[Cap'n Billy]

Here is my Ruger New Vaquero .357, with a 5 1/2 barrel.
I just wish it had a 4 3/4 barrel.
Can it be changed out?
Hope it's not too dumb a question.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/Ritchie_Rooster/Richard013.jpg

[BBBBill]

Not dumb. Yes it can, but it would probably cost more than you would be willing to spend to do it properly. There is more to it than just screwing out the old & screwing in the new. Barrel shoulder must be faced to index the barrel straight up, cylinder to barrel gap must be set, forcing cone cut & lapped. Price would approach or surpass the price of a new gun.

[cz85cmbt]

I think for short money you can have the barrel and extractor cut down then recrowned. Staking a new sight on shouldn't be tough either. Just a thought, I know john taffin shortened a lot of his rugers.

[CCW1911]

Would it be close enough just to cut it off even with the end of the ejector housing and remount the sight?

[Chawbaccer]

How about the billboard on the left side? Will it bother you if it is cut into, or off center? A good smith will cut a bit off from both ends so as not to mess the writing up. Of course, you can have that buffed off.

[CCW1911]

Cutting it off from both ends would be a lot of extra work$$$$$$. Would be a good time to turn off the billboard as most people don't like them anyway. Hope this doesn't break any rules but here is an example of what it looks like, this is a Vaquero I built a few years ago. Shortened the barrel and a few other options the customer wanted.