POWDERS, 2006
The selection of acceptable powders has grown significantly since I first wrote this.
Wholly Black
Goex Cowboy
	The appearance of Goex Cowboy made life easier for the shooter who wants to use real black powder. Equivalent to FFFg, it is clean burning, virtually without fines, consistent and fast. If you want to use BP, use this in all of your weapons, even the shotgun. It'll simplify things. The instructions say for cartridges 40 gr. or smaller, but 65 gr. shotshells work, too. For your percussion pistols,use a Wonder Wad between powder and ball. Over ball grease is not necessary. You can expect to shoot an entire day's match without having to clean the gun other than wiping down between stages. For your rifle BP lubed bullets are required, and generally some bore swabbing during events is required depending on the bullets used.
Substitutes:
Pyrodex
	If this is the only thing you can find or you have 40 lb. left, then, by all means, use it, Pyrodex P is equivalent to FFFg. Use it exactly like Black Powder but clean more. It is corrosive. Hodgdon has just lately announced that their tests indicate it is safe to use in progressive reloading machines with powder measures designed for smokeless powder. Essentially it is Black Powder modified so it can be shipped easier.
American Pioneer Powder, formerly Clean Shot
	Recent production APP has been improved over Clean Shot. It does not require lube in percussion pistols or cartridge weapons. If you get it to foul, you're really doing something wrong. Clean up (below) is extremely easy. It can be used in a progressive reloading machine. Though recent production is less hygroscopic than Clean Shot, assume it is hygroscopic. Don't leave it in your brass powder measure for long periods of time. Don't leave it in reloading machines. Don't leave partially completed rounds in your reloading machine. You may leave your guns uncleaned without worry of corrosion (but leave them oiled). It smokes more than Cowboy but doesn't make the boom or fire. It "travels well," meaning it's low maintenance at multi-day matches.
Hodgdon 777
	Designed for hunters, this is hotter than BP by about 15%. It is very clean, meters well, doesn't seem to be hygroscopic, and, though Hodgdon states it's corrosive, you may leave your guns uncleaned for several days. This smokes more than Cowboy but has a definite bang, not a boom, and it doesn't throw flames. It travels well, too.
Hodgdon's velocity comparison chart. Triple Seven is about 15% hotter than Goex Cowboy, and Cowboy is hotter than American Pioneer Powder and Pinnacle. Pyrodex is hotter than Cowboy.
Goex Pinnacle
	Brand new -- made by American Pioneer Powder for Goex, it is much like APP but has some advantages. It is black, not grey. (If you wonder why that's an advantage, think. It's not a grey powder substitute.) It meters better in FFg. Both meter well in FFFg. My tests indicate it's hotter than APP. Wally Wenzel's tests show about the same velocities. I found it more accurate with lower standard deviation numbers.

SHOOTING RUGER OLD ARMIES
The following constitutes THE EASIEST, LEAST TIME CONSUMING techniques of shooting percussion pistols I've found:
We're not looking for the CHEAPEST method or the MOST AUTHENTIC method. We're trying to figure a way to load 10 chambers per stage and get 10 bangs every time and still have time to do our chores for the posse and enjoy the match without feeling hurried.
This type powder flask, available from multiple sources, is easy to use and maintain. Don't leave powder in it between matches.
Buy 2 brass powder flasks, the kind with the screw on cap and screw on spout. For competing with the Ruger Old Army you want nominally 20, 25 and 30 gr. spouts.
Percussion Caps
I bought a tin of each kind of percussion caps available locally and picked the brain of Rowdy Yates, SASS #141 and BP/Frontiersman guru. The instructions say use #10 caps. I have tried #10 and #11 Remington and #10 and #11 CCI caps and RWS #1075 #11 and 1075+ caps. They all went on except #10 CCIs. In actual shooting I found the #10 Remingtons worked best for me.
Nipples
A trick I've learned is to mark one nipple with a red permanent marker. I'll keep that as the empty one. So I'll start loading one after it. Then finding the "empty" chamber to put under the hammer is easier, and capping the correct 5 nipples is eased. It also becomes a topic of discussion at the loading and unloading table when the monitors see it and wonder why.
The stock nipples are good and don't need upgrading. Get some spares, though. They will get peened by the hammer and need replacing eventually. Other Ruger shooters have found an improvement in Treso nipples. These are very useful on Colt and Remington replicas. They have a smaller flash hole, which theoretically means less blast pressure on the hammer, and thus better cap retention upon firing. Trying them would be the first thing to do if you have a recalcitrant Old Army.
