Ruger Old Army Loading

[Grovere]

Have been shooting rifles for a long time, but the urge for a revolver. I got a Ruger Old Army and need some advise on the Lee Conical bullet. How much compression can one apply to the powder? I am going to try 3F T-7, AP and real black. I put 35grs into the cylinder and it filled to about .358" from the mouth. The Lee bullet is .610" long. Which means that I would have to compress the powder .252", is this going to be too much? Thanks for your help.

 

[Zonie]

Although I don't own a Old Army, I think I can say with confidence you will never be able to compress that much powder 1/4 of an inch.

I think your choice is to reduce the powder charge or use a shorter slug.

With the typical loading lever on a Colt or Remington I have found that that with black powder a compression of about 1/8 inch is a maximum without risking damage to the loading lever.

zonie

 

[rebel727]

You're not going to compress real bp that much. try 30 grs. with the conical.

 

[mykeal]

Or better yet, ditch the conical all together and go to a round ball. You'll get better accuracy with a round ball in the ROA.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

If I was U think I'd 'sneak up' on the max charge. try 30 first, I know that would fit. I shoot Lee's in my ROA, they do great due to the 'reduced heel'.
a tip - an empty(fired) 7.62X39 (AK47 or SKS) case holds 32 gr. 3F, that and a felt wad overpowder then Lee slug leaves little room in mine. maybe room for 2-3 more grains but I ain't sweatin' it. BP does not compress quite as much aa PYRO (which comes in 30 gr. pellets) but mine seems to group just a tad tighter with Holy Black

 

[Brian the Brit]

I too had little success with Lee conicals and found round balls to be both more accurate and much easier to load.

Accuracy improved if the powder was compressed slightly so I used 30 grains BP (by volume), 1/4" felt wad, .457" ball and Emmert's Lube over the ball.

Recently I started experimenting with 30 grain BP combustible paper cartridges (made out of cigarette paper) which did away with the need for wads but tended to leave unburnt residues in the chambers.

My final and most successful development was a 30 grain BP tinfoil cartridge made from kitchen aluminium foil. (Colt patented waterproof, machine-made tinfoil loads with picket bullets in the 1840s I think). Ignition was excellent provided I remembered to prick the base of each before loading and the chambers were clear after shooting.

Sadly, I'm a lousy pistol shot so I sold the Old Army a couple of weeks ago to raise money for a flintlock rifle. BP pistols are such fun though that I could well be tempted back by a Uberti Colt 1860.

Brian (founder member BCLBD) - British Campaign for Larger Barn Doors :haha:

 

[pulaski]

Get rid of the conicals , there accuracy is OK at best . The OA is designed for round balls and does best with a load of 3f black .
If the gun is new it's going to shoot a little high untill you get over a hundred rounds through it. After that it will settle down .
I have several that shoot best with 22-28g.of black powder . The one I use most can put ten inside 2" at 25yds.
Best of luck with maybe the finest BP revolver made. (IMHO)

 

[Geraldo]

If the gun is new it's going to shoot a little high untill you get over a hundred rounds through it. After that it will settle down .

Why would the POI change with use?

 

[Blizzard of '93]

methinks you should dis-regard the 'shooting high' post and get a taller front sight blade. also conicals do very well in my ROA, I cast them using Lee mould. 220 grs. more punch than a ball. I would choose them over balls. but try both and decide for yourself. felt wad overpowder tightens groups IMO and from my experience.

 

[pulaski]

Geraldo , (IMHO) The POI shift is a result of the barrel becoming smoother . Less drag , less dwell time , lower POI

 

[Mulebrain]

Sometimes the so called better mouse trap is not really better at all. Conicals have been proven time and time again of falling short when it comes to accuracy in a pistol.

I agree with others forget conicals, and go with 30 grains and round ball :thumbsup:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Oh yeah? I've heard that said but it ain't in my experience. the Lee conical slugs I cast shoot as good if not better than RB's, 'specially at longer range. and have more energy on target. if that was the case modern cartridge guns would still be using RB's.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Modern tests agree with you about the round ball vs. conical debate. See my above post about these tests and how the round ball proved superior to any conicals except in penetration.

PENETRATION POST

 

[Blizzard of '93]

having shot both RB and slugs (have a RB mold also) I'll take the slugs. modern guns would still be loaded with 'em if they were more effective then slugs.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Modern ammunition isn't loaded with balls because of lubrication problems. The test showed the 1860 with a round ball load was superior to the .45 LC with a 255 grain round-nose flat-point, it's standard set up through the last 134 years.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

h----s*** John Moses Browning and Sam Colt put heavy slugs in their pistols for some reason besides inadequate lube. I shot RB's in my ROA (bought a mold when I got it) until I got me a Lee conical mold. ever so often I still shoot RB thru it but my hunting load is the slug. dead hogs tell no tales.