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Ruger should resume production of the Old Army percussion revolvers


Sixgun Symphony #62632

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Centerfire ammunition and primers are hard to find and expensive.  There are some terrible gun control bills that are intended to make it much more difficult and expensive.

 

I think we can get around this with percussion revolvers for our sport. I would like to see Ruger resume production of the Old Army percussion revolvers. 

 

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I would like to see the people of this country and representatives we've elected stand up and say "NO"!

No more nonsensical laws that do nothing but make law-abiding citizens into criminals while corrupt district attorneys let dangerous criminals out of jail.

THAT'S what I'd like to see!

 

Oh yeah, and Ruger should start makin the ROA again!

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Standing up and saying, "NO!"  Along with saying, "NO MORE! .44 1851s, Henry Big Boys, and other "tribute firearms" to things that weren't!  

 

Or, on a more sensible note.... MAKE it sized appropriately and in a 5-½" THIRTY-SIX caliber!!!!  (I'll take 2, please, thank you very much!)

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I'll take four but old Armies with barrels under 5"

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I see absolutely no reason someone besides Ruger couldn't make a clone of the ROA or even some configuration better.   

 

There are several companies making cylinders. Powers Customs has many grip frames. Other custom parts are available.  The only major part missing is the frame.   

 

 

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I doubt Ruger will ever resume production of the ROA.  Even if they do, the new guns will likely cost about as much as the ROAs currently on the market.  Cowboy Action Shooting has certainly caused fixed sight models to sell at a premium, but I am not selling the four I own, whether or not production resumes.

 

Want a pair of ROAS?  Buy ‘em, enjoy ‘em, ignore the folks who moan about them not looking “cowboy”.  Don’t hold your breath waiting for new ones to be produced.  We are after all a tiny segment of the firearms market.

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There was a sass vendor that has offered to buy a run of 500 but Ruger would not commit to an exclusive deal.  Getting stuck with 500 ROAs is a risky venture for a sass vendor.  Better luck getting Talo or similar to broker that deal.

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Not sure about today, but used to be that Ruger would do special runs of just about anything they could, if some distributor committed to buying 2000 guns.

 

Davidson's, Buckeye Sports, etc, all managed to do it.

 

So get 999 of your close friends together, pony up the cash and give Davidson's a call.

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As someone who works in the retail gun business, we cannot even get ANY Ruger revolvers for the past 6 months.  It's semi auto .380 and 9mm pistols from their Prescott, AZ factory and AR15 rifles from NH.  We have a banner in front of our store in Prescott saying "Ruger Now Hiring".  But getting anyone to want to start working with no experience for $12 an hour and able to pass a drug test seems to be a problem.  States with medical marijuana and now "recreational" marijuana are killing companies who can only hire people who can pass a drug test.

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2 hours ago, Lone Spur Jake SASS #7728 said:

As someone who works in the retail gun business, we cannot even get ANY Ruger revolvers for the past 6 months.  It's semi auto .380 and 9mm pistols from their Prescott, AZ factory and AR15 rifles from NH.  We have a banner in front of our store in Prescott saying "Ruger Now Hiring".  But getting anyone to want to start working with no experience for $12 an hour and able to pass a drug test seems to be a problem.  States with medical marijuana and now "recreational" marijuana are killing companies who can only hire people who can pass a drug test.

Dementia Joe & his RAT's in Congress will fix it by passing a $15/hr min. wage

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It will be interesting to see if Ruger acknowledges cowboy-action with how they proceed as the new owner of Marlin.

Ruger replaced the slix-shot. 32 H&R mag Single-Six with the non-SASS 7- shot .327.  I have never heard one of my shooting buddies (cowboy or modern) say they had a hankering for the .327 7-shot.

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On 2/5/2021 at 2:45 PM, Griff said:

Standing up and saying, "NO!"  Along with saying, "NO MORE! .44 1851s, Henry Big Boys, and other "tribute firearms" to things that weren't!  

 

Or, on a more sensible note.... MAKE it sized appropriately and in a 5-½" THIRTY-SIX caliber!!!!  (I'll take 2, please, thank you very much!)

Wow, of course you are entitled to your opinion but when is nonsensical laws deemed bad and you putting restrictions on what is made and sold ok?  Thought that was what our country and capitalism was about. Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and if that means buying Henry Big Boy rifles, then so be it!  They can’t keep up with demand so there must be a lot of people who disagree with you. 

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Old Army's never made much money for Ruger, not a big seller.

 

Story I always heard was it was Bill's favorite gun, and he said that it would be made as long as he was alive.

 

Bill died, kids took over, sold out, bean counters killed the Old Army.

 

By my research they made about 200,000 between 1972 and 2008, about 5500/yr for 36 years.

 

Old model .357 Blackhawks, about 240,000 between 1959 and 1973, about 17,000/yr for 14 years.

 

Old model Super Blackhawks, about 100,000 between 1959 and 1973, about 7,000/yr for 14 years.

