Ruger Old Army foresight....

[TFoley]

It cannot have escaped any ROA shooters that like most every other BP revolver of their ilk, they shoot kinda high - mine, with the backsight cranked down flat, shoots almost 14" high at 25m.

A couple of us here recall that once upon a time, Ruger offered a higher foresight - not made avaialble here in UK since I'm still awaiting shipment of mine since 1987....

Question is - anybody here know where we can lay our paws on a couple of the ROLL-PINNED version of the taller foresight? I've had more luck talking to Mars than I have to Ruger....they really do seem to have forgotten that the most important people in their lives are not the executive board, but the folks who buy their products.

TIA

tac

 

[Maven]

I've had the same experience with Ruger as you did tac. (They told me that parts for the ROA were scarce + they had NO higher front sights at all.) Since you're a fellow train enthusiast, you may want to get a pc. of HO scale flex track (Atlas, Peco), trim one of the cross ties/sleepers, rough it up, then epoxy it to the front sight. I fitted it so that it's pretty unobtrusive, especially since it was black [plastic] to begin with.

 

[Patocazador]

The fix is simple. I picked up some 1/8" thick flat stock and just cut a piece off, shaped it like my front sight, and pinned it in place (SS guns only).

After filing it down at the range to the desired POA/POI, I took it out, replaced it with JB Weld at the base and re-pinned. It hasn't moved in 2 years.

 

[TFoley]

The fix is simple. I picked up some 1/8" thick flat stock and just cut a piece off, shaped it like my front sight, and pinned it in place (SS guns only).

After filing it down at the range to the desired POA/POI, I took it out, replaced it with JB Weld at the base and re-pinned. It hasn't moved in 2 years.

Sir and Maven - thanks for resplondments.

All of the ROAs hereabouts have s/s frontsights, mine included [all stainless], as the blued ROA is a rare thing indeed - only ever seen one here, me.

I'll prolly end up making a couple of bar stock items, as you suggest.

Best

tac

 

[rodwha]

Mine also shot high, but no where near that high. I contacted Ruger (maybe a year ago) about a sight and they sent me a Blackhawk sight for the .45 Colt, though I've yet to take it to a smith for installation. They sent it for free.

I've also heard of people filing down the rear sight.

 

[bpd303]

I have done the same for several friends. Pretty simple to make, just a little taller than the original.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Wow, had my ROA since 1981 and never found it to shoot high.

I thought most of the parts were stock parts used in other Ruger products. Odd that a Black hawk or red hawk sight would not work.

 

[TFoley]

Mine also shot high, but no where near that high. I contacted Ruger (maybe a year ago) about a sight and they sent me a Blackhawk sight for the .45 Colt, though I've yet to take it to a smith for installation. They sent it for free.

I've also heard of people filing down the rear sight.

The rear sight on all the ROAs here is the precision micro target version - only the shorter barrel blued ROA has the plain sights - not found here very much.

tac

 

[TFoley]

Wow, had my ROA since 1981 and never found it to shoot high.

I thought most of the parts were stock parts used in other Ruger products. Odd that a Black hawk or red hawk sight would not work.

My two Redhawks - one a Super, have totally different foresights to the ROA, and are long dovetails.

according to the Ruger rep I spoke to last year, there are NO ROA-only spares left on inventory. That includes the all-important cylinder base-pin and and the rear frame screws in stainless. As I've pointed out a few times already, the blued ROA is VERY VERY rare here in UK, so unless you are happy to use blued screws in a stainless gun, you are, uh, screwed.

tac

 

[rodwha]

And they are filing down that adjustable rear sight.

The front sight, being from an older model Blackhawk, isn't from the now impossible to find parts for, Old Army, which used the same parts from what I understand (what it was built from originally).

 

[rodwha]

But I've also seen a couple of people need to send their revolvers in (maybe a year ago) and get something done that was said to be impossible as there were no parts.

 

[don hepler]

A couple of years ago, I had a stainless ROA, and I think I put a Smith and Wesson, patridge sight off an "N" frame Smith in it. I sold it, so I can't be 100% sure.

