Ruger Old Army to hunt with ?

[bcraig]

Hi to all ,I am new here and am curious about using cap and ball revolvers for deer hunting.I am 49 years old and have done quite a bit of handgun hunting both small game and deer. BUT I have never deer hunted with a cap and ball. I have read a little about backboring the Rugers cylender for increased powder capacity and am curious as to whether the Ruger Old army would be suitable with the backboring done and what I could expect to gain by doing so over the factory stock gun.I think I would rather use a bullet instead of a ball But I have no experience along these lines. I would be most willing to be satisfied with a 50 yard or less gun and wait for a good shot. I would appreciate any and all comments on this subject . thanks a lot, Craig

[Ysabel Kid]

First, welcome to the fire! I am not a hunter, so will leave that assessment to the many more knowledgable and experienced folks here who do hunt a lot, such as our resident expert, 86er. Deer can be taken with a .22 rimfire- and lots have - but it doesn't mean (other than in a survival situation) that they should be. The .44 cap & ball round will certainly take a deer with proper placement at the ranges you describe, but you are a heck of a lot more likely to wound the animal and then end up tracking him for quite some time.

As far as backboring, I know I wouldn't do so to my own Ruger Old Army. The ROA is the strongest cap and ball revolver out there - bar none. If the stock gun can't handle the load you desire, time to move up to a modern magnum for handgun hunting.

Good luck!

[Mike Rintoul]

You can load a conical bullet to velocities in the mid 800 fps range without blinking an eye in a Ruger OA. I think that is ample if you are confident and accurate at a known distance and don't exceed it while hunting. Limit yourself to a range where you are accurate and you have velocity and energy that is among the parameters commonly recommended for deer hunting. You determine what that is too - based on the plethora of information out there on what you need to shoot deer. If you are comfortable with your set-up I think the deer will be in trouble should one stand within range. More powder will give a little more velocity but I don't think the overall project, cost and experimentation will yield much significant improvement over what you can do now within sensible personal guidelines.

[Streetstar]

Hmmmm --- a way to have 6 shot capability during
BP season ! I love the idea

[Doc Hudson]

First of all, welcome to the best firearms forum anywhere.

Secondly, before you drop any money into alterations of a Ruger Old Army, you better touch base with the Possum Cops (Game Wardens). Some states do not permit hunting with a blackpowder revolver. You'd better be sure it is legal before hitting the woods with your Old Army. We would not want you to get a ticket and get your ROA confiscated.

As for the backboring question, sorry, I've no idea if it will help add velocity or power to a ROA.

[adirondakjack]

Aside from the legalities, go to biglube.com and from there find the "contact us" link and ask Dick Rhody about loading. He is a master with bullets in the ROA, and will give ya the straight dope. he sells molds for proper bullets designed for it, and has links to suppliers who make em. I Know his 200 grainer will work for what you want, IF it's legal in your state (it isn't here).

[blackhawk44]

As stated above, check local regulations. In the few states that I am familiar with, cap and ball handguns are strictly forbidden for deer hunting. Should such an endeavor be legal in your state, I believe that deer hunting ranges should be measured in feet, not yards.

I have used a ROA for over 30 years and am well aware of their power. Overall, the round ball is by far the most effective projectile for them, considering accuracy and velocity, but for larger game, the ball loses velocity at a terrible rate. The problem with conical bullets is that with their added weight and longer bearing surfaces they can never achieve anything approaching a decent velocity for hunting. Overall I feel that as a hunting arm, ROA's are limited to game no larger than javelina. While it is possible to kill a deer at short range, just as you can with a .22LR, it is not a "proper" big game arm.

[gamekeeper]

If I was going to use a Cap n Ball for hunting it would be for Cotton Tails, Etc. and I'd use a Colt Navy as it would be more of an authentic way of gathering meat in the old days, for someone armed with only a pistol.

The Ruger is a fine gun but a "modern one" and although it can kill Deer I would choose a Hawken type of rifle and use the ROA for back up only.

Just my two cents worth.

