The Ruger New/ Old Army

[TFoley]

Maybe their waiting for you to send them a stamp.

Could be. OTOH, I've never heard a single good word spoken about the company outside the US of A.

One great put-down from a SR company staff-member happened when I called up the USA to see about a part, as I mentioned above.

I was firmly put in my place in the overall scheme of things when I was informed that the entire annual UK sales of Ruger products in UK were beaten handsomely into near oblivion by comparison with just one day's worth of sales in just one store in Houston.

 

[bobthemotorcycle]

Could be. OTOH, I've never heard a single good word spoken about the company outside the US of A.

One great put-down from a SR company staff-member happened when I called up the USA to see about a part, as I mentioned above.

I was firmly put in my place in the overall scheme of things when I was informed that the entire annual UK sales of Ruger products in UK were beaten handsomely into near oblivion by comparison with just one day's worth of sales in just one store in Houston.

But if you've ever been to Houston you would understand that per capita Houston has more rednecks per square foot than any other place outside of the United States so her comparison is honest at least. I bet Texas has more bp gun sales than all other countries combined. Texas is a country to it's self. I'm setting in Laredo Texas waiting to unload the steel on my truck and to get here iv seen more cultures than traveling the world. Im not from Texas but i do love texas.
But the way, I hope you get your part spoon as I know waiting by the mail box sucks.

 

[TFoley]

But the way, I hope you get your part spoon as I know waiting by the mail box sucks.

Well, to be honest, I've just about given up on 'em.

But you know what they say - 'Dum vivo, spero'.

 

[Bad Karma]

Well, to be honest, I've just about given up on 'em.

But you know what they say - 'Dum vivo, spero'.

I know! I said that once in a bar in San Antone. Big ol’ biker dude like to cave my skull with a Harley chain!

 

[M. De Land]

I know! I said that once in a bar in San Antone. Big ol’ biker dude like to cave my skull with a Harley chain!

We here in AK like to remind the Texans when they get ta bragging about how big it is that if we cut Alaska in half Texas would be the" third" largest state!

 

[William Lincoln]

Ya but Alaska is half Popsicle-- we only count ranchland.
In Texas you can shoot a Ruger Old Army---Alaskans are
running around with their revolvers froze to their mittins.

 

[Erwan]

Copy or not, Blackhawk or not one this is certain for us (in France) : this revolver is now forbidden in category "black powder pistol"....

I'll tell you why : it is of course BP pistol, it works like a Remington or other Roger&Spencer and eventually Colts (with no frames), BUT this perfect revolver is not a copy or clone of a revolver existing during the 19th.

So it is (in the French law) a revolver of B category and we must get authorization to having a ROA after declaration to the authorities.

I don't have this problem : I buy mine in 1976 et they gave to me a "Lifetime detention authorization" because the date of this law is from the year 2013, so I don't have to I don't have to sell, destroy, neutralize or retrocede this weapon, but I can sale it ONLY if the buyer is able to get an authorization for it...

Other way all the BP pistols and rifles are free to have and sale : this is only for the ROA and some others in that situation...

​

 

[TFoley]

Québec = 595,391 square miles.

Texas = 268,596 square miles.

 

[Erwan]

La Rochelle = 28,43 km² ...

 

[Jim Wag]

La Luz
10.7 miles

Jim in La Luz

 

[D. Buck Stopshere]

Speaking of the Ruger "Old Navy" .36 caliber, there are likely fewer than a dozen out there. The only shooting discipline that you would see it in is NMLRA Line Matches, (paper targets #B-8T@ 25 yds & B-6T@ 50 yds), and predominately at the national matches.

The revolver on the right was built by well-known NMLRA & N-SSA Pistolsmith, Tom Ball. The barrel is a 9 MM caliber, .355" bore, and milled to a uneven-sided octagon barrel. The cylinder chambers are sleeved with stainless steel inserts. Bo-Mar rear & Patridge front sights top the barrel. Herrett walnut grips finish outfitting the revolver. The load for 25 & 50 yard, one-hand hold, is 16 grains of Swiss 3 FG, cream of wheat filler, and a .360 round ball, topped with T/C Bore Butter.

Unless someone has money to burn, chances are slim to seeing one of these .36 conversions. Folks like myself that shoot or shot on the national pistol line at Friendship, IN would likely shell out, at today's prices, the $1,500 to $ 1,800 to have a competition Ruger shooter in .36 caliber, since it is inherently more accurate than the .44 and softer on the recoil when shooting about 60 rounds per day for three or four days, straight, in competition.

The previous owner used this revolver to win the 1997 national muzzleloading pistol championship, shooting ten events in one day, 7 at 25 yards, and 3 at 50 yards, 100 rounds, in six hours.

The revolver on the left is my .44 caliber with the brass "dragoon" backstrap/triggerguard that I used in national match competition from 1987 till 1998. The 25 yard target was shot with my .36 caliber "Old Navy" at the Maryland State Shoot in 2018. Had hoped to shoot a "100" score before I died, but maybe another day.

 

[Paul Nelson]

As someone who loves c&b revolvers I'd like someone to explain the popularity of the Ruger Old Army to me. Let me preface by saying, what I like about the reproduction c&b revolvers is their connection to the actual models which have historical significance. Though I might not be able to afford a Colt Walker, Paterson or even a shootable 1860 Army I can buy reproductions of those models.
By contrast the Ruger has no connection to anything, essentially a percussion version of the Ruger Blackhawk ( mention of an unmentionable for comparisons sake). To be fair I fully acknowledge the robust qualities of the Ruger as a handgun on its own terms.
But lacking the historical connection (which inspired my own interest in c&b revolvers) I just don't understand the ROA. And before anyone becomes irrate I'm not in any way knocking the ROA. But I would enjoy hearing from those who seek them out- why do you like the Ruger New/ Old Army ?

