Ruger Old Army

About the Ruger Old Army

The Ruger Old Army is a single-action, cap-and-ball percussion revolver produced by Sturm, Ruger & Co. from 1972 to 2008. Rather than copying a historical Civil War-era design, it was engineered as a modern black-powder revolver based on the steel frame and lockwork of Ruger's Blackhawk, using a coil mainspring and Ruger's adjustable sights. Loaded from the front of a six-chamber cylinder with loose black powder, a percussion cap, and a .457-inch round ball or .454-inch conical, it was widely regarded as the strongest and most accurate cap-and-ball revolver of its era and was offered in both blued and stainless steel.

Conceived by company founder William B. Ruger as a deliberately modern muzzle-loading revolver, the Old Army earned a reputation among black-powder competitors and hunters as the most robust and accurate cap-and-ball sixgun ever mass-produced.

Ruger Old Army specifications

Marketed over its life as both a .44 and a .45 caliber, though all examples use the same .457-inch round ball or .454-inch conical projectile. Safety is provided by notches between the chambers that let the hammer rest safely on a fully loaded six-round cylinder.