Old Army - any tips?

[Wyandot Jim]

Ok... I see those points... Thanks.

Looks like it's Pyrodex for starters and if they arrive in time, some .457 balls and some over-priced Thompson lubed wads.

I guess it's cornmeal for the lesser charges and no grease unless the balls ar not shaving.

Sound like a fair start?

If you want to use Pyrodex just remember that it is more corrosive than the other subs and BP. I would find a charge that didn't require a filler. Just makes it a PITA to load. The BP charge recoil isn't much different with 20 or 30 grs. Bullet weight makes the difference. A ball is only 147gr so not much recoil. I shoot my Walker with close to 60grs. and not bad.
As long as you have a snug fitting ball you will be fine. Just make sure to use tight fitting caps. That is where most of the chain fires come from. Yep wads cost way to much and are not needed IMHO. Most all the CAS guys also feel the same way.
Capt Geo Baylor a CAS has a very good site for BP. Have known and shot with him for 10 years. http://www.curtrich.com/bpsubsdummies.html give it a look

 

[cagedodger]

"no grease unless the balls ar(e) not shaving"

Something I thought I'd never read on Ruger Forum. :shock: :lol:

Cage 8)

 

[eveled]

Has anybody used wads to shoot bird shot from their Old Army? Seems like it would be fun to shoot at some hand thrown targets. Ed

 

[tacotime]

Not me - I haven't shot anything out of it yet. Package of first round balls delayed by blizzard...

 

[VAdoublegunner]

Rule #1: They are fun to shoot! So do it often. I have 2 7.5" SS adj sight ones, and a 5.5" SS fixed sight model. They get used a lot, more than I ever anticipated, in fact. They can be remarkably accurate.

Rule #2: Read the manual. Then read it again.

Rule #3: Do not, even for a moment, think you can put it away without at least some rudimentary form of cleaning after a shooting session, even if you intend to do a more thorough cleaning "later". I have my own special "moose milk" concoction, mostly Dawn/ballistol/alcohol/water and some other stuff, that gets sprayed into the cylinder charge holes, around the nipples, and swabbed down the bore, and a general cursory wipedown. You can clean it properly in hot water later at home.

I load as much Goex 3F as I can (ca.35-37gr) and still seat a pure lead .457 roundball (that I roll in some lube before seating) just below the cylinder mouth, without a wad, use a Rem #10 cap and set them with a final push from a wooden dowel to seat them firmly on the nipples (most chain fire problems are more related to an improperly seated cap than at the muzzle if a properly sized ball is used, and that means .457 w/o a wad), then fire away. I find it helps to tilt the muzzle up when cocking to keep the fired cap pieces out of the works, but this is always subject to your experience handling the revolver and range safety considerations.

Rule #4: TWO of them fired cowboy action gunfighter style, i.e. one in each hand firing sequentially, is even more fun that shooting one of them!

 

[eveled]

I know it has been said before, but it is a real shame that Ruger chose to discontinue these great revolvers. Is there any chance they will come back? Ed

 

[cagedodger]

I know it has been said before, but it is a real shame that Ruger chose to discontinue these great revolvers. Is there any chance they will come back? Ed

Only if they can bring William B. Ruger back...

He once said they would continue to produce the Old Army as long as he was alive.

Cage 8)

 

[CraigC]

Pistol flasks are made for loading and always have been. Safety police concerns aside, A LOT of people for A LOT of years have been using pistol flasks to load their sixguns and I've never heard of one blowing up. If it were such a danger, do you really think they would still be marketed in this litigious society? Like some other myths and legends (handloads for self defense), lots of fear-mongering but little to no evidence to support this irrational fear.

If .454" balls fit, use `em. :roll:

 

[Kanook]

An unleaded fuel nozzle fits real easy in a diesel pipe, guess it fine to use.

The proplem is everybody ASSumes that they new shooter will go out and buy the same set up that they are using. WRONG. I've got friends that use a powder horn with no stopper. To use a brass powder flask with the easy pour stopper wasn't mentioned untill I said not to use a flask.

Let the new shooter LEARN the RIGHT way first and then alter to suit their needs as they see fit. To start out with short cuts is not safe for the sport at all.

I still can't figure stating that using .454 balls is fine without saying that his cylinder is undersized to begin with. Still, all the money in those custom revolvers and not having the cylinders opened. Don't get me wrong, I've only had 20 to 25 ROA's and not one had undersized chambers. Guess I've been lucky.

 

[Rclark]

I've only had 20 to 25 ROA's and not one had undersized chambers.

Gads ... and I thought I was lucky to pick just 'one' up .

 

[CraigC]

An unleaded fuel nozzle fits real easy in a diesel pipe, guess it fine to use.

That's a dumb analogy.

Again, please provide proof why one shouldn't use a flask. You obviously have a strong opinion on this. Is it based on fear and second or third-hand information or fact? People have been using copper flasks to load their pistols for over 150yrs. Surely there is some historical fact to support your position.

Nobody said anything about powder horns, you said one shouldn't use a flask and all the flasks I've seen have a valve.

