Warning notice - TOTW Ruger Old Army nipples....

[tacfoley]

I got this sad little email from a pal here on the forum this very evening -

Hi tac, I hope you and your family are all well.

I need to pick your brains concerning ROA nipples.
I have just received six nipples from http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/64/2/PRA-S. Before I checked them I disposed of all the packing and condensed them into one sealable plastic bag. I then proceeded to check their fit on my ROA.

EEK!, they don't fit. The first sign was the size of the hex bit, the Ruger wrench didn't fit. I found a small socket that fitted only to discover the thread is different.
So, I'm in "shit street" :-(

As you can see the stated thread is 12-28 but I don't know what it is on my ROA.

What seemed a reasonable price was initially squashed by £11.61 import duty and now they are no use to me.

I'm hoping you might be able to help me in some way.

If I have to put this down to experience, then, "such is life".

There ya go. I'm awaiting a call from a few pals over in Oregon and the rest of the PNW about this.

Meanwhile, I suggest that anybody about to order ROA nipples from Track of the Wolf hold on a while.

tac

[tacfoley]

'Kay, my pal who got a set of the ROA nipples I obtained from Jim in Springfield OR advises me that they are a perfect fit in HIS ROA.

Looks like I'll be ordering some more - if anybody is interested, please PM me for details - same deal as before £15-00 a set of six, includes mailing to you in UK only.

I will personally check the fit before I ship them out to anybody.

tac

[tacfoley]

This is the post from Zonie - moderator on muzzleloadingforum.com - reproduced with thanks -

As a point of reference, a #12-28UNF-2A male thread should have an outside diameter of .2085-.2150 inches measured from the tips of the threads.

The #12-28UNF-3A male thread outside diameter is .2095-.2160 making it a slightly tighter fit.

The 28 indicates there are 28 threads per inch of length.

The class 2 threads are most commonly used and I don't know which one Ruger used for its nipples.

I mention this because the metric threads have a M5.5-0.9 thread that is close to being the same.

It has an outside diameter of .217 with 28.22 threads per inch and is an attempt to create a metric version of a #12-28 thread.

Because it is not exactly the same, it could cause an interference with the threaded hole.

A possible solution would be to buy a #12-28-2A die and drive the unknown nipple into it.
This would remove any excess material on the metric thread and should allow the nipple to be used in the Ruger.

tac

[lostcat]

That's really unlucky,I just ordered the same.
2 sets, thankfully they are 5/16th hex and correct thread for my ROA,
I noticed they had small burrs on the hex which I removed with a wire brush,the Ruger hex tool is pretty crude at best IMO anyway,I have a genuine one supplied with mine,I ground down a 3/16th socket,it fits the pockets in the cylinder
The thread also should have been better finnished/cleaned to allow them to be threaded in easier,I just find myself comparing made in the USA engineering to my old Uberti's,they are worlds apart.
I'd be interested to know the name of the person they contacted at TOTW with their concerns and what they would do about it,I doubt that TOTW lost all the information on the order.

Edit.
Checked the TOTW nipples in my Ruger key,they fit that too.unlike the genuine Ruger key fit in the cylinder which is oversized.
Not sure from the original post if they where supposed to be under or over sized.

But be advised,just order ROA parts and take advice from Tac in future unless you have a few basic tools.