The RUGER OLD ARMY Club

[dprice3844444]

and it's made in america

 

[Indian Outlaw]

Here's my two cents.

The ROA has a frame that's vaguely similar to the Remington New Model Army's, a grip frame that screams "Colt Navy!" and a loading lever that reminds me of the Whitney's. It's all of these guns and none of them at the same time.

 

[SUMIKITO]

Oh Yea! PROUDLY Made in America.
In my part of the country, a Ruger Old Army lasts only a few hours in a gunshow, in a pawn shop or in a gunshop. The Italian made cap and ball pistols linger-on gathering dust. Now if you where in a situation where all you could afford at the moment was one of "those", then by all means go for it. They make a good study on how NOT to make a quality cap and ball! But you will surely toss and turn at night thinking about why you passed on that used ROA. Toss and turn my friends, what a nightmare! This is after all The Ruger Old Army Club. Quality pistols, Quality folks. My sincerest thanks to ClemBert who started this all. An exclusive club of afficionados of the worlds finest cap & ball revolver. A tip of my hat to you ClemBert, and a double tip to all the rest of you. You are all true pistoleros.

 

[SUMIKITO]

SUMIKITOS "Quick Latch 'D' base pin retaining pin!





Here is my improvement on the ClemBert Pin. This one flips up, flips down, stays up or down or straight with tension as it is made of spring steel from a very large baby diaper safety pin! Viola! And to top it all, you can still use a dime or penny to twist it off! Next one around would be a blued one made up of a blued spring or something like that. That will be the Mark II version! The Mark III will be a stainless one! And you can still use your holsters with it! Get them baby diaper safety pins out of the cribs my friends, and start bending! Just don't tell the wife! Do it at midnight like I did! Best regards to all. Joe

 

[Varmiter]

Here is my entry.

Chris

 

[ClemBert]

ROA Club Members:

01. ClemBert 02. Eights 03. kanook 04. [email protected] 05. mykeal
06. adaptandovercome 07. 461 08. junkman_01 09. lonewolf5347 10. rcflint
11. MCgunner 12.madcratebuilder 13. AbitNutz 14. eastbank 15. robert garner
16. philuk44 17. HUnter58 18. arcticap 19. BullRunBear 20. theotherwaldo
21. SC Slowhand 22. Prairie Dawg 23. wittzo 24. Tallbald 25. Smokin_Gun
26. OB One 27. jungle 28. plumbernater 29. daveinvegas 30. JanZ
31. George Mabry 32. Benmathes 33. Loosenock 34. higene 35. Rock Island
36. Erich 37. robhof 38. J-Bar 39. Nomad, 2nd 40. TAURUSBOB
41. martindl99 42. Vermonter 43. wasatch 44. fogg64 45. BConklin
46. Howdy Doody 47. bushrod2 48. rdstrain49 49. FirinFlatTop 50. rem1858
51. straight-shooter 52. edorfox 53. KevininPa 54. Ringo1234 55. pohill
56. The Don 57. jeepcoma 58. Dave Markowitz 59. Chazz 60. andrewstorm
61. Steel Wheels 62. Legionnaire 63. NineMilePete 64. 94RUGER 65. Acorn Mush
66. R.Ganister 67. Boom-stick 68. Buddy 69. Ghost Dog 70. BML
71. Cult of 1858 72. Jaymo 73. bigbore442001 74. Engineer Bill 75. azyogi
76. Dr. Leaky 77. Clermont 78. Indy4570 79. ozarkguy 80. Plastikosmd
81. mrdo1 82. bax504 83. Constrictor 84. BC Mosaic 85. clepidus
86. did 87. gunboat57 88. Malachi Leviticus Blue 89. Blue Hill 90. Power Keg
91. SUMIKITO 92. ChasMack 93. Larry Flett 94. RugerShawn 95. tdperry
96. Rettech 97. renoman 98. tk1971 99. Curator 100. Dan Carey
101. Old No7 102. Muddydogs 103. Oldnamvet 104. 6.5x55swedish 105. crazysccrmd
106. Jim, West PA 107. rodwha 108. Varmiter

Welcome Varmiter.

