Ruger Old Army

The Ruger Old Army is a black-powder percussion revolver introduced in 1972 by the Sturm, Ruger company. The revolver is unusual in that, unlike most percussion revolvers on the market, it was not based on a historical design, but was a modification of Ruger's Blackhawk model, which was itself based upon the cartridge-firing Colt Peacemaker. The revolver accordingly incorporates many modern design features, though employing antiquated black-powder component loading.

Although this design was built around the Blackhawk, it takes its styling cues from the Remington Model 1858 cap and ball pistol. Earlier models listed as .44 caliber, later as .45, but all use a .457” round balls or .454” conical bullets of pure lead.