Cap Seating:
Use a short dowel (or a period correct Bic Pen) to push the caps on to seat them. Don't use your thumb, and don't use something metal. The former looks really bad when the cap fires accidentally, and the latter can make them fire accidentally. If they can be made to fire with a wooden dowel, then I haven't heard of it (or been able to do it in tests). Additionally, before using them, look at them to make sure they still have their colored chemicals in them. They fall out sometimes, and that cap won't fire. The Ruger seems better about shedding caps than the "authentic" C & B pistols, but I've had fired caps hang up in the hammer slot. Clearing fired caps after shooting is just part of C & B shooting. The guns worked on by Lee's Gunsmithing hardly ever have cap-jamming problems. Personally I like them a bit tight so they have to be pushed on with your period correct 1870 dowel. Keep your hands BEHIND the cylinder gap. When finished you should have the hammer down on an empty chamber.
While you can just take caps from the tin, examine them, and put them on pretty quickly with practice, use a capper. In fact, have enough caps in cappers for the entire day's match when you get there so you won't have to be refilling the capper during the match. You have enough to keep you busy. Remember, simple, not cheap. Buy at least 2 Cash Cappers, the kind that are all brass and hold 100 caps. When you load the capper you'll check each cap for the proper color inside. Remington are green, and I've had as many as 5 out of 100 not be green. I kept them out of the capper.	Ted Cash Snail type revolver capper
These Remington #10 caps are supposed to be green. One's brown. It may or may not go off. If you're really frugal, keep them for practice. If the green paper is missing entirely, the cap will not go off. Trust me on this.
LOADING:
There should be no lube in the chambers. Don't lubricate the chambers. Dry them thoroughly. Having a stainless gun makes this less scary. Before loading the first time in the morning, put a cap on each chamber and fire the caps. That will burn off any oil in the nipple hole. That step is mandatory with BP and optional with 777, APP, and Pinnacle. With substitutes or Cowboy I have never needed a nipple pick.
Put the red nippled chamber under the rammer.
Put the weapon on half cock so the cylinder can be rotated. To start with, push the rammer down to lock the cylinder in place so that the firs chamber after the red nippled one is in the loading position.
Put your index finger tip over the powder spout. Turn the powder measure upside down. Push the powder release with your thumb. Shake the powder a couple of times. Release the powder release button. Turn the powder measure right side up. LOOK AT THE SPOUT. You should see powder to the end like so:
Carefully place the tip of the nozzle in the chamber and turn the measure upside down.
Look in the chamber for a consistent level of powder. Insert a .457 Round Ball. Release the rammer. Rotate the cylinder one chamber so the ball is centered under the rammer.
Begin to seat the ball. The rammer should be centered over the ball.
Firmly seat the ball. You should have a little ring of lead cut off by this action (visible to right). Using a rag or, in a pinch, your finger, rotate the cylinder one turn and remove loose lead rings. This also cleans the cylinder face. Spin the cylinder until it spins freely.
Difficulty Ramming? Grogan, SASS #3584 makes rammer extensions for the 5-1/2" Ruger Old Armies. $19.95 + $3.00 H/S. You can contact Grogan at billc_sdio@yahoo.com
FOR LIGHT LOADS:
The Ruger Old Army was originally designed as a hunting weapon, and a full cylinder holds 50 gr. YOU DO NOT NEED 50 GR. LOADS FOR CAS! The stock rammer was designed for full charge loads. The lowest load it will compress is about 35 gr. (less with a Wonder Wad). That is more than is necessary for CAS. There are several ways to compress a smaller charge:

1. Ram normally, then insert a .357 rnl 158 gr. bullet between the rammer and the ball and ram again. That will compress 20 gr. or more.	Negative: Constitutes an extra step.
2. After inserting the ball, fill the chamber with yellow corn meal. It will compress more than BP and will give you a very clean, consistent load. Or you can insert a 1/2" thick .45 wad (Circle Fly makes some). Negative: It's an extra step, and Murphy's law is always waiting in the wings. I lost the Texas State Championship one year when I failed to insert powder before inserting the corn meal. Your procedures should be as simple as possible so you can do them right while working the unloading table and answering questions from curious spectators (my undoing). OR stop charging your pistols until you can concentrate on it.
3. Use an adjustable or extended ram: On the top is as standard Ruger Old Army Rammer. The middle one is one that Lee's Gunsmithing welded up adding .35 in. The bottom one has been cut in half, threaded with 1/4-20 threads, and a threaded rod inserted, loctited at the muzzle end, with a jam nut on the adjustable end. The Lee's Gunsmithing unit is cheaper than the adjustable unit, but you can get a little more usable length in the adjustable unit.
The extended adjustable ram in place. Yes, it is possible to take a chunk out of your hand when ramming if you pinch it.
Banana River Outfitters sells this extended, adjustable rammer for $25. Manatee, the gunsmith there, is a known SASS Good guy and also makes a large bead front sight for rifles that is very helpful to us older guys with bad eyes.
Extended about as far as practical. Note the loading lever has barely been unsnapped, and the rammer is about to make contact with the ball. The practical limit is about 15 gr. and at that level, the leverage is poor. This only affects 777 as heavier loads, 20-30 gr., work best with the other propellants for me.
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