Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Ruger old army

Midway has the Howell conversions on sale now.

Since David Clements quit making them a while ago and is retiring and Gary Reeder quit making a .475 and .50 ROA and Robert wouldn’t sell me his I finally found one on Gunbroker last night and bought it. It was such a great price I won’t feel bad putting a Ronnie Wells brass Bisley grip frame on it. I talked to David and got all the load info and what mold to use from Accurate Molds and have it on the way. Have to decide on a holster now. This one has been on my bucket list for a while. I did find a smith that will build a .475 or .50 starting at $2800 on your gun

Pig Popper!

Congrats.

That's a good one.

Look forward to your load details and performance.

DF

I started this thread after I bought a brand new in the box pietta 1858 Remington copy. Then realized how high the rugers had gotten. But I'm realizing I got a bargain on my pietta brand new unfired 150 bucks. And I see they do make the conversion cylinders for these also that's pretty cool but I also already own lots of single action cowboy pistols. None of it makes any of this less cool.

Oh, cool, I just bought one myself but didn't realize you could get a conversion cylinder for only $269.

I didn't steal it, but got it for under a $1k. I'm okay with that.

I've been deer hunting with a pistol for a few years, off and on, and wanted to revolver hunt during the Kansas's early muzzleloader season.

Powder, ball, cap recommendations? It already looks like finding percussion caps is gonna be some work.

Through the years I've had quite a few of these. Blued, stainless, both 5-1/2"' and 7-1/2" barrels... walnut grips, stag grips... oh well! All I have is remorse now, lol! Back when I had them, they were the only cap n' ball revolvers legal for handgun deer hunting here in IL. Between the Ruger Old Army's and the T/C Scout 54 cal pistol, I really enjoyed my time in the woods with them. Looked at the 45 Colt cylinders for them, but since I had a Blackhawk in 45 Colt, it never went any farther than that. Enjoy them, they really are very nice revolvers.

I bought one a couple years ago, added the Belt Mountain base pin. Has yet to see a percussion load, but has been shot a fair amount, if you get my drift…

Has anyone tried the Mag-Spark 209 conversion nipples for the Ruger Old Army?

Didn’t know they made them.

A higher front sight is kinda mandatory for the .45 conversion. Midway sells it for about $5. That thing is kinda lively with even regular .45 loads, about all I want in my old age. I have some 260gr GC HPs I plan to try, maybe for deer. The instructions specify lead only, but Brian Pearce, a pretty cautious guy, has used XTPs in his units. I suspect the instructions are kinda generic, covering all the conversion units. The Ruger should be plenty strong for standard pressure loads of all sorts. I should be able to get 900-1000fps with a couple of powders.

Here's the link - https://www.warrencustomoutdoor.com/mag-spark.html

Thanks but mine is pretty much a .45 now. Gotta wonder though if BH 209 will burn well with the bullets suitable for the OA. PRBs and light lead conicals definitely don’t work in rifles.