[86er]

It sounds like you are pretty serious about doing this. In that case, I won't try to talk you out of it. If it is legal and you are intent to give it a whirl I think you should be very open minded and realistic about what kind of power you are getting and at what range you can hit appropriately. Please consider running the loads over a chronograph so you can get a realistic idea of velocity and thereby muzzle energy. Also, I'd shoot at the range you can keep a good group at - but then I would also shoot as far as I could without excessive hold over just to learn exactly how the projectile behaves in flight. I don't believe the the "minute of deer" accuracy you sometimes hear of. That means at a known range you are on the deer but what if your range is off even 10 yards? To me that means "wounded deer" and that is not fair or responsible. Think about what size groups are okay with you - but I will recommend something like a 3 1/2" - 5 shot group as being the maximum range you should shoot to, and regardless of group size no more than the range you feel you have enough energy and penetration. For me, a perfect set-up with the ROA for deer would be a broadside shot at 35 yards or less. Altering your gun will NOT give you enough additional velocity to make a difference of more than a few yards and frankly I don't think it is worth it. Good Luck and let us know what happens!

[Windjammer]

I've took a number of deer with the ROA. Stainless, with 7.5" barrel.

Conical bullet with 32 grains of 3F black powder will do nicely.

I have two of these revolvers......Can't do it now, but use to be able to keep most all six rounds in a 9" paper plate at 100 yds.

They are a very fine gun....I also have a 1860 Colt, but I don't hunt with it.

[Don McDowell]

In the older Lyman blackpowder handbooks they have some interesting , pressure tested data for the ROA. With the proper loads theres little difference between it and a 45 colt. May want to look into that a bit, and also in George Nonte's and Lee Jurras's excellent book from the 1970's Handgun Hunting, there's an interesting chapter on using cap and ball revolvers for hunting.
If it's legal where you hunt, then I'ld say be sure and post the pics of your trophies when you get back.

[kimwcook]

Welcome to the forum. You've gotten some good information. I wouldn't alter my ROA. Practice, practice, practice. That's what I'd do if my heart was set on taking anything with a C&B revolver.

[Blaine]

Doesn't Bowen make a .50 Cal, five shot conversion that hit's like the hammers of he!!

[O.S.O.K.]

The Ruger OA is a strong revolver. For hunting, I would buy or cast some 250 grain swc (keith design would be best) and load those over 35 grains of FFF or Pyrodex P. I'd suggest bore butter or SPG lube on the bullets. This should give you around 900 fps with this boolit and a good game-getter. Might try a wonder wad under the boolit. Oh, diameter I think in the Rugers is .454" IIRC, so best to cast your own and size larger. Good alloy is 20:1 lead/tin, but I bet 30:1 would be fine too.

[Ray Newman]

" Possum Cops (Game Wardens)"
--Doc Hudson

Now that is funny!

[bcraig]

Hi,thanks for the replies and advice.Here in Arkansas we can hunt with a blackpowder handgun if we also have a legal blackpowder rifle with us at the same time. We can hunt with just the handgun only if it has a barrel at least 9 inches long and at least 45 caliber shooting 200 grain conicals.If roundballs are used the minimum caliber is .530,I have used a kahnke singleshot 50 caliber with Buffalo 350 grain bullets to kill 2 deer at ranges of 20 and 35 yards in the past but was just curious about the cap and ball. I would be carrying it in conjunction with a fifty cal rifle so it would be perfectly legal and would probably only shoot IF certain conditions were met IE small nanny at as close to broadside as possible at ranges under 50 yards and at least until I saw terminal damage on a small doe most likely shoot no farther than 25 or 30 steps.I did get a Trophy this weekend though. I was hunting with a long time friend and just decided to carry his cap and ball (traditions 44 cap and ball) deer tracks were abundant and I thought well who knows . I didn,t see any deer but the squirrels were everywhere and I had a tiny gray get about 7 long steps from me and I nailed her with a ball and 40 grains of powder .the manuall says 30 grains of powder is max in this gun but my friend wanted to see what it would do with 40 sooooo I tried it. we shot it over the chrono and it was dooing 1025 fps for the first 2 shots and then steadily dropped until it reached 850 fps.needles to say the squirrel never moved with a shot behind the shoulder ! I dont think the cap and ball is going to hit like a 44 mag but i am starting to think that especially using a bullet as opposed to a ball and with short shot distances and small deer and good shotplacement this will work. I was hoping that one of us would have killed on with our rifles and then we would have had a carcass to test the rrevolver on but we didn,t . As soon as i can i will let yall know what kind or performance the revolver gives on deer . thanks again,Craig