The issue of ball size is real easy. I really don't give a damn what the manual says. Ruger also says not to use handloads in their guns but we all do it. If a .454" ball works, there is no reason not to use it. If they prove too small, then it's real easy to switch to .457's.

 

[Hammerdown77]

This is real easy.

Powder horn or flask without a cutoff = Don't pour directly into the muzzle/chamber.

Powder horn or flask with a cutoff = Safe to pour into the muzzle/chamber.

Granted, the chances of something being left in a cap and ball revolver's cylinder that is still hot enough to ignite powder is virtually nil. The chamber of a cap and ball cylinder is nothing like the long tube of a muzzle loading rifle or pistol, and I doubt you could even get the powder back in there fast enough before whatever was smoldering at the back of the cylinder had been burnt out. You'd have to be trying pretty hard.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

An unleaded fuel nozzle fits real easy in a diesel pipe, guess it fine to use.

The proplem is everybody ASSumes that they new shooter will go out and buy the same set up that they are using. WRONG. I've got friends that use a powder horn with no stopper. To use a brass powder flask with the easy pour stopper wasn't mentioned untill I said not to use a flask.

Let the new shooter LEARN the RIGHT way first and then alter to suit their needs as they see fit. To start out with short cuts is not safe for the sport at all.

I still can't figure stating that using .454 balls is fine without saying that his cylinder is undersized to begin with. Still, all the money in those custom revolvers and not having the cylinders opened. Don't get me wrong, I've only had 20 to 25 ROA's and not one had undersized chambers. Guess I've been lucky.

OK Let me see if I can post this where you can understand this. A ROA has a .452 barrel so an undersised cyl. where a .454 ball works is good.Just because Ruger states it needs to be a .457 does that make it right for all of their ROAs? As long as a .454 ball seals what seems to be yoru problem with that??? You have already been told by others that a PISTOL FLASK works and is safe. That is why they make them.
Sorry but dumb crap from guys like you want to make me go puke. Yea this is the first post I have ever posted about what a DA a person is.
Oh yea I really don't care how many ROAs you had or have. Ya might figure out how to use them. You are a real piece of work fer sure

 

[Kanook]

So I'm a DA for trying to teach safety. Since you are high and mighty, perhaps you should contact the NRA and let them know how to teach the program.

When somebody wants to learn how to reload, we all say get a manual. But when it comes to BP pistols, nobody says take a class.. It's not about money, my classes have been for free.

And owning all the old army revolvers doesn't mean jack, except that all of mine have been the same size. Just like all your shooting, sooner or later Murphy will strike.

Yes, I have seen a flashover of 30 grains, so I will play it safe.

We are in a no win, who's is bigger. You do it your way and I will do it mine.

 

[CraigC]

If the NRA has a class that teaches its students that loading blackpowder revolvers from a pistol flask is wrong, then the class needs to be changed. Just because somebody teaches it, doesn't make it right. Look at the crap they feed children about history.

Ruger and every other manufacturer do a lot of things for liability's sake. Ruger's manuals get written with heavy legal input. Something that gets printed in a manual shouldn't preclude us from using our own brains. Not everyone who buys a potentially dangerous product, like plastic garbage bags, is an idiot who needs to be saved from themselves. Cap `n ball shooters have to figure out what size balls their guns like all the time. My Dragoon won't work with .454's, I have to use .457's. Did a manual tell me that? No. The Old Army is no different. If you get a good ring when you seat .454's, there's no reason not to use them. Except that the safety police may jump down your throat.

 

[Montelores]

"Sorry but dumb crap from guys like you want to make me go puke. Yea this is the first post I have ever posted about what a DA a person is.
Oh yea I really don't care how many ROAs you had or have. Ya might figure out how to use them. You are a real piece of work fer sure"



Sort of reminds me of the joke about the airline pilot's response after getting chewed out on the radio by a cranky air traffic controller about some problem on a very congested frequency:

"Wasn't I married to you?" :wink:

Monty

 

[toysoldier]

Even if an exploding powder flask doesn't kill or maim, it does a gread job of tattooing. There was a mountain man who was called Black something (can't remember the rest) because of just such an incident. I worked with a guy who had significant facial tattooing (too much beer and an overloaded miniature cannon).

I wouldn't trust the cutoff valve in a flask to stop the flash of powder from entering the flask. Sure, they were designed for directly loading a firearm. Doesn't mean they were safe. They made shotgun barrels from damascus steel---you want something like that on your goose gun?

 

[CraigC]

Do you know how many damascus barrels were proofed for smokeless powder? A lot! The Double Gun Journal did a test a few years ago with a pair of identical Parker (or L.C. Smith) 12ga doubles. Similar vintage, one with fluid steel barrels, the other with nitro-proofed damascus. They tested them with incrementally higher pressure loads until catastrophic failure. The fluid steel barrels blew first, the damascus barrels withstood more pressure. Myth busted.

Besides, expecting your average old damascus barrel shotgun to withstand smokeless pressures is beyond its design parameters. Some can, some can't. Loading blackpowder into a blackpowder revolver with a blackpowder flask is EXACTLY what it was designed for.