The RUGER OLD ARMY Club

Dang that Clement's 50 sure does look tempting.

got beat on gbroker yesterday on 51/2 dressed in blue it went for a little over 6 was it one of you

Did one of us get this one?
http://www.gunauction.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=10832489
From the collection of a Medal of Honor recipient.
Pre warning and went for 300 beans. Wow!
Apparently there are still good deals to be had.

Being a Canadian, I had no idea who Lewis Millett was when I posted the previous message. Then I Googled his name. Wow! He was quite a man. Somebody should make a movie about his life, and his gun collection - well his gun collection should be in a museum.

Thanks Clembert,thanks guys for taking me in as a member in your great ROA owners club.Sorry about my ROA photo,I am still using an older web-tv based system and it was a bit hard geting the photo posted.I have not gotten rid of this older web-tv system cause I can cruise the net and view it in my large 60 inch tv screen in the living room!All those great looking ROA's you guys have are larger than life on my screen!As big as blackpowder canons I may say,really fun.All the best to you all,keep those photos coming!!! Joe

Here's a question...
In every picture of a stainless ROA that I recall seeing, the front site is black. Mine is the same stainless color as the rest of the gun. It strikes me, that the black front site might be a good thing, site picture wise. Is my shiny front site something fairly scarce or do folks do something to the site themselves?

robhof

Blue, the only ss front sights I've seen were on the fixed rear sight models, both the 5 1/2" and the 7" models. If you've got an adjustable model with a SS front sight please post pics of it.

See Post #584 on page 23.

Regarding all-stainless steel front sight on ROA

I have seen quite a few early stainless steel Ruger revolvers both double action and single actions with all stainless steel front sights,and rear adjustable sights!Yes they do exist!Seems that early on when stainless steel was kinda new and everyone wanted an All STAINLESS steel gun,a lot of manufacturers including S&W,Colt etc.turned out 'All Stainless'guns as that was what shooters wanted.Even some early S&W revolvers had hammers and triggers including the sear section were made from stainless steel.That quickly stopped as the sears were having problems and some broke-off!Now all S&W stainless steel revolvers have,some may not know this,all hardened chrome-moly non stainless hammers,triggers,sears that are hard-chromed to look like stainless.All stainless guns nowadays sport a black front sight blade.I guess they saw the light!You must have one of those early stainless ROA's.Hang on to it,who knows what the future may bring on that variation you have.All the best,.....Joe

Here it is, I hope it shows up. I've been having trouble uploading from photobucket, and THR won't let me put up the pictures from my computer, because I've already posted them in this thread. As mykeal pointed out, post 584 on page 24 of The Club. Serial number says my smokewagon was built in 1984 and it's definately an adjustable sight stainless with a 7.5" barrel. Do any of you who are much more experienced than myself (doesn't take much) think that there is an advantage to the dark front site? The front sight on mine is held in place with a roll pin, so remove/replace shouldn't be that difficult if I can find or make a dark one. By the way, what are the dark front sights made of?

Thanks (as always) for your help folks.

Don't know what they're made of, but I find the dark sights better on a bright day with the sun at my back. They're a disadvantage to me in low light conditions.

Regarding stainless front sight on your ROA

All if not most black front sights are made of blue steel.Usually a much darker matte-flat blueing is used.Quite a few are made of anodized black aluminum,only a few.Advantages of a black front sight are,a better sight picture contrast against a target,faster sight aquisition when in a hurry,as in an emergency.Like the saying goes with all combat shooters nowadays since the time of Col.Jeff Cooper,"Front sight,Front sight!Fire! The above is also very true when hunting with a handgun.Once you have your front sight on the animal,all it takes is a second to line up your rear sight and pull the trigger.Try all the above with a stainless front sight and you loose precious seconds.In low light situations an insert of some sort is used,tritium,glowdots,etc.to better aquire the front sight in a darkened room,or in the woods at night.Since your front sight is pinned,it should be a small matter for any gunsmith to make you a black one.You may even have him put some glow in the dark insert in it and you will have the best of both worlds and be able to handle any situation,be it at high noon,or the stroke of midnight at camp.For now,a black marking pen would be handy to have for better contrast if needed.As always,aim well,shoot straight,smile at your bullseye!......Joe ROA # 91

