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Offline KyBeast

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Ruger Old Army
« on: June 04, 2009, 12:30:49 AM »
My father has a Ruger Old Army that he bought almost 40 years ago.  I was thinking of buying the Kirst Konversion for Father's Day so it'll shoot .45 Colt.  Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on this kit?  Is it a good quality or even a good buy?  What about the durability of this cylinder?

________________________________

Also, on a split topic... This Old Army has a brass backstrap and trigger guard.  I'm unable to find it listed anywhere, is this a rare version or just a store special custom (much like the Sam Walton edtion guns and Montgomery Ward guns of yore)?
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Offline helotaxi

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2009, 03:10:06 AM »
Saw an article in the Spring issue of "Guns of the Old West" on the Kirst conversion for a different gun.  Very positive opinion and the author mentioned that he had several that he had spent his own money on for various BP guns in his collection.  That last bit tells me more about the quality of a product than any basic review.
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Offline Flash

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2009, 02:26:25 AM »
Your Dad's gun was/is special in that the brass framed guns were produced in much fewer quantities than the blued framed guns. With the serial number and a call to Ruger, they will supply you with a letter that states when your gun was shipped and it's configuration. I don't have the number to their records department, which is who you'll want to speak to but if you call this number, they'll connect you to records. 603-865-2442
 I don't have any experience with the Kirst conversion but if you wait long enough, someone here will jump in.
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Offline kitchawan kid

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2009, 03:23:39 AM »
I have one for my Ruger old army and it works great,slow to reload,but with the price of .45 LC it's o.k.
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Offline WILD_WEASEL

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #4 on: June 09, 2009, 06:33:19 AM »
I have a ROA, 5 1/2, SS, fixed that I had fitted with an R&D SS conversion in 45 Colt and absolutely love it!  Since most of my handgun shooting is at an indoor range that does not allow black powder, the conversion allows me to shoot it indoors without having to drive 70 mile to the outdoors range.  I use Cowboy reloads using 8gr of Unique under a 250gr LSWC.  They shoot to point of aim in my ROA and it is just as accurate in my 45 Colt Blackhawk. They are pricey but well worth it if you have the extra cash.
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Offline flatgate

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #5 on: December 25, 2009, 03:50:54 AM »
The Brass Grip Framed Old Army is quite the collectors' item!



This one is worth around $700 since it has the box/papers/wrench, etc. 
Ruger made around 2,500 of the brass grip versions.

One really rare version to look for is a early/low serial numbered example with a front
sight blade that was filed down at the Factory.  They originally used a 7-1/2" .45 Colt
barrel and front sight and the sight was too high.

flatgate
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Offline rawhidekid

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #6 on: December 27, 2009, 05:20:00 AM »
If you go to the Ruger website you can look numbers up to find date of manufacture for no cost.  Of course if you want a letter to up the value contact the factory. 8)
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Offline Hairtrigger

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #7 on: December 27, 2009, 06:16:11 AM »
I guess it depends on what you are after. A friend has one and I find it to be a PIA to load.
For about another $100 or so you could buy a Blackhawk
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Offline rawhidekid

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #8 on: December 27, 2009, 08:51:55 AM »
Yea, but everybody has a blackhawk.  Having a coverted old army is unique. 8)
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Offline 454Puma

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #9 on: December 27, 2009, 08:00:06 PM »
I had one- sold it -dumb!  ::) Had the R&D conversion cylinder- EXPENSIVE!  It was O.K  didn't shoot to sights-shot high even with light cowboy loads!  In BP mode it was a tac driver! ;D
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Offline rawhidekid

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #10 on: December 27, 2009, 09:58:02 PM »
Depending on how high, you might have corrected it by switching to 200 grain bullets. 8)  We have all had then lost guns we miss. :-\
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Offline bubba.50

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #11 on: December 28, 2009, 12:05:57 PM »
had one. ease of cleanin' and ability to use smokeless off-set by pain in the butt reloading. probably be easier if ruger had pinned their stuff(loading lever, ram, etc) together like the remington replicas. also with sight screwed all the way down it shot about 1&1/2 feet high at 25yds. sold it and haven't missed it one bit. my opinion and worth what you paid for it, bubba.
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Offline arcticap

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #12 on: December 30, 2009, 08:34:34 PM »
Belt Mountain makes a replacement base pin (aka - cylinder pin) for the Ruger Old Army that makes it a snap to remove and replace the cylinder for reloading without the factory combination base pin/ram coming apart and slowing down the process.
Midway USA sells them for $33.
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Offline tturner53

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #13 on: December 31, 2009, 09:37:03 PM »
That's very good to know. I happen to have a pile of Midway gift cards from Christmas too. My thinkin' is if you need a quick reload with the ROA you've made some kind of mistake. Maybe instead of the conversion a extra Ruger cylinder would be quicker. I assume they can be had.
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Offline arcticap

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Re: Ruger Old Army
« Reply #14 on: January 04, 2010, 06:33:56 PM »
There was an outfit in Texas that started out specializing in making an improved ROA replacement C&B cylinder. The prices were fair and the product was reportedly good. He started a website and internet sales through gun auction sites. And then he suddenly stopped delivering and producing the product. His website is still running and I don't know what the production status is right now. AFAIK he hasn't listed or sold anything on the gun auction sites in a long time.
His replacement cylinders were bored a little deeper for added velocity and had some other improvements too. Ruger supposedly made replacement cylinders hard to get and they were also more expensive. I don't know where folks can expect to get one right now besides from Ruger. To locate the outfit in question Google: Classicballistx
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