Ruger "Old Army" questions.......

[Dantforth]

Can someone give an opinion please.....a first year production OA blued vs. a 1993 Stainless.....I would assume that the early OA would be superior in fit, finish and function. Is this the case? Secondly, the stainless has a 45 Colt cylinder. Would that stainless cylinder fit and work in the old production blued version? Tks. Dave

 

[contender]

Well, I happen to have a few early produced OA's. Both the blued & stainless ones are as well built as the others. So to me, fit & finish is a moot question.
As to one of those conversion cylinders, I have no clue. I don't have any nor see the need. I have a few OM 45 Colts that I can use for that ammo.

 

[G2]

If your getting it for shoot'n I would go Stainless, All Steel & Wide Trigger get the thumbs up.

Now with that said my Shooter is a early Blue gun,,,
BUT has Brass Grip Frame & Wide Trigger. :wink:

I personally don't care for the early aluminum GF's that came on the early Blue guns.
FWIW; later on, Ruger switched to Blued Steel Grip Frames with the Wide Trigger.

And not that it really matters but the guns after ~77 have the "Warning" stamped on the barrel, (looks out of place)
The Script of o'l, used for "SRCo" is some of the nicest looking font ever used,,, IMO.

As for the 45 Colt Conversion Cylinder, there ok, will work, They come apart if you use ANYTHING other than standard 45 colt loads. I have never understood the attraction other than easier clean up???
To me a day spent shooting a Old Army is a good day, nice and slow, the smell, the process. It makes one think about the shot a bit more.

 

[rugerguy]

I'm with G2 you're better all around with the later, stainless one......early stainless guns had casting flaws, pits, etc, all too often......but got it down pat for the latter guns. all depends really on the "price" bottom line and just what YOU want to do with it......the spare cylinder is a nice touch, but some can be costly, and the fit just may work on the other early gun, never know till you 'try'.....................
the stainless ROA cleans up very nicely, the blued ones look like 'crap' all too soon, show off all and any wear......

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Well,
I would go with the stainless one. No mine ARE NOT stainless they are Nickel plated and I wish they were SS.
Now about the conversion cylinder. First off I assume it is a 45 Colt conversion cyl. The reason I say that is because the early ROAs were called 44s ( the way it should have been) than I guess that confused a lot of folks so they were changed to 45s for the late guns.
The old BP guns went by DRILL size not by grove depth. Therefore a 44 Colt Walker, 44 Army and such were 45 cal. with different ball size say from .451-.457.
Now about how nice it is to have a conversion cyl. This is for those that don't have any and don't understand the reasons to have one. It does make it nice to load 45s with a full case of 3F Goex and a 250 Gr. bullet.
From an old post

Hey Guys,
Well I finally bit the bullet, OK a PUN, and bought two 45 conversion cylinders for my ROAs. These were made for me by Chris at Howell Conversions. They were R&D Conversions at one time. I wanted fluted cyls. with a Black Powder Bevel on them. So I called the factory, who also have the best prices. :wink:
Well let me tell you about Howell and Chris. They did outstanding work, they are the same overall as the C&Bs, they were sent when I was told they would be by one day. Chris called me to tell me he would be ONE DAY LATE. Since I was buying two he paid for shipping and no charge for the BP bevel. The price was as stated. So how much better can it get?
Now I know some of you guys will say geeeeeeeeeeee you can get a whole gun for the price of a cylinder. Well let me know when you find a 3 screw 45 Vaquero that will also shoot C&B. I don't care what you do to a new model it still feels like a new model. Yea I have a few. :roll:
Anyway now when I go to a match and it is raining I don't have to load C&Bs in the rain Trust me I have and it ain't fun. Also I can spend more time practicing and not so much time loading.
The cartridges you see are 45 Colt and the 45 Cowboy Special. The CBS allows you to load less powder (money 21Grs. verse 38Grs.) and you don't need a filler for less recoil. A full case of 3F Goex and a 250 Gr. bullet in a Colt case will get your attention. I loaded the CBS 21 3F and a 200 Gr. bullet It is still a stout load.
So all you guys that want a rimed 45 ACP here ya go.
I really enjoy the ROAs now they are a lot More versatile and will be shooting this weekend in a big match.
Thanks,
Jim

 

[kendak]

am I to understand you have to remove cyl. then the top of cyl. comes off & then load rounds & then put the top back on & reinstall cyl. back in the gun ? WAAAAAAAAAY too much trouble!...I can have my OA loaded almost as fast as my buddy with a .45 Blackhawk...fill 2 cyl. full of 777 seat 2 lubed rb turn & do it twice more you're loaded... stick the caps on & you're good to go....if it's raining go home or to the LGS.....can't understand buying a short barrel BP weapon BP needs a long ["burn time"] = long barrel or buying a weapon with no adj. sights ????????????...JMHO...take care & have fun

