly after shooting.
No flaws that I'm aware of!

Thanks
I've googled around for information and the opinions vary about the specific ball diameter. Need to know which mold shall I get.
Would also like to get conical bullet mold for making paper cartridges.
And how about the classic grease vs. WonderWads?

he announced 50% off for all Ruger, Colt and Remington revolvers.

Click to expand...

Wish they had deals like that around here (unless he raised the price 50% before announcing the sale of course).....

I use .457 ball which works well.... I use cream of wheat as my wad under the ball. 40g of powder (777) and no grease.

Enjoy. At a gun show I saw 4 Old Armys. A pair of SS 5 1/2" fixed sighted revolvers for $1800, and two adjustable sighted revolvers (one blued and one SS) at reasonable prices. Since I was looking for a blued 5 1/2" fixed sighted Old Army, I passed em' up.

Get the .457 as noted above.
I'd NOT invest in a conical type bullet as most haven't proven to be any better in the Old Army's.

Thanks, everyone. I'll start with roundball and see.
Here's the photo from seller's site (I'll have it on Friday).
Cost me 3000 CZK ~$150

Wow, That is a great price. I see proof marks on it. We do not have proof marks in the U.S.A. I hope that your revolver really does come with those brass grips. If it does there are folks on our forum who would probably want know the serial number.

Yes, the price was really cool. I was lucky to check their site likely just minutes after they announced the sale.
We have proof marks on all guns. Need to have either our own, or some of other countries accepted mark. Also some military markings are enough for our red tape.

Congratulations! you have a really enjoyable gun.I would recommend you load the cylinder off the gun on a loading tool as Old Army parts are becoming harder to come by especially the loading lever which can be bent if one forgets to turn the screw back to it's proper position before ramming a ball into cylinder. I use 30 grains of Goex 3f blackpowder w/a lubed felt wad as stated above.I also find that Remington #10 caps fit the nipples best.Hope this helps.

Thanks.
I'll see about loading the cylinder separately...among other things I'm a reenactor and I got used to load my other muzzleloaders as they were used back then, don't like much range gear around it. I'll be careful with the lever though, thanks for the warning.

If that gun has a factory brass grip frame,, then you have a $300 grip frame, and a free gun to boot!
VERY good score!
Could you share the serial number? We might can help to see if it shipped with a factory brass grip frame. Also, the factory grip frames have markings cast in them, under the grips. MR3-DB. Look for that.

Some interesting info about ROA.
http://www.dixieslugs.com/images/ROA_complete_.pdf
I like the wonder wads. Much less mess, which is part of BP shooting, but I don't care for the grease.

I assume the seller only had one piece in stock, so the photo should be the actual gun I'm getting, but will see on Friday for sure.
I had no idea brass grips were so valued on these. Surely looks cool though. Guess I could arrange casting a new small serie of these grip frames if the demand is so high, though I know the real value is in the originality.

Really looking forward to try it. Will make nice companion to my SxS caplock shotgun.

Thanks for that pdf link, some interesting information there!

That was a great find!

My favorite way to load round balls is to fill the chambers level full with Pyrodex RS which compresses easily under the ball then top the chamber level full again with Crisco. This load saves the time it takes measuring powder charges and recoil is still light compared to conical 220 grainers which will make your ROA recoil like an old fashioned .45 Colt cartridge revolver.

I like two 220 grain Lee molds. The first is their round nose made for the ROA. Its shank enters the chambers easily then the rear of its ogive which is slightly over chamber diameter tightly seals out flash gap flame like a .457" ball. The second is Lee's REAL [rifling engaged at loading] rifle bullet. It is tapered slightly to easily start then seal tight. Lightly compressed loads of either FFFg or FFFFg black powder are accurate with both molds. Although FFFFg is usually only used in flint lock flash pans or the get damp percussion rifle charges to light, its use in ROAs is factory approved and might raise the velocity slightly.

We don't have Pyrodex here (at least not regularly) but I have enough blackpowder to experiment with my loads a bit. I ordered a Lee .457 roundball mold yesterday.

You asked about loading guidelines, with paper cartridges. I tried this once with my Santa Ana copy of the Remington New Army (very close to the Ruger Old Army), after buying a small brochure called "Self-Consuming Paper Cartridges for the Percussion Revolver", by W.J.Kirst. I THINK I got it from Brownell's. The brochure is a good starting-point, and I intend to do it again with a couple modifications (such as paper cartridge diameter length and diameter). It only cost a couple dollars (the brochure) and was well worth it as a starting point.
As far as conical bullets are concerned, the brochure only cites round balls. And, conical bullets are EXTREMELY difficult to find commercially, unless one wishes to get a mold and cast their own.
Hope this helps.

I don't mind casting the conical bullets.
Thanks for the book advice, I'll see if I can get it soewhere. Brownells does ship overseas, but they tend to use higher postage rates for that, even for rather small items that could easily travel much cheaper. I also watched several youtube vids that show various ways to make the cartridges.
I'll surely start with powder and roundball (and maybe make something like the wonder wads, I saw guys homemaking those as well), then see how much I like the gun and whether or not am I going to shoot it frequently. But, having a mold, having access to cheap scrape lead and getting free blackpowder now and then...this may be actualy my cheapest way to shoot, other than .22 of course.

A real bagain.IMHO
Steve

4 hours left till I get there and pick it up

We await your report on what it is!