 

Old model .45 Blackhawks, about 30,000 between 1971 and 1973, about 10,000/yr for 3 years.

 

Total, OM 370,000, about 26,000/yr for 14 years.

 

OM Vaquero 360,000+ between 1993 and 2005, about 27,000/yr for 13 years.

 

If you want an Old Army, buy it now, not gonna get any cheaper.

 

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I lusted after Ruger Old Army's for years, but availability and costs were going to prevent me from getting into C&B pistols, so I settled on a pair of 1858 Remington's.  I'm happy that I did, and I have a hoot making smoke and flames!:)

 

I don't see Ruger ever bringing them back, and there are alternative C&B pistols readily available in the marketplace.

 

JMHO ;)

 

 

 

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On 2/6/2021 at 3:38 PM, Lone Spur Jake SASS #7728 said:

As someone who works in the retail gun business, we cannot even get ANY Ruger revolvers for the past 6 months.  It's semi auto .380 and 9mm pistols from their Prescott, AZ factory and AR15 rifles from NH.  We have a banner in front of our store in Prescott saying "Ruger Now Hiring".  But getting anyone to want to start working with no experience for $12 an hour and able to pass a drug test seems to be a problem.  States with medical marijuana and now "recreational" marijuana are killing companies who can only hire people who can pass a drug test.

 

$12 per hour? Like anything else, you get what you pay for.  A pizza delivery boy makes more money than that as they can earn tips. 

 

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On 2/5/2021 at 3:55 PM, Tucker McNeely said:

There was a sass vendor that has offered to buy a run of 500 but Ruger would not commit to an exclusive deal.  Getting stuck with 500 ROAs is a risky venture for a sass vendor.  Better luck getting Talo or similar to broker that deal.

 

ROA will sell if the quality and price are still good like before. 

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At the moment, Ruger is just trying to fulfill orders for their existing lines of guns.   The only Vaqueros I see are on the secondary market.  9mm pistols and AR's are still flying off the shelves at a record pace.  I was lucky to get an SR1911 at "street price" from an online auction.   There's no telling when new stocks will hit the stores or what retail will be.

 

There have been "special runs" of ROAs in the past, when a distributor would commit to a large number.  Retail has been $1,000 ea.   

When the dust settles, and Ruger can think about things again, I'd love to see new ROAs, (especially if they could do in on a New Vaquero frame!... but I digress).

Frontiersman and Plainsman shooters are a niche group within SASS.   Look at any match and it's a sparsely attended category.  How many more would really like to lay out $2000.+tx for a percussion pistol.  Would it be worth Ruger's time and resources diverted away from their "in demand" production lines?

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a Ruger percussion revolver again... I just doubt it will happen anytime soon. 

  

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200,000 ROA's made. 26,000 +/- SASS shooters.  Hold on stop the presses Ruger needs to retool for ROA's.

Like muscle cars sitting in barns, there are a lot of ROA's out there.

 

I shot Frontiersman for 15 years. I shot 1858 Remingtons, 1851 Navies, and ROA's. Like any pistol. All were reliable and fun to shoot once you tuned them. I was faster with my Navies than any other pistols. They are lighter and shorter.

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Back some 7 years ago there was a stainless 5-1/2", fixed sight ROA looked NIB with papers, tools and extra set of white grips at a local estate auction.  It went for a bit over $400.00. I kept my hands in my pockets.  We were just starting out with CAS and our budget priorities were elsewhere.  I thought it was a good investment at the time. I'll never know if I could have gotten it on next bid.

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On 2/7/2021 at 9:11 AM, Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439 said:

Wow, of course you are entitled to your opinion but when is nonsensical laws deemed bad and you putting restrictions on what is made and sold ok?  Thought that was what our country and capitalism was about. Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and if that means buying Henry Big Boy rifles, then so be it!  They can’t keep up with demand so there must be a lot of people who disagree with you. 

Okay, I counted to ten... wrote it out ten times, then erased it... Here's the PC (public cowardice) version... Sorry my sarcasm didn't reach you.  But... since our political choices seem to be dictated by the majority... I'm happy to follow a different drummer.  

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I have watched many a cowpoke here on this forum since the late 90’s seem to “belittle” people’s choice in what they shoot. Back then it was a Marlin, now it is a short stroked ‘73. When I joined people wanted to have fun, live out their fantasy about being in the old West and shooting what they wanted. Did I think that the sound of your post was critical? Yes and the called you on it. Glad you counted to ten, perhaps you feel the need next time to criticize a gun that is approved for use in this game, you might want to tone it down a bit. I do have a friend who is not a member and he just bought a big boy all weather and it was from the 5th dealer he tried and he tried the large ones like Bud’s. So if they are selling and if the shooter doesn’t give a darn about being competitive, why should you belittle his choice?  Diversity has given this sport many, many options and we should embrace the much larger selection!  I get it you don’t like the rifle, but he does, it made in the USA and for that reason alone he should be able to shoot it without criticism. Bow you can start at 11 and go to 20!

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