One of the big gunshops interstate had a run of SS 5 1/2" open sighted Ruger Old Armys on sale. This was awhile after production had ceased and they were made up from parts apparently. They were a bit shoddily assembled and if you look closely, you can see where the lazy butt assembling the guns has used the one sized screwdriver for all o f the screws, marking the big screw in the process.
One worked perfectly and the other locked up immediately I tried to place it on th efirst cocking notch to inspect the cylinder, making it difficult to strip and reassemble.
We aren't allowed to post guns in Australia, it must be dealer to dealer, which makes sending something back for repair an expensive process. I tried and tried and finally got it assembled and cocking correctly. I handed it to a gunsmith who pulled it apart and reckoned nothing was wrong with it.
I went off to a cowboy shoot and it locked up again before I even got to load it. I quickly lost interest in the rotten thing and it has languished in the safe for a couple of years.
Pulled them out recently and after lots of smoothing, cycling, etc, they seem ok now.
Off to the range for a practice run and they went well today.
The only thing now is that the capper I have, a straight line one works, but is finicky. I ordered a snail capper of a local BP supply house and it is too big.
Can anyone recommend a good capper please. I can load them ok on the loading table, but capping one on the clock is a challenge with my current set up.
Nowwwwwwwwww, all I have to do is dust off the 44/40 lever rifle and the shotgun and load some BP rounds and shells.