New to black powder Ruger OAM I have a few questions

[cminzey]

 I just bought my first Old army ruger  and it was sold to me as a 45 but have figured out it's 44 so what are my options on ball or jacketed bullets for this gun   can sabots be used? and what are you all recomending on loads
thanks for your help
chuck

[Angel_Eyes]

Hi Chuck, I have been using my ROA's for nearly 30 years now, and my advice is:-

Forget jacketed bullets and sabot's.

Use Black powder or (if you must) a suitable substitute.

Soft lead round ball in 0.457cal making sure it is seated onto whatever load you decide on, (my favorite is 32.5 B/P).

Regarding the .44-.45 calibre issue, the true calibre is 0.457 but all 451's, 454's and 457's were historically known as '44's'.

If you look through the back issues of this forum you will find an answer to any question you can possibly think up (honest).

Angel Eyes

[Pettifogger]

Hopefully you are kidding.  It's a cap and ball revolver, not a rifle.   You would never get a jacketed bullet to seat.  It is made for pure lead round balls or a properly fitted pure lead conical.  Cap and ball bores were measured differently in the old days.  They call it a .44, but the bore and chambers are actually .45.  Ruger recommends using a .457 round ball.

[cminzey]

Angel eyes
where would you buy this stuff online as I said  I am new to this
chuck

[Angel_Eyes]

Chuck, I am not the one to ask for info about online stuff in the States as I am a born again British Cowboy, still residing in the UK.

I feel someone over there will soon chip in to help you,

Regards, AE.

[Flint]

The bore size before the rifling is 44.  After rifling, the groove diameter is 45.  Ruger called the gun a 45, using modern terminology.  In the 19th Century, a "44" had a 45 bore, and a "36" before rifling had a groove diameter of .375.
The "44" ball diameter was spec'd as weighing 50 balls per pound, hence the 45 diameter. (50 gage)

Round balls can be purchaed on-line from the Possibles Shop, or several other sources, do a google search.  Most gunshops carry Speer or Hornady roundballs.  The Ruger needs .457 diameter.

[Pettifogger]

Do you have a local powder supply?  First you have to decide if you are going to shoot real BP or a substitute.  Real BP is hard to get in a lot of places because of fire codes.  You can order it by mail from a bunch of places.  Three of the best are Maine Powder House, Powder Inc., and Graf's.  Next you need balls.  Don't buy cast balls from anyone unless you know them well.  You need pure lead balls, not hard cast.  Hornady and Speer both make swaged pure lead balls.  You can get them from any reloading supply store.  (Midway, Graf, etc.)  If you shoot the subs, you can get away without using any lube.  However, if you are using real BP or Pyrodex, you need grease over the ball or a Wonder Wad or other lube impregnated fiber wad UNDER the ball.  Finally, you need caps.  This is the most critical thing for reliable ignition and trouble free shooting.  The stock Ruger nipples are good.  They work well with Remington 10 caps.  They also work pretty well with Remington 11s.  Others have had some luck with CCI, but I don't like them.  You also need a capper to hold your caps and a cap seater to seat the caps.  Rugers are tough guns.  You can put as much powder as the cylinder will hold and still seat the ball and be OK.  As you go down in charge the limiting factor is the length of the rammer.  About as low as you can go with the stock rammer is 35 or maybe 30 grains.  While BP shooters talk about "grains" they mean grains of BP OR the same volume of the substitutes.  The actual weight of the subs is irrelevant.  What you are concerned about is the volume of powder in the charge.  Make sure whatever charge you are using that the ball is sitting on top of the powder.  If it isn't, you can get hang fires or wide velocity spreads.

[cminzey]

Thanks for all the help  there is a lot to learn with BP