Hey SUMIKITO very nicely done. Now you are gonna get a bunch of requests for your device. Better get ready to take some orders!

 

[SUMIKITO]

Thanks ClemBert, I am presently working on my Mark IV version which will be made of brass to go well with the Brass grip-frame version of the ROA. I will have to hit the thrift shops and garage sales in my area to get some old wind-up alarm clocks like the Big Bens, Baby Bens, and vintage wind-up Timex travel alarms! They all came in brass I believe, the wind-up mechanisms, and would be PERFECT for those brassers out there. You would get a big chunk of the royalties and proceedings should I start production on this item since you made the very first prototype! Only problem is where am I gonna get those base pin latches that Ruger no longer has! Instructions on how to go about making them are of course FREE to all members of the ROA CLUB, if that is ok with you Clembert! As always, all the very best to you and all. Joe

 

[Jaymo]

I like your D-ring base pin latch. Why didn't I think of that? So simple and effective.
Another example of KISS in action. Simple is good

 

[ClemBert]

LOL...no royalties needed...I'm sure I'm the first to modify their base pin retaining pin for a ROA. And you are right, the retaining pins are difficult to find. I guess all those who want you to build one for them will have to trust you with their original.

 

[SUMIKITO]

Thanks for the kind words Jaymo. I am sure you could make one out easy by just the photos posted. The bending is the most work involved actualy. After you got that open 'D' made out,(it would look like a hungry "Pacman" figure) and your two little opposing holes drilled out carefully, close it into Rugers pin nice and tight, your done! Just like you said Jaymo, Simple Is Good! Nothing to loose, it's always there, folds out of the way etc. All the best, Joe

 

[Riot Earp]

This forum now has the same number of posts as the 1858 Remington Club.

I am amazed.

 

[J-Bar]

Ha!

We beat 'em!!

 

[SUMIKITO]

Well deserved ROA Club! Took a bit of time, but very well deserved! A standing applause to ClemBert for starting all this and all the good folks that followed after.......... Now to get on with sending them pics, keep 'em coming guys!

 

[Jaymo]

I'm in the THR ROA, Remington, and Colt clubs. I can't really show preference for any one over the others.
I do think there should be a THR pocket revolver club.

 

[SUMIKITO]

What makes this club unique, and true to itself, is it is all about the gun, the original gun sporting it's original makers mark and brand and made by the very name it sports all over it. It is a TRUE ORIGINAL, no more, no less. Not a copy of anything made a while back sporting the original makers mark for nostalgia or whatever. I for one thing would not like to have a copy if I can help it no matter how true it is to the original. It still is after all well, just a copy. However, owning a true original no matter how old it is, is a completely different matter. To put it in another way, would anybody here want a copy of the Ruger Old Army built overseas, if it ever came to that? Well? If it did happen, then I will be the first one to buy one of those and start a club and call it The Ruger Old Army Reproduction Club and ONLY reproductions can join in, all others with originals should stay put right here as it should be. Owning a Brazilian import resembling a S&W does not get you into any S&W club, etc. Having owned and still do, a good number of Italian clones, yes clones of past 19th century cap & balls, I do like their very existence, but they would never make it into a museum 100 years from now,maybe the museum basement at the most if ever, however, if The Antiques Roadshow was still on 100 years from now and someone had a Ruger Old Army to get appraised, the guys there would just about trip all over! I have seen it happen first hand when someone came in with an original mint Colt Peacemaker when they were here last at my local convention center. I would never call them what they are not. Never. I would hand you a Remmie copy, and call it just that, a Remmie copy, for your inspection and tell you it's a nice copy. Handing someone a Ruger Old Army, is just that, A Ruger Old Army.THAT IS what makes The Ruger Old Army Club TRUE and UNIQUE. A Real Club, with True Original Pieces. GENUINE. The Real McCoy! GO GO ROA CLUB, GO!

