How many own a Ruger Old Army?

[Rebel]

"I read somewhere, maybe an article by John Taffin, that Ruger proofed the ROA with full chambers of Bullseye."
PLEASE DON'T ANYONE TRY THIS TO SEE IF IT WORKS. RUGER MAY HAVE DONE IT, BUT WE DON'T KNOW THAT FOR SURE. AND EVEN IF THEY DID, IT IS STILL NOT A SAFE PRACTICE.

 

[RiverRat]

I bought one new in the 80's for $300 and still have it. It is my only Remington style revolver.
The rest are all Colts. :grin: I loaded that Ruger to the max and never had a worry about it!
If I had to head to the hills with only one bp revolver, the Old Army would be the gun!

 

[Zonie]

This isn't aimed at you Rebel, but I wonder where the folks who wrote the statement you quoted got their information.

As most of us who reload smokeless know, Bullseye is one of the fastest burning powders around and it produces a lot of pressure.
A friend of mine bought some for his .357 Magnum loads and after dropping in a 6 grain starting load we both agreed something must be wrong. The load didn't even start to fill the case.
Of course when he fired it it was obvious that it was a fairly hot load.

Anyway, the hottest Bullseye load I see at the moment is 11.5 grains and that one is for a .44 Magnum. It generates over 33,000 PSI.
I'm betting a Ruger OA chamber will hold over 25 grains of Bullseye and it would be a very cold day in Hell before I would even dream that a ROA or any other pistol could survive that kind of load.

Folks: Don't be tempted to load any smokeless or any type in a ROA or anything else that is intended for black powder. We want you all in one piece.

 

[Rebel]

Zonie, that quote was from the post before mine by Bullrunbear. I was just warning folks not to try it themselves as it is not a good idea at all. Bullrun bear did not suggest it either, just said that he had seen it written somewhere. :thumbsup:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I just got back from shooting mine, I jacked up the 4F 'prime' to a .32 acp caseful. stout enough, no need for any smokeless in zer.

 

[BullRunBear]

Zonie and Rebel,

You guys are correct and I should have been A LOT MORE EMPHATIC about NOT using smokeless powder. Obviously I wasn't suggesting it but your re-emphasis is certainly warrented. Sincere thanks.

BTW, my memory isn't completely gone. The statement about Bullseye came John Taffin's book "Single Action Sixguns" page 151. He makes the same caution about only using black powder.

Regards, Jeff