On one side is stamped “475 Caliber” and on the other “American Classic” with Reeder’s signature above it. The specially made cylinder only has the stamping “Black Powder” engraved on it.Īs with the first revolver, this one has an octagon barrel but it is 8″ long. There is only a minor amount of engraving on each side of its frame in the form of American flags. 475 model is regular carbon steel with a blue finish. Like the first custom Reeder gun mentioned above this one likewise has the Ruger Bisley grip frame and it’s also fitted with fancy walnut stocks. Two dollops from it gave 45 grains of Swiss FFFg black powder which is about the hottest on the market today. A powder flask was used to load the chambers. Speaking of chambers, there were only five in this custom made cylinder. dead-soft), they easily swaged into the chambers. What I came up with were 0.490″ ones from Hornady, weighing 177 grains. So what size ball does one shoot in a 0.475″ cap and ball revolver? I asked myself the question when rummaging through my stock of round, pure lead balls ranging from 0.310″ to 0.57″. This one really piqued my interest because it is a 0.475″. That brings us to the second Gary Reeder custom cap and ball revolver. Reeder’s signature on the flat above.īoth guns have custom touches like action jobs, Reeder’s “maxi-throat,” deep dish crowns and those front sights are interchangeable. The other side of the barrel is labeled “American Classic” with Mr. Likewise etched into the barrel’s left flat is “.45 Caliber” and above it on another flat is “Test Gun #1.” A sharp reader now will be scratching his head and thinking, “Flats?” Right, instead of the Ruger Old Army’s round barrel Reeder has installed an octagon barrel, and instead of the original 71/2″ length this one is only 65/8″. Reeder then equipped the grip frame with a set of fancy walnut grips.Īlso fancy is the laser engraving (you either like it or not) over most of the handgun. The difference between the original Ruger Old Army grip frame and the Bisley grip frame is the former is gently curved and the latter has more of a bend to its curve. The first things you’ll notice when seeing it is the grip frame is a Bisley style. As a matter of fact, it’s based on one of their stainless steel Old Army’s with their strong topstrap frame. One of the Gary Reeder custom Rugers is a. Ruger named their Old Army for its groove diameter. 44 revolvers are all specified to take 0.457″ balls according to their instruction books. 44 moniker by the measurement across the lands of their rifling and not the groove diameter. 44 cap and ball revolvers from the 1836/1873 era were. As everyone knows who has experience with Ruger Old Army revolvers, they are. Both are based on Ruger’s Old Army design which must be nearing 50 years old itself.

They are products of Gary Reeder’s Custom Guns located in Flagstaff, Ariz. So when his Editorship Roy asked if I wanted to do a piece on some custom percussion sixguns I said, “Huh? Custom percussion sixguns I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Since 1967 I’ve been shooting cap and ball revolvers - replicas and/or originals - of Colts and Remingtons dating from the Civil War era.

Gary reeder