 

[ClemBert]

I hear ya SUMIKITO. I'm thrilled that Ruger decided to build a cap-n-ball revolver in an era dominated by new fangled cartridge firearms. However, I'm equally thrilled that there are those who were bold enough to manufacturer reproductions (of their interpretation) of old cap-n-ball revolvers. I doubt that most of us would have had the opportunity to own and shoot a "1858, 1860, 1861, Walker" etc if it were not for the Italians, et al. I'm not taking sides but I'm in agreement with SUMIKITO over the ROA being an ORIGINAL.

I chuckle everytime I hear someone say that the ROA "is not a historically accurate firearm". It is in fact an original not meant to be an attempt to reproduce any prior firearm. Whereas, all the Italian reproductions are not historically accurate....they are however close enough to make us happy.

 

[SUMIKITO]

Well said ClemBert, and on your last paragraph, you nailed it good! All the best as always, Joe

 

[azyogi]

There's a lot of truth in what Sumikito said, but id buy a ROA in .50 cal. no matter who made it.

 

[SUMIKITO]

Dave Clements makes a great one. It still is at least 1/2 an Old Army and can be brought back to being an original once again. A bit pricey, can't convince the lady of the house. That too (David's .50) is an original in its own right. All the best.

 

[AbitNutz]

I shoot my ROA. I shoot it a lot. In fact, it's the only pistol I shoot, if I go to the range alone. If I go with other people then I take a few automatics and my Python, etc. People not familiar with the ROA think you mad. I take a box full of B/P "stuff" in my ROA range chest. I take my loader a, myriad of powders and bullets, caps and cappers, etc. I take it all.

I shoot one handed at 15 yards; no two handed holds. I try to improve on my power and accuracy all the time.

To know that I have an original now just makes me smile. I'm by far not the best shot with with my ROA. Heck, I made so many changes to suit me, it likely feels like a totally different pistol than an ROA. However, I wouldn't want to stand in front of this pistol at 25 yards with some of the loads I've played with.

My most effective load is 45 gr of Triple 7, topped with a BigLube 220 gr pure lead bullet with a huge hollow point All set into motion with an RWS 1075 plus cap.

It's not THE most accurate but it's not bad. T7 doesn't like to be compressed to much.

To me, the ROA is the best original.

 

[azyogi]

I've heard of the work Mr Clements does and they do look mighty fine, still I recon one could be built from scratch much cheaper while still being of excellent quality. I'd bet the market would welcome them.

 

[SUMIKITO]

I too get those looks at the range AbitNutz, when I wip out the long tom ROA stainless, the guys to my side think it's a .44 Mag. or something. So they settle down trying to empty their 16 round mags in 4 seconds, bouncing empties all over my side of the bench and table. That gets the old adrenaline going and I load up max-loads of fff nice and good. After firing off those six wonderfull thundering rounds and hitting that gong nice and loud a couple of times, they quickly clear out and move to another side. I pick my handy folding broom and sweep those empties to the side. What a wonderfull day it is!! Now to start loading up again and enjoy the morning breeze. Thank you Ruger Old Army, thank you. You are indeed a genuine all-American ORIGINAL.

 

[Jaymo]

I agree. The ROA is an original. I love mine. It's built like a Ruger. Like him, or not, Bill Ruger was a brilliant gun designer.
I am grateful to him for the ROA, just as I am grateful to the Italian mfrs for making the reproduction C&B guns.
I like them all.

 

[SUMIKITO]

I too like them all. I have held on to my Walker and '58 Remmie as they remind me of what it was then. They are indeed nice pieces painstakingly reproduced by Italian manufacturers to resemble historic firearms of that era. Shoot nice too. But in all honesty, The ROA is in a whole league all by itself, that is my opinion, and hopefully shared by a good majority of others out there. A real one and only. Like a FORD GT. The others? Well, Alfa Romeo and Fiat perhaps? All passable. There has to be a Top Dog. The Old Army is The Champ, an all ORIGINAL Champ! Sorry if I pushed some sensitive buttons out there, just wanted to shine the light on what is and whats not...... Holding and waving a white flag on my left hand, and waving a red Ruger logo flag on my right hand. Let's leave it at that. Best Regards....

 

[AbitNutz]

I've owned Italian cars and motorcycles before. They come with an incomprehensible owners manual...and a box of shims.