Ruger Old Army?

[M. De Land]

Says who ?
I have a good friend in his late 50's who consistently out shoots other metallic silhouette competitors who use modern conventional chunky adjustable sights.
Ol Scott fires a Ruger Vaquero using 44 Special rounds (his reloads) out to 125 metres (Australian range) with old Colt style fixed sights.
Why is he so accurate using the basic unmodified pistol ?
Because the mans intimately knowledgeable in regards to the weapons capabilities with that round and load out to range, and how to hold elevation wise.
Its all about experience and practise.

Imagine what he could do with a technnically better sight just as Elmer Kieth and Bill Jordan did!

 

[Bad Karma]

I’m with @Coinneach . There’s an edge in favor of large square sights but people can still use the smaller sights to very good effect.

I have an old Uberti which is capable of honest 1” 6 shot groups from a bench at 25 yards. Maybe even better than that but it’ about as good as I can do with a hand held revolver. The sights are small, but i have very good vision for an old guy and in bright sunlight I find no handicap to speak of. As a practical matter, since 1962 I’ve fired tens of thousands of round ball and bullets through this particular revolver and finding those tiny sights is so close to second nature that I can aquire its sight picture and fire in less time than almost any other pistol I’ve used.

for the Ruger, the fixed sights are very good. Smaller than the adjustables to be sure but squared away and with a nice square post in an appropriately sized notch. You can black the stainless sight and have it all.

Here’s that Uberti (John Wesley Hardin model… ;-) and a six .465” round ball over 30 grains of 3f Swiss with a dry wool 50 caliber wad, Remington #10 caps. This was fired from the tonnea cover of my truck. 50 yards.

There’ a thread on another site asking people to shoot these old replicas at 50 yards as an exercise to see what is possible and realistic, with guns of this type. (Remingtons are welcome too!)
Here’s another group fired at 20 yards offhand with a box stock Pietta.

It’s a pretty good looking pistol but not that impressive so far and sights are way down the list of reasons it’s not a great shooter.

Purty huh?

 

[Coinneach]

Imagine what he could do with a technnically better sight just as Elmer Kieth and Bill Jordan did!

I'm not railing against modern day sights applied to BP Revolvers, my point is that theres no shortage of guys doing quite well in matching them with the old style Colt sight system.

One thing that I've learned over 37 years of military shooting (both on the "one way" and "two way ranges) is that Handguns are far too often over-used out to ranges they we're never intended for nowadays.

That said, sure we can casually plink away pushing the limits out to range at metallic targets etc, but there's no comparison when its put up against the reality of armed combat particularly in the era setting of our beloved BP revolvers.

 

[Whughett]

I'm not railing against modern day sights applied to BP Revolvers, my point is that theres no shortage of guys doing quite well in matching them with the old style Colt sight system.

One thing that I've learned over 37 years of military shooting (both on the "one way" and "two way ranges) is that Handguns are far too often over-used out to ranges they we're never intended for nowadays.

That said, sure we can casually plink away pushing the limits out to range at metallic targets etc, but there's no comparison when its put up against the reality of armed combat particularly in the era setting of our beloved BP revolvers.

Good points all around. I’m no pistol competition shooter, I’ve never fired a round in competition, but I shoot Colts and Remingtons a lot. Two examples of out of box percussions with conventional sights in the hands of an amateur. Short barrel pistols. 15 yards with roundball.

 

[nhmoose]

Why twelve? One is enough for most folks...that's just plain greedy. No wonder they are hard to find in the US of A. Our local gunstore has SEVEN for sale. Three of them unfired, too.

Tough

 

[Pete453]

Bad karma, thats excellent shooting, and a fine 1860. I love the pictures of that gun. Its obviously an old friend. I bought an Uberti this winter, I'm setting it up with conicals for deer hunting, I'm looking forward to the day that gun looks like yours. Of 5 revolvers, its easily my favorite

 

[TFoley]

Tough

Say what you mean, electrons are cheap today.

 

[user 53713]

https://images.proxibid.com/AuctionImages/3777/150514/FullDetail/909.jpg
I have something like this, but no blackpowder cylinder...

 

[45D]

And this is the custom part you need to make to hold the trigger plunger spring in place on your new model grip frame. View attachment 146680

It‘s not much, I’ve seen them made from a spent .22 casing.

”
you’ll need one of the adapter methods below:

You can make the simple aluminum adapter shown below to fit in the NM GF behind the old model trigger or just use a .22 LR case to hold the return spring and plunger in place.

Either will need the one NM trigger return spring retaining pin closest to the trigger shown below to hold your OM trigger return spring/plunger adapter or .22 case in place. File a small notch in the .22 case head to nest on the retaining pin.

3] Or you can use an old model trigger with a shelf soldered on the back for the NM trigger return spring and GF like the Clements adapter trigger shown above.