 

[Patocazador]

The factory front sight blade for a SS .45 Colt Blackhawk is taller than the ROA front blade. Except for the placement of the pin hole (which varies with each individual gun) they are interchangeable. However, if the small added height of the Blackhawk sight isn't enough, you will need to make your own. When I contacted Ruger a couple of years ago, they told me they did not have replacement SS .45 Blackhawk blades in stock so I just made my own. They could have them now though.

Note: Even though the sights are for a SS gun, they are not stainless steel. They are blued steel. If you make your own, blacken/blue it after fitting it.

 

[TFoley]

But I've also seen a couple of people need to send their revolvers in (maybe a year ago) and get something done that was said to be impossible as there were no parts.

That's true, as I've posted here quite a few times.

ANYTHING that is not shared with the Blackhawk/Super Blackhawk no longer exists. I actually bought the very last four of the stainless rear frame screws about three years back.

So much for their much-vaunted 'support' for ten years after cessation of production...

The ROA was probably THE most popular and most-bought BP revolver of modern times.

tac

 

[gl1200a]

Ok, I'll show off a little bit :redface:
This gun has exactly what you want.
Contact David Clements, Clement's Custom Guns.
This is now my favorite ROA to shoot. Yes it's shortened. You cannot tell his work from factory.
Cylinders also deepened. It will shoot a rb in excess of 1100fps with Swiss powder.
He made the front sight. Said he would make whatever I wanted.
All it takes is a checkbook and a wife that don't know

 

[TFoley]

Ok, I'll show off a little bit :redface:
This gun has exactly what you want.
Contact David Clements, Clement's Custom Guns.
This is now my favorite ROA to shoot. Yes it's shortened. You cannot tell his work from factory.
Cylinders also deepened. It will shoot a rb in excess of 1100fps with Swiss powder.
He made the front sight. Said he would make whatever I wanted.
All it takes is a checkbook and a wife that don't know

Thank you for that.

1. Mrs tac shoots - that's how we met, almost 43 years ago.

2. Nice job on the ROA, too. Here in UK, of course, where we cannot carry them 'in the woods' - or anywhere else for that matter, such a conversion would be a range curio only.

3. Sending ANY firearm or part thereof to a furrin' country would end up costing way more than any work was worth, even just a cylinder, so getting the gentleman to do any 'improvement' to an ROA from here to there is just way more trouble than it's worth, especially with untouched guns fetching $800-1000 here nowadays.

I'll certainly ask him about the foresight though, checkbook damage notwithstanding. :thumbsup:

Best

tac

 

[JohnSmallTX]

I also needed a higher front sight for my ROA. A long time ago I contacted Ruger and they sent me the higher front sight replacement. The part number is MRO31011. Never got around to installing it - used JB Weld to build up the original - modified height is .350 (about 3/32" higher than the original). Still have the higher front sight (not for sale). It measures .452 from the flat that sets on the top of the barrel to the top of the sight. It needs a small hole drilled for the roll pin. Don't have any thoughts where this replacement sight could be sourced today.

 

[M. De Land]

How about getting a blade for a Ruger Black Hawk and modifying it?
I got a taller one for my Bisely from them in jig time,.
Actually it can't be much of a job to file one out of bar stock and rust blue it if you don't have a mill.

 

[Newtire]

Wow, had my ROA since 1981 and never found it to shoot high.

I thought most of the parts were stock parts used in other Ruger products. Odd that a Black hawk or red hawk sight would not work.

If you want to see 2 that do, come out to my range and I’ll show you a couple that do.

 

[FishDFly]

Wow, a six year old post that has been lying dormant..

Instead of changing the front sight out try this.

Change the wood grips to Pachymer rubber grips. The type where the grip screw goes through the bottom of the grip

When gripping your ROA, put your hand as high on the grip as it will go. You want the hammer touching the web between your thumb and index finger when the pistol is cocked. Take a black Marks-a-lot and trace this position on the grip as a registration mark. This works better on stainless pistols.

This high grip will lower your point of impact. Need to grip the pistol very firmly to reduce the upward rise of the barrel and cant your wrist down.

Try 22 grains of 3F and 11 grains of Cream Of Wheat. This should get you into the 10 ring using a 6 o'clock hold at 25 and 50 yards.

With most revolvers, a "low" hand hold will cause high shots.