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Was thinking about getting one of these...any comments/advice would be appreciated.

Is the .45 colt conversion cylinder an option with this gun??

Thanks.

The ROA is heavy like a Blackhawk or old model Vaquero, and resembles it in many ways. All coil springs, accurate, durable. I haven't seen the short barrel version, they are probably quicker on the draw.

I've seen .45 cylinders for the OA, but I don't know how accurate they are. The OA is bored .457, not .452-.454 like a .45 Colt. I guess you could load hollow based bullets so they would bump up to bore diameter.

Thanks for the info!

Since my first post I have been doing some research on the internet. The ROA seems to be over-engineered (strength-wise) and one of the best cap & ball pistols out there.

Some complaints about the trigger though...heavy, gritty and has some creep. I guess the good news is it can be fixed with a trigger job????

Sure. Rugers can have lighter triggers just by changing the coil spring for a lighter one. The only limit is, of course, the hammer has to fall hard enough to pop a cap. Mine had the trigger worked before I bought it, and I'm satisfied with it.

A ROA will never have the hair trigger you can hone onto a '51 Colt repro. I used to have a Uberti '61 Colt repro that was really slick. Too small for my hand tho. Always the tradeoffs.

If you have fairly big hands you will really like it.

I bought a ROA in 1989 and LOVED it. The 7.5" was the only barrel length available at the time, but I also had a BH in .45 Colt with the same length, so I was accustomed to the feel.

It is far from the cheapest Cap and Ball revolver one can buy, but as the above poster said, it is probably the best and strongest. If I remember correctly, Bill Ruger, Sr. once said in an interview that he had always admired the '58 Remingtons and set out to make revolver that would be similar to one, but "modern". Come to think of it, the Bearcats remind me of a smaller Remington revolver; he must have really liked Remingtons.

Concerning the conversion cylinders, I have read articles and reviews that raved about the convenience and fun of them, but never about the accuracy. They seem to be accurate enough for SASS.

Since my previous post I bought a LNIB SS 7.5" ROA w/adj. sights off Gunbroker for $400. After the transaction was completed and positive feedback left I noticed the gun was out of time.

I had always heard good things about Rugers customer service so I paid UPS $30 and sent it to them. Six weeks later I got it back and it was basically a new gun.

They replaced everything except the grips, frame and barrel. In addition, I think they performed some magic to the new trigger because it sure is slick. They did all this plus return shipping for $0.00!

This is my first BP firearm and out of all my other handguns this one is by far the most fun to shoot.

I will defiantly get a conversion cylinder in the near future just for the added options. It seems like I have read that the accuracy issues are do to the smaller diameter bullets in the cartridges.