ruger old army ?
 

I just bought one used and the guy was saying to use .457 lead round balls.
.457 seems a little big to me, is he right ?
also he claims he used .457 round balls and 50 grains of p powder
any help would be great.
as I am new to the BP pistol world

RE: ruger old army ?
 

Well the Ruger Old Army is one of the stronger actions. It is a true .45 caliber I believe. Whether that is the right ball I could not say. I see no reason why the prior owner would tell you something that will not work. As for the 50 grains, that's a lot of powder. I think I would get a hold of Ruger and see if I could get a manual for the revolver.

RE: ruger old army ?
 

yes it is a true .45 cal
I just thought .457 was large, I will call ruger in the AM. I thought 40 grains would be a good starting
point

RE: ruger old army ?
 

I have shot one for many years, I use a .457 ball and 30gr P Pyrodex for target it will put all 6 in 1.5 inches @25yds and I use 40 gr P for a max or hunting load. I could not get any more than that in mine. Lee

RE: ruger old army ?
 

thanks for all the helpful hints guys

RE: ruger old army ?
 

The .457 roundball is oversized so that when you load it into the cylinder a thin ring of lead should be sheared off, that is what gives you a good gas-seal because the bullet is pressure cut to fit the hole.
If you're just using powder and ball, you'll want to follow the ball with a seal of grease or bullet lube to make sure no errant sparks from the cylinder you fire can ignite the charges in any of the remaining cylinders causing a chain-fire of all the remaining loads. It's a safety precaution.
Another safety precaution when packing the gun, is to only load 5 of the 6 chambers and to rest the hammer on the empty chamber. This is a very smart thing to do, asseveral of our forefathers soon painfully learned.

RE: ruger old army ?
 

ok, I used 40gr of p powder 1/8'' wonder wad and a .457 ball (hornady)
fired 4 shots. was quite amazed at its accuracy at 45 yards
did not have as much recoil as I thought it would seemed comfortable
to shoot at its current set up. I will be out next week with it in the woods
hope to post pics of a animal taken with it lol
thanks alot guys for all the help and suggestions.