I have wanted a revolver to carry with my 444S when hog hunting and I just picked up a well worn (mostly by holster) but tight Ruger Old Army .44 at a great price and have a few questions.

The serial # indicates that the gun was sold in 1974. The bore measures .451. What round balls and/or projectiles/powder should I purchase?

I would like to purchase one of the drop in cylinders to also shoot regular cartridges. If I purchase or locate one of the drop ins does that mean that the gun will then shoot .45 cal? If so, what cartridge do you recommend? What do I need to look out for?

Thanks folks,

Dave

I have wanted a revolver to carry with my 444S when hog hunting and I just picked up a well worn (mostly by holster) but tight Ruger Old Army .44 at a great price and have a few questions.

The serial # indicates that the gun was sold in 1974. The bore measures .451. What round balls and/or projectiles/powder should I purchase?

I would like to purchase one of the drop in cylinders to also shoot regular cartridges. If I purchase or locate one of the drop ins does that mean that the gun will then shoot .45 cal? If so, what cartridge do you recommend? What do I need to look out for?

Thanks folks,

Dave

What counts in cap-and-ball is the fit of the ball to the cylinder...and with the Ruger a .457" ball is normal. This will be a very tight fit...tight enough to shave a lead ring when you seat them with the rammer. The tighter the better for several reasons, but mainly for reducing the chance of chain fires.

Yes, they do make "drop in" .45colt cylinders to convert these to centerfire. With that in place, it will shoot normal .45 Colt ammo (but don't expect it to shoot to the same sight setting as with BP and ball). The only ones I've seen for the Ruger were R&D cylinders...these are two piece cylinders. The rear of the cylinder detaches and carries 6 seperate firing pins...the front of the cylinder has the chambers. Together, it looks pretty much like the percussion cylinder...the 6 firing pins look a bit like the 6 nipples on the precussion cylinder.

To load or unload, have to take the cylinder out of the gun, detach the rear firing pin section, and poke the case out. Slow, but still faster than loading a cap-and-ball.

ribbonstone,

Thank you sir.

Dave

I've had experience with the Kirst conversion cylinder, shooting cowboy loads (.45) through a Remington 1858 Uberti. Very accurate, and a wonderful set-up, as it's a five shot design which makes for a more straight through firing pin than the angled R&D. Either one is rated only for cowboy loads though, so you'd be limited to rounds not exceeding around 1000 fps.

SFT,

That is what I thought. I read a Guns Magazine review of the Old Army and this is some of what was written. Notice the Corbon streched it a little.

FIXED SIGHTED MODELS

PROJECTILE: Speer .475" round ball
CHARGE WEIGHT: 40.0 grains (by volume)
WAD: Thompson
CAP: CCI No. 11

Powder Grp (5 1/2") Grp (7 1/2") Velocity

Triple -7 FFFg 1 5/8" 1 1/4" 1,112
Pyrodex P FFg 1 1/2 " 1 1/4" 983
Goex FFFg 1 3/8" 1 1/4" 898

Group are four shots at 50 feet.

WITH R&D .45 COLT CONVERSION CYLINDER

Load Grp (5 1/2") Grp (7 1/2") Velocity

Cor-Bon 200-gr. JHP 7/8" 1 1/2" 1,036
Black Hills 250-gr. RNFP 1" 1 1/2" 716
PMC 250-gr. RNFP 1" 1 1/4" 724
Ultraxmax 250-gr. RNFP 7/8" 1 1/4" 770
Ultraxmax 200-gr. RNFP 1 1/8" 1" 739
3-D 255-gr. RNFP 1 3/8" 1" 638
4W 200-gr. RNFP 1 1/2" 1 3/8" 673
4W 250-gr. RNFP 1 1/8" 1 1/2" 668
Ten-X 250-gr. RNFP 3/4" 1" 786
OT 250-gr. / 6.0 gr. Red Dot 1 1/8" 7/8" 863

Group are four shots at 50 feet.

Yes, I really liked mine, and it is to date the most accurate pistol (or maybe the easiest not to miss with) I've ever owned. Probably due to the barrel length, I found shooting a clean stage pretty easy, but it was somewhat cumbersome to draw. Uberti is now making a 58 remington with shorter barrel, probably the same or close to your Ruger, and I believe both R&D & Kirst make conversion cylinders with loading gates so you don't have to take it out to reload. I always liked to buck and roar of about 22 grains of Triple F under a ball too.

Think Kirst does make a conversion cylinder...but to use that loading gate, will have to grind a pretty big chunk out of the left side of the recoil shield...and a lot of people don't like grinding on a gun. Used one on a .36 navy, and while it works fine and I can still substitute the original percussion cylinder (and to be truthful, that big ground slot does make capping the thing easier), it looks "goofy" that way.

Converted the mate to the first one with a R&D cylinder...these are the ones you have to take out to reload...as far as shooting ability, they are equal.

Still not sure about the loads...keeping with low pressure is best, and I'd exclued the hotter factory loads (CorBon) from the list.

The only converson that was a royal pain was the little 1849 .31. The .32SW cylinder (R&D) wasn't a "drop in"...took a good bit of fiddling to get that one to run right. In making it into a 6-shot .32SW, it had to have shallower bolt notches...shallow enough that if you don't ioncrease the bolt spring's strength, it will un-lock at firing. A little shaping of the bolt, a stronger spring, and some fitting of the hand got it running. BUT, then I had to re-work the percussion cylinder to get it to run on the modified lock work.

Haven't heard any reports of those problems with the Ruger (and take a look at how that hand works on the cylinder ratchet...that's an odd designe, but it works great); the owners tell me it was a true drop in.

Those cylinders dont come too cheaply...call it $220-$240...and they tempt some people into magnumizing. DOn't. Keep pressure in the low range for smokeless or use BP or a BP substitute.
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For the pressure, it's darned hard to beat the velocity earned of a BP load in .45colt....or in .38special, 32SW, or .38Colt for that matter. IT really does earn speeds that are hard to duplicate with smokeless at the same pressure level.

VTDW,
.475 roundball is a typo, should be .457.
Do NOT leave any airspace with blackpowder. If you want a lighter load, use a filler, or seat the ball, then insert a smaller ball and seat the first ball on the powder. I prefer filler. The rammer is too short to seat the ball on light loads.
I put in the powder, then fill to the brim with corn meal. Then seat the ball on top of it and butter it with your favorite lube. I use crisco, but it gets runny when the gun is hot.
Humpty

Since you want to carry it hunting, you probably won't have to worry about fillers. I've had my OA since about '74 and have never loaded light loads since I consider it a hunting piece. Have never tried it on anything over a 80-90lbs, but if something larger was there and the OA in my hand I would not hesitate. Use a good .457" ball, buy a bag of Ox Yoke Wonder Wads, T/C Bore Butter and 2F powder. Each chamber will take about 40-42gr of 2F, then seat a Wonder Wad(with the rammer) that you have smeared a good dab of Bore Butter on (I melt mine into the wad in the microwave for about 10 seconds, WHILE WIFE IS AWAY, then keep in sandwich bags), then follow with the ball. Will give around 1000fps depending on powder brand. Even though the round ball does not have the weight of a bullet, being pure lead gives it a vicious killing ability. It expands like you won't believe, but stays together and does not lose weight. After shooting game with RB loads you may not feel the need for the cartridge cylinder.