Fooling with a Ruger Old Army

[oldarmy]

that's a great Idea. I will try it this weekend.

 

[vinnynj]

hay mec just got my new ruger going to shoot tomarow cant wati i saw brownells has a spring kit for the ruger if im inerputating it right youyou can reduce triger pull bye 35% dont know if i will need it till i shoot it my question is it a bad idea to try the spring replacement on my own or should i take it to the gun smith has aney bodey tried doing this and if so how hard a job is it ps this gun handels like a dreem it aint no pieatta this thing is a tank

 

[mec]

Mine came with a 4 pound trigger which I reduced to 3 just by cutting 1 or 2 coils off the trigger return spring. I wouldn't do more unless I had a spare handy ( easily gotten from ruger). I suspect that you will have no trouble putting in the spring kit. It probably consists of a lighter main spring and a lightened trigger return. The only concern would be to make sure the hammer fall is still heavy enough to pop the caps- usually is with a single action. Getting the main spring off the strut is a bother as it and the retaining saddle at the bottem tend to fly off at high velocity, get lost or hit you in the eye.

The other thing to avoid is loosing the spring/plunder trigger return or letting the spring/plunder hand spring fall out of the frame after you get the grip frame off.

I predict that you will find yourself with a lightened trigger pull and no problems.

I took mine out and shot it with H777 yesterday. Velocities around 1040 with the 35 grain black powder measure falling right between pyrodex p and Swiss fffg. 35 grains of whatever seems to be the optimum ball load for my revolver. Less and the powder is loose behind the bullet- more, and my groups open up. With the .457 ball and the h777, my extreme spread was just like the other powders and my 6 shot group was 1.8" at 60 feet.
I also tried some .454 hornady balls. Some of them seated fine-even shaving a ring of lead. Others rolled into the chamber and must have been a bit undesized. These recoiled forward - a no good circumstance.

 

[vinnynj]

ok sounds good in ging to order springs monday if i get in a mess can you talk me through ? will try goex 3f and 777 3f tomarow iv heard you can shoot 4 f goex through this gon did you try or ame i looking for a problem or at the least no accuracy ps will this gun do the job on bambie no need to talk shot placement just enough snot out to maby 25 yds

 

[mec]

Get your balls or bullets up to 1000 fps- easily done and it will shoot through a deer or at least park under the skin on the far side. A lot of people shoot deer with them and report good results.

4fg. I had a friend who would use nothing else in his 1960s, brass framed navy and a dragoon or so. He said the 4f fouled less than ff or fffg. Some people think it might raise pressuers too much but I doubt that any black powder will do that.

 

[LEE3370]

Hello mec,
To remove the hammer spring and strut, cock the hammer, look at the strut and you will see a hole in it. Put a small screwdriver or allen wrench through it and let the hammer down. The strut and the spring falls out as one unit. I found this out the hard way, like to never found the spring.
Lee

 

[mec]

Absolutely. But, if you want to replace the mainspring with a lighter one from a trigger pull kit, you have to take the pin out and remove the spring from the strut. It is best to clamp the top end in a vice and then capture the spring retainer with vice grips to keep everything from flying away.

 

If the #11's are too tight, why not just chuck each nipple in your drill and take them down a little on a grinding stone so the 11's fit right? Just be sure to keep the taper, and go a little at a time and then try a cap on them until you get them all right. Shouldn't take that long to do.

I've done this sort of thing for my guns from time to time. However, I recommend you use a fine grit stone with a little water with dishsoap as a lubricant. Go slow, lube well and don't over heat the nipple. Be sure to keep checking the fit with a dead cap. You can deaden a cap with Hoppe's No.9.

:results:

 

[Rebel]

"You can deaden a cap with Hoppe's No.9."

Ya hear that Rat, we found a good use for that Hoppes of yours. ::

 

[Myra lou]

Yeh, I would like to get a dozen #10 nipples for my 'Old Army'.......I must have 10,000 #10 [email protected]...... :thanks:

 

[oldarmy]

I was not happy that Ruger changed the size of their nipples and didn't bother to change the manual.
I also bought 1000 #10 and couldn't get my favorite B/P revolver to work for nothing.
I had a couple of sets of nipples for the ruger anyway and honed them down a little on a sharpening/whet stone. They work fine now.
It took a little work.
Myra Lou are you the same person that is also on the CMP forum?

 

[Myra lou]

Yup, it's me......what gave me away.....the name or the dots?......Myra Lou is the name of the street I live on.......john......

 

[Smokin6Gun]

Get your balls or bullets up to 1000 fps- easily done and it will shoot through a deer or at least park under the skin on the far side. A lot of people shoot deer with them and report good results.

4fg. I had a friend who would use nothing else in his 1960s, brass framed navy and a dragoon or so. He said the 4f fouled less than ff or fffg. Some people think it might raise pressuers too much but I doubt that any black powder will do that.

Hiya Mec how ya been. FFFFg loaded to the same gr. measuremnt as FFFg will increase pressure. Thats why they call it frizzin primer powder. Not pistol powder. Anyway, I know about it an jus' passin info on .. use it how ya wanna, but remember you heard it here.
:hatsoff:

 

[Smokin6Gun]

Did you have the Target Competition model 1858 Rem or just the CVA outta the box? Cause in those years you mentioned, and there after. That Euro Arms and simular models have taken the International Championships more than Ruger had. that's one reason they dropped off some. Main reason is because they are not a replica of anything they are concidered a modern BP revolver. At Rondevous useually they will lt you compete, but not at some Silouette Shoots that require authentic reproductions. Don't get me wrong they are a very good gun, but for me you can't beat a Rem 1858.
:imo:

 

[mec]

mine was a standard revolver. I remember it had a dovetailed front sight like the current uberties but was prone to break the hand spring.

I believe that the guy stomped me with the ruger because he had the trigger down around one pound. Actually, he only beat me by a couple of shots but I'm a sore looser.

 

[nvbirdman]

On the old model Blackhawks and the Ruger Old Army it was an old trick to replace the trigger spring with the spring from a ballpoint pen. Cut it, stretch it, if you screw it up, throw it away and try again. :m2c:

 

[mec]

I think I vaguely remember that. I know we were using ballpoing springs for SOMETHING>

 

[mec]

I see that I didn't mention that that group with the Buffalo bullets was at 50 yards. I was sitting on the ground with the gun resting over my knees and clocking each shot.