Ruger Old Army Problem

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eccentricjackal

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Hi All,

I'm new on here, I have been using this forum to answer many of my shooting questions for a long time and have finally made an account!

My problem relates to the nipples on a second hand Ruger Old Army I have just purchased, and I am aware that the gun has taken some abuse in the past (lightly pitted barrel).

Whenever I load it a small amount of black powder (using medium/fine) falls through the nipples and all over the reloading bench. This is not something I have seen with other BP pistols I have fired, and when inspecting it the flash holes are much larger than on my Uberti repro. Is this normal? Are the flash holes on these guns normally much larger than on other black powder revolvers?

I can use coarser powder if this is the case but I can also contact the shop and maybe get a discount on some new nipples for it if a previous owner has damaged/drilled them for some reason. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Ryan
 
Ryan,

The former owner probably drilled out the nipples for some reason. The flash hole in a percussion revolver should be too small to let this happen. Replace those nipples. Oversize flash holes will result in poor accuracy and lots of blow-back.
 
That's why I keep telling people to buy a nipple pick and clear that bottom hole every so many rounds. The previous owner probably didn't have a pick and was tired of that bottom hole getting clogged up so "FIXED" the problem by drilling out the nipple, which only causes even more problems with that revolver. That bottom hole is tiny and will clog up often if you don't run a pick through both holes of the nipple and into the chamber. Problem solved with a $5 dollar piece of equipment.
 
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Hi Curator, thank you very much fro confirming my suspicions, and mentioning blowback; that explains the amount of hot stuff hitting me after each shot and the small but painful burn on my trigger finger!
 
Hi Gary, I have been told not from the factory but here in the UK we are always a little behind the US; demand for gun parts is low enough that a couple of gunsmiths still have them in stock still.
 
Thank you Mizar, I'll give the shop I purchased it at a call before i buy them myself, but knowing the price to replace them is a big help!
 
I currently shoot the Slix nipples and my Evil Twin shoots TRESOs. Both of us are convinced we have the best combination.
 
If you are wanting to continue using the Ruger nipple wrench (or 3/16 nut driver) Track of The Wolf's replacement nipples have the same exterior dimensions with the internal dimensions of Tresso's. Mine were about a dollar cheaper for each nipple so that the six replacements paid for the shipping.

Blomquist also makes similar nipples.

Just to be clear you are meaning the interior flash hole is overly large, right? The portion that can be viewed from the outside ought to be fairly large in comparison. This part is larger so as to reduce the pressure coming back through the hole.
 
Rodwha, thanks, I like the look of the Track of The Wolf ones (not just because they're pretty cheap including UK postage!) and might go that way in the end.

Yes, the internal holes when held up to the light are much larger than my Uberti and as I said let powder out (to the point that I can shake the full powder load out though the flash hole in half a minute or so!) from what everyone has said this definitely isn't normal. To be fair I expected some fixing up would be required when I got a SS Ruger Old Army for £150 (about $190), and from the handful of shots I have taken it seems to group pretty damn well despite the barrel pitting and blow-back!

I've just called the shop I bought it from last weekend and he's going to have a look what he can do and call me back. I might try and get some cheap from him or bundled in as part of a deal with a repro Remington he has that I have my eye on!
 
What would it cost to mail 6 original ruger nipples to the UK? I can donate 6 nipples but have no idea about postage.
 
J-Bar, thank you for the offer, it is much appreciated, however I think postage would amount to more than three quarters of a set from here, saving me a little bit, but also robbing you of a spare set that could be useful in the future!

Blackpowdershooter, it is an exceptional price here as well, around £550-600 ($700) is about average for a used fair/good condition stainless one, which is why I was willing to take the chance on the pitting in the barrel! It would still be a good deal even if I had to pay the extra £40 for a set of nipples, so although I have contacted the seller (and been asked to call back in the morning when the shop owner is in) I actually would prefer a bit of a discount off of the Pietta Remington they have in instead of them refunding any money off of the already exceptional price I paid!
 
robhof

I got a SS ROA for a steal on a gun auction site, only to find that it had bad pitting about 3/4 down the barrel, it shot well, but I wanted perfection, finally found a frame with barrel on Ebay, for a lot less than quoted by several gunsmiths to replace the barrel, frame and barrel were excellent and I swapped it out, now I'm a happy camper, I do have a spare SS ROA, but that's another story, good luck and keep us posted on your progress and a range report is in order.
 

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Hi Robhof, I would definitely do the same, it took a little bit of time for me to convince myself that the fact it shoots well means the barrel pitting isn't too concerning to keep the gun. Unfortunately here in the UK any pressure bearing parts of a gun are licenced items so replacing a barrel has to be done with the help of a firearm dealer.
I'll make sure I post some pictures of the result when I've got it shooting!
 
Hello eccentricjackal, just make sure that you have cleaned all the rust and there is no damage to the barrel crown and you are good to go. Nothing bad will happen to the barrel from some pitting. One good way to clean rust is to plug the barrel, pour vinegar in it, let it sit for an hour, followed with some good scrubbing with stiff brush and lots of water. This method will clean it to the bare metal, but be warned that vinegar dissolves blueing and it will give the bare metal a dull grey finish. The other option is, after good scrubbing of the rust, to boil the frame and barrel assembly in water (plain tap water will do) for about 30 min. That will transform the rust to much more stable magnetite.

Best,
Boris
 
Mizar, it's stainless, vinegar still works, boiling depends on the grade/mix of stainless. I used Flitz on mine with bronze brush, beautiful, but pitting looked deep, why I switched it out, mine was 1/2" ring 3/4 of the way down the barrel, like a squib had been left in the barrel and moisture worked it's evil magic.
 
Well, my bad - I missed the stainless part. Vinegar will be enough for cleaning the rust, but precautions should be taken to not spill it on the outside - it can still cause stains that are hard to remove.

Best,
Boris

P.S. Irrelevant to this discussion, but I just remembered the one time a barrel rusted on me - was shooting thru my Hi-Power some local made ammo, Arsenal 9x19, with a big bold writing on the box: "NON CORROSIVE PRIMERS". Couple of days later my barrel was red as a fox... :)
 
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