 

[Wyandot Jim]

am I to understand you have to remove cyl. then the top of cyl. comes off & then load rounds & then put the top back on & reinstall cyl. back in the gun ? WAAAAAAAAAY too much trouble!...I can have my OA loaded almost as fast as my buddy with a .45 Blackhawk...fill 2 cyl. full of 777 seat 2 lubed rb turn & do it twice more you're loaded... stick the caps on & you're good to go....if it's raining go home or to the LGS.....can't understand buying a short barrel BP weapon BP needs a long ["burn time"] = long barrel or buying a weapon with no adj. sights ????????????...JMHO...take care & have fun

Well Dude, Since you are a new guy here I won't say you are full of crap. But I'm damn sure thinking it :wink: Guess your buddy is real slow at reloading
Number one in CAS competition shooting C&Bs have to be fixed sights. Now on your thinking about barrel length. These started life as 7 1/2", which I shot that way for 6 years, when cut to 5 1/2" the velocity stayed pretty much the same around 800FPS with 147 gr. ball. Yea it does make a difference in a rifle with 80-150 Gr. I also shoot a few BP rifles in competition
Anytime you want to have a little race against C&B and loading cartages with the conversions cyl. just let me know :roll: In the last 8 years I have probably shot those ROAs 8,000 10,000 times. So when you get past your first 100 rounds down range let me know and we will have a little old-fashioned gunfight on the streets of Gunsmoke, Texas.
Most of the people I know from the South have manners. You might remember that. Yea you are entitled to your option.
Just yours wasn't much help to the original post and more about what I have done wrong

By the way I know you have to have some class to like Poppen Johnnies
I sat many an hour on 1940s early 50s As and Bs as a kid in the 50s working on farms

 

[kendak]

OK my friend don't get your BP up just trying to pick your brain a little in fun ...been shooting C&B pistols since 1961 ...I've shot quite a few over a crony. & you'd be supprised how a little barrel length will increase FPS...my OA's run a rb at 1400fps....have never been around or seen CAS shooting so I don't know your equipment sorry...built varmint rifles for over 20yrs. just to shoot PD in & around N. TX. ,Dumas, Dalhart & north....you got a real nice looking pair of OA's but I still got to ask [now don't get mad cause I have a lot of friends in TX & also love to shoot your Pdogs] why spend all that time & money to make a copy of a Vaquero ?...is it a rule in CAS ?..BTW ;I shoot 150 to 200rds through my OA's every weekend on my range...I officially opologise for my post ...is there really a Gunsmoke,TX ?...take care

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Thanks for your apology and it is accepted with no hard feelings.
The C&B category requires guns to be fixed sights and you have to shoot one handed. Also all of the BP cartridge categories require fixed sights. At the speed and distance we shoot at the rear sight isn't that important. All I look at is the front sight and target. My runs of 10 rifle and 10 pistol and 4 shotgun with movement avg. 28-30 seconds.
Yes there really is a Gunsmoke Texas. It is the name of the CAS range about a hour from me :lol: :lol:
http://www.thss.org/
1400FPS is pretty quick. We are limited to 1000FPS max. I use about 23gr of Goex 3F and 777 in the 73 rifle at about 1350, Rifle max is 1400FPS
So I guess we aren't going to have a gunfight DANG :wink:

 

[Dantforth]

Thanks guys for all the help. Much wonderful information here. Questions answered. Regards, Dave

 

[contender]

This forum is fun.
We have a question about differences in a firearm, and we get different ideas & opinions. All of it is good.
What has happened is it opened a discussion about differences because different folks use the same firearms for different reasons.
'Ol Jim, now as a seasoned veteran of our Forum who is respected & known to be intelligent (sometime ) has chimed in with his experiences. To those of us who've been around a while know that Jim has won a few CAS matches with his C&B guns. His experiences stem from putting some Ruger OA's through serious competition & winning. But, as he noted, there are rules in CAS in reference to his division. For his purposes, those Rugers make smoke & ring the steel quite well!
Then we have a fairly new member, kendak, who in a round-about way, called out the oldtimer. (Here at least.) Made me think that Ed would have some new material for our "Tackdrivers" posts.
But, alas,, as a few cold ones were consumed, and the different ways the guns were used & the experiences of our new guy were revealed, it was discovered that both had good reasons for their comments.
So they bellied up to the Buckhorn Bar & had a few more, toasting a new friendship, and respect for each other.

Gotta love this Forum! (And the OP got his questions answered!)

 

[Hylander]

I'm with G2 you're better all around with the later, stainless one......early stainless guns had casting flaws, pits, etc, all too often......but got it down pat for the latter guns.

About when did the improvement take place ?