Little Help please with my Ruger New Army

[Tuckerp229]

Greetings,

I am new to this forum.  From my review of this forum there seems to be a great deal of experience amongst you all so perhaps some of you  have seen this before and have some answers.

My Ruger Old Army is almost new, (it came to me barely used without box or manual), but has an annoying habit of releasing its loading lever from the frame when I am compressing the balls into the cylinders.  I can actually watch the retaining screw turn "by itself" when I try to compress the ball into the cylinder.
I disassembled the loading lever and discovered that the loading assembly rod, ( the longer narrow one), has a notch cut out to receive the frame retaining screw.  The general shape of this cut out is a "half moon".  You may be able to see from my pic's that the shape is actually a partial half moon.  One side is "squared" instead of tapered like the other side. Is this a machining error?
Also note the damage to the rod cut out where the retaining screw makes contact. This is from me adding extra pressure to the retaining screw trying to make it hold fast while I am loading the cylinders.
The retaining screw can only be turned 1/3 of a turn "clockwise" after inserting the rod and until it "locks up" or contacts the rod half moon" cut out. I would think it should be able to be rotated more, maybe 1/2 turn so its body would fully engage the rod "half moon" cut out.  Of course on my gun this is impossible because the partial half moon cut out doesn't give enough room for this to happen.

My current working theory is that the cut out on the loading rod should be a perfect "half moon" shape.  What shape is yours?




Edit, update:  I just discovered that by pulling the rod out a 1/16th I can turn the retention screw counterclockwise 1/4 turn.  This seems to hold the loading lever when I apply force to the cylinder wall simulating loading. 
Question: Is the correct direction for turning the frame retaining screw counterclock wise?


Second problem:
The gun takes two hits to fire.  I have tried  CCI 10 and 11 caps.  I simply cannot believe that two hits is normal for a gun with such a reputation for quality.  Have any of you experienced similar ignition problems?  Are you all using the wooden dowel system to press the caps on?  This doesn't seem like this step should be  would be necessary given these guns worked with the old technology and we presumably have made technological advances since these guns were first used.

Thanks for your help in advance.

[Cowpox]

Hello Tuckerp229.   While I have 9 reproduction cap and ball revolvers, I don't have, nor do I know anything about the ROA.
    I am going to give you a link where you can download and copy the instruction manual for your ROA. Disassembly instructions on page 21 indicate that the screw you are asking about is actually a slotted pin. The squared side you are asking about is a mortice, which allows removal of the rammer and base pin by turning it 160 degrees counter clockwise. The mortice will then be in position to allow the loading lever and base pin to slide out, while the slotted pin remains in the frame of the revolver. If your problems continue, the slotted pin or notch in the base pin may be damaged and need replacement. If you look through the manual, there should be instructions on how to contact Ruger for service or parts.

       http://www.ruger-firearms.com/Firearms/PDF/InstructionManuals/13.pdf

[Cowpox]

OOPs, Forgot your misfire problem.  I believe the ROA , like all Rugers, has a coil mainspring (hammer spring), so take the grips off and look for evidence that someone shortened the mainspring by cutting off a couple of coils to lighten and smooth the hammer draw.
   My Italian reproductions have flat springs, but the draw was much stronger than needed on about half of them, so I thinned the springs to make them weaker. I think this is a pretty common practice, but when you overdo it, the spring gets too weak, and has to be replaced.
    Also, on my Italians, the original nipples seem to cause missfires, and replacing them with Treso nipples cures this. On the second page of threads, about ten topics down, there is a thread titled "Aftermarket Nipples and Springs for Ruger Old Army".  They discuss the fail to fire problem with some ROAs, and cures for this. You may want to go to the second page, and read this thread. 
   

[Old No7]

Hello, I've had my ROA since 1985 or so, and my late father got one a few years after me.

That said, we never had the loading rod problems you mention, so I would definitely replace that part with a new one from Ruger.  To me, it's be worth the small extra cost -- the notch in yours just doesn't look right...

And you're right, for the overall quality you'd expect from the Ruger Old Army, one wouldn't think that ignition problems would occur...

But I'd experienced that on and off over the last few years (wore out the original nipple set years ago).  So I finally just switched to Treso nipples -- and WOW -- 100% first-time shots on 50 rounds yesterday!

And -- which was a nice plus -- all but 3 caps fell free from the action and were not on the nipples after firing rounds.  This means they don't bind up the cylinder, which is a rare event with a Ruger, but it can happen.  Yeah, they're not originals -- but I was really pleased with how well the nipples capped and fired.

Good luck with your ROA.

Old No7

[Flint]

Remington #10 caps may give you more reliable ignition.

If the retaining screw slot is about horizontal, it will (should) turn clockwise about 3/8 of a turn, or from 3 O'clock to about 7 O'clock.

The interrupted "D" is proper.

[Tuckerp229]

Thanks for the help.  Cowpox, The Ruger link came up as a blank page.  When I then went directly to their site and followed the menu to Manuals, Old Army it too came up as a blank page.  I'll check the spring coils tonight.
The clock wise counter clockwise issue is perplexing Flint said to turn the screw clockwise and this is the direction that doesn't hold the rod in place.  Counterclockwise seems to be holding it.

I'll try the Treso nipples

[Cowpox]

Go back and click the link again.  It is pretty big, and takes a while to download. Just have patience, and the page will appear. I just tried it, and it is still there. 

[Flint]

I mentioned the turn (clockwise) only as a reference to how far the screw will turn, either clockwise or counterclockwise, it turns about 3/8 of a turn, or about 135 degrees.  Whether it holds or releases depends on the direction.

[howdy doody]

I don't even use the locking screw because the spring at the end of the rammer hold it in place on the rest on the barrel. I have shot 35 gr loads and no issues.
As Flint recommended, Remington #10 caps on either standard ROA or Treso nipples should work fine if seated well.
There is always a possibility Ruger could mess up the placement of your notch, but keeping it lined up should let your locking screw turn. I have 3 pair of ROAs and the workmanship was there from the start.
So why did they discontinue them? I have no clue.

[longcaribiner]

I have had problems with caps on my Ruger needing to be smashed twice to go off, but it was the caps not the gun.  I had some old CVA caps.  They were made of a rather thick brass and would only go down so far on the nipple.  It wasn't all the way to were they should have gone.  The hammer would have to fall once just to push the hard brass caps further down the nipple.  When they finally did go off, I had a devil of a time to scrape them off the nipples.  It was as if they were glued fast.    I haven't seen such thick No. 11 brass caps in years, but just in case, I thought I'd mention it.