4] The very easiest swap is a Ruger Old Army steel or SS old model style grip frame already designed for the old model plunger and return spring. They also have a wide trigger slot. The Clements adapter trigger with the shelf for NM return spring ground off is easier and cheaper than finding an OM wide trigger.”

OR!!!!!!
Even better, do away with the nasty spring and plunger altogether!!! The Ruger "cool factor" is lost when it's a "detractor" rather than an enhancement. You can feel that in all 3 screw Rugers.
I replace those with a "direct acting" coil which is a MUCH better (undetectable) return spring!!

Mike

 

[45D]

Or even a flattopView attachment 146799View attachment 146800

That sight looks a lot like the sight on the "man with no name" revolver I tuned today!!

It's a very NICE revolver fantasy or not !!
This one was brand new and not been fired yet but had a loose arbor! I reinstalled it and torqued it ( heavily!!) so now the owner can shoot some really "nice" ammo!!

Mike

 

[Bad Karma]

That sight looks a lot like the sight on the "man with no name" revolver I tuned today!!
View attachment 190875

It's a very NICE revolver fantasy or not !!
This one was brand new and not been fired yet but had a loose arbor! I reinstalled it and torqued it ( heavily!!) so now the owner can shoot some really "nice" ammo!!

Mike

Yeah, that’s the idea, more people should copy them, especially on conversions, but Bowens sight... That man is just an artist with metal and wood…

 

[Bad Karma]

OR!!!!!!
Even better, do away with the nasty spring and plunger altogether!!! The Ruger "cool factor" is lost when it's a "detractor" rather than an enhancement. You can feel that in all 3 screw Rugers.
I replace those with a "direct acting" coil which is a MUCH better (undetectable) return spring!!

View attachment 190874
Mike

Agree. I’m no a fan of the old plunger, except behind the “pawl”. They all have a gritty quality.

 

[Bad Karma]

OR!!!!!!
Even better, do away with the nasty spring and plunger altogether!!! The Ruger "cool factor" is lost when it's a "detractor" rather than an enhancement. You can feel that in all 3 screw Rugers.
I replace those with a "direct acting" coil which is a MUCH better (undetectable) return spring!!

View attachment 190874
Mike

Have you followed Ronnie Wells progress on the new style triggers for old style guns? Hopefully someday that comes to fruition.

 

[45D]

Have you followed Ronnie Wells progress on the new style triggers for old style guns? Hopefully someday that comes to fruition.

Yes, we talk about hammers and cylinders.
I'd like belt and horse pistol hammers (Uberti and Pietta) with SBH hammer spur. Hopefully he'll make me some cylinders for ROA gated " you know whats"!!

Mike

 

[No second place]

Have and do own many ROA in all configurations. Including a custom Tri-L ROA match gun in .360 RB helpful in winning many championships.Today's prices are comparable to the prices they were when you account for inflation. Are they worth it? The box stock version's need only a trigger job to be competitive at the highest level. Parts are hardened property so are long lasting compared to Italian repos. The coil springs as apposed to flat springs are easier to tune and replace for tuning. Easy to say ROAs are the best design in factory BP revolvers for any use if you want a .44...

 

[Mrg5]

Says who ?
I have a good friend in his late 50's who consistently out shoots other metallic silhouette competitors who use modern conventional chunky adjustable sights.
Ol Scott fires a Ruger Vaquero using 44 Special rounds (his reloads) out to 125 metres (Australian range) with old Colt style fixed sights.
Why is he so accurate using the basic unmodified pistol ?
Because the mans intimately knowledgeable in regards to the weapons capabilities with that round and load out to range, and how to hold elevation wise.
Its all about experience and practise.

You left out the part where your old friend is lucky enough not to have the problem of failing eyesight that comes with aging. In my 30’s and early 40’s I was a dead shot with iron sights on my single action revolvers and velvet action Winchesters. Not so anymore in my 60’s. I can still hit a target pretty good but have had to go over to high vis and red dots. Experience and practice mean a lot but age still gets you sooner or later.

 

[TFoley]

Tough

?

 

[Mrg5]

Why twelve? One is enough for most folks...that's just plain greedy. No wonder they are hard to find in the US of A. Our local gunstore has SEVEN for sale. Three of them unfired, too.

Well if your local gun store has 7 and three are brand new that doesn’t sound so hard to get.

 

[Bad Karma]

Well if your local gun store has 7 and three are brand new that doesn’t sound so hard to get.

(He’s not in the US of A) I’ll bet they were a hot seller in The UK and Europe generally, given the restrictions on firearms ownership over there.

And… they aren’t really hard to get in the US. They ARE expensive to get.

 

[coaldust]

I really like my Ruger Old Army!!!!