I love mine the first C&B I’ve own. It was never meant to be a replica but a modern day black powder revolver. Ruger wanted to make the best most reliable C&B revolver ever. He even said as long as he was alive there would always be an ROA. soon after his passing, the company discontinued the ROA

 

[bobthemotorcycle]

Québec = 595,391 square miles.

Texas = 268,596 square miles.

Number of people willing to risk their lives trying to get to Quebec less than 12 other than a few draft dogers back in the 60s.
Number of people risking their live to get into Texas? I don't know but the evening news say they need to activated the National Guard to make them stop.
Just kidding, love Canada, their bacon is really good.

Just wanting to know. What steel is used in the ROA as opposed to steel used in modern reproductions?

 

[M. De Land]

Ya but Alaska is half Popsicle-- we only count ranchland.
In Texas you can shoot a Ruger Old Army---Alaskans are
running around with their revolvers froze to their mittins.

You clearly know very little about AK

Ya but Alaska is half Popsicle-- we only count ranchland.
In Texas you can shoot a Ruger Old Army---Alaskans are
running around with their revolvers froze to their mittins.

Yeah, ranch land all fenced in and overrun by feral hogs, illegals and drug lords . No fences up here and less roads than the state of Rhode Island. Population around a million and area is 2.5 times the size of Texas. You have a point about it being a popcycle though 3/4s of the year above the Brooks range on the North slope.

 

[springfield art]

Sir, you talk like this would be a lot of money. That's very odd to me, living here in UK where a second-hand ROA can easily top that. A thousand dollars for a handgun that is probably going to last three or four hundred years, bearing in mind the material of which it is made?

A bargain, I'd call it.

And I'd add that almost every day we see examples of rifles here on these pages that cost many times that amount. Many people here pay way more than that for a kit.

The day of the 50c burger is behind us, Folks, and it is my earnestly-held opinion that a ROA at $1K would fly off the shelves like a flying thing.

You're right. On second thought, it would have to retail for at least 1500. And three hundred years from now, they'll all be walking around like robotic cyborgs speaking one world-wide language and be completely dis-armed "for the good of personkind".

 

[springfield art]

Like many other models of firearms the cost or value increases due to it being discontinued. They have always been in demand. For certain periods, some firearms achieve that "must have" status. The prices are inflated for a time, people pay crazy prices and then they stabilize. A good example of this is what people are paying for a replica Paterson.

The pandemic and elections also play a role in this, where people were and still are buying anything and everything.

As the pandemic runs its course and we slowly get back to some type of normalcy, firearms are beginning to show up at the gun shops and outdoor stores. Ammunition is taking more time, but it is slowly beginning to appear.

People who purchased black powder firearms such as percussion revolvers because that was all they could get will soon go back to their unmentionables and will probably sell the black powder stuff off. I'm sure more than a few of those were the ROA.

My personal opinion is that the ROA will continue to be in demand and merit a high price because it is a great revolver. Factor in the after-market cylinders that increase its versatility only makes it more desirable.

I think the same, and hope you are right!

 

[BadDaditood]

300 years is a bit optimistic, I think the human race is too stupid to survive that long

 

[Woody Morgan]

300 years is a bit optimistic, I think the human race is too stupid to survive that long

SOME of the human race is too stupid to survive that long.

wm

 

[TFoley]

The reason why ROA sales in Great Britain - the BIG island [England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland] went through the roof in the late '90s is because CARTRIDGE-firing handguns were, for the most part, prohibited. So people HAD to have something to replace their lost handguns. For reason best known to themselves, those in charge of running the gun laws decided that the ban need not be applied to loose-loaders/muzzleloaders. So if we had them already, we could keep them [whoopee], but if we wanted to buy one, we could [again, with the whoopee]. Needless to say, there has never been any recorded use of ANY muzzle-loading firearm in crime in the last century.

 

[William Lincoln]

Copy or not, Blackhawk or not one this is certain for us (in France) : this revolver is now forbidden in category "black powder pistol"....

I'll tell you why : it is of course BP pistol, it works like a Remington or other Roger&Spencer and eventually Colts (with no frames), BUT this perfect revolver is not a copy or clone of a revolver existing during the 19th.

So it is (in the French law) a revolver of B category and we must get authorization to having a ROA after declaration to the authorities.

I don't have this problem : I buy mine in 1976 et they gave to me a "Lifetime detention authorization" because the date of this law is from the year 2013, so I don't have to I don't have to sell, destroy, neutralize or retrocede this weapon, but I can sale it ONLY if the buyer is able to get an authorization for it...

Other way all the BP pistols and rifles are free to have and sale : this is only for the ROA and some others in that situation...

​

When defining a replica there is some wiggle room as to how close a copy you need. It was designed around the Blackhawk which was based upon the Remington Beals. They are close. At a distance they look alike. Like every other word there is always some flexibility. It is definitely a Simulation. It sure doesn't copy a Glock Also, some ROA are very close-- the models vary. Most State's look to the antique ignition system which is percussion. Most major Cowboy action and Competition shooting associations admit the ROA on the same basis as other percussion black powder replicas of the old west era. While I no longer have the ROA I do have a side by side that I once made that I will upload for you. Makes the point.