ROA Club members experience/s at your local shooting range while firing your Old Army

It has been a bit quite at the club's frontline for a while now.How about perking it up for now with all the club members describing their experience at the range with other non-blackpowder shooters while shooting their ROAs with holy-black.Do other non-blackpowder shooters take interest in what you are doing,what the heck you're firing,and why all the boom and smoke etc.I am sure we all have our little story to tell how other non-blackpowder shooters react when you touch-off a full FFFg load in your Old Army.We all know how our pistols can be a "crowd puller" sometimes,and could be a good thing getting them in this soul inspiring Ruger Old Army fever we all seem to have.How about we all start at the top with the head-honcho ClemBert,followed by all other members.Let's hear your 'interestin' day at the range tales! Joe

My "New to me" ROA

Here is a ROA I just bought off Gunbroker. It cost $400.00 which after seeing the posted pics, thought I'd go for it. I am not disappointed! It is used with 2 tiny dings in the grip which can't be seen in my pic. Can't wait to shoot this thing....now this is a GUN!!

the finish

If anyone has seen the above pics of my ROA, do you know if the discolored parts is from BP? Do blue ROA's do this? I have not been able to just rub it out. I was going to Flitz but I don't feel anything on the barrel or cylinder so I am thinking it is the blueing itself that is discolored. The gun is very clean. I wiped it down with a white cloth as soon as it showed up to see if I had to clean it right away, but nary a speck of dirt on it anywhere. This one has no "billboard" on the barrel...nice! Has anyone reblued a ROA? Turnbull said it would cost $350 to CCH and another $150 to reblue the barrel. I don't need the CCH really, would just like it looking better and more uniform.

Chas,

I really do not see anything wrong with it from your photos. It looks just like mine. It has 'character'. If I were you, I would just enjoy it the way it is.

I sent my ROA to Ruger for a re-blue.
I got back a new ROA...seriously only the barrel and frame were original.
robert

Looks fine to me. Like the Junkman said "character".

Regarding ChasMacks new Old Army

Yes,ChasMack,your gun certainly has a lot of "character".It looks to me as to be one of the very early ones produced by Ruger.Telltale signs as I see on your photos are the wood grips without SR on them,and the grip frame coloring which makes it out to be of anodized aluminum made by Alcoa for Ruger.And also the fact that you said it has no 'warning' on the barrel.Try a small magnet on the grip frame to confirm it wont stick,hence,aluminum.You have a very nice early example in very nice shape indeed!!Now that is a keeper! P.S. Give the nice ladies at Ruger a call and they would mos certainly tell you when it was made,when it left the factory.and might sometimes tell you where and whom it was shipped to.That will add more "character" to it.

I can tell you by your serial # it was made in the second year of production 1973.

junkman is right on the nose with that date of manufacture.That makes your pistol 39 whooping years old ChasMack!Now that lady certainly has 'character'.Your gun is most probably older than most of us folks here in the ROA club.If she could only talk,she'd most likely have had a few balls run through her sweet barrel by some straight shootin' gentleman and put away for you to enjoy today!Not a lot of guns can still look that good after that long.Leave that original finish on it as it has that "patina" that you dont quite get with newer blued guns nowadays.Enjoy!!

ChasMack said:

If anyone has seen the above pics of my ROA, do you know if the discolored parts is from BP? Do blue ROA's do this? I have not been able to just rub it out. I was going to Flitz but I don't feel anything on the barrel or cylinder so I am thinking it is the blueing itself that is discolored.

Click to expand...

Something may have been done to it that affected the finish.
Perhaps it was rubbed with something that was hard or abrasive enough to cause some damage by friction.
Or maybe it came into contact with a harmful cleaner or weak acid that affected the finish.
It doesn't look like something that normally occurs as a result of simply firing it.