Beretta Stampede or Taurus Gaucho?

[Jim March]

Ruger has a special run of all-blue no-fake-case New Vaqs.

Mine is a fake-case gun. There's some good news: Ruger's latest chemical flavor of this isn't ATTRACTING rust the way the very early ones did. In my gun it's as rust-resistant as the barrel bluing.

The bad news: it's pretty clearly fake. Mine is basically "smoky gray" all over...looks pretty good actually but with more or less no blues, browns or reds like you'd expect.

When I bought it I assumed it was possible I'd have to strip it and refinish it based on the rust-attraction issue with the early process. That hasn't been an issue at all. Mine is a fairly early specimen around the low SN5000 range so you can bet any recent New Vaq with fake case will be similar.

All that said, Ruger should have done them all-blue instead of fake case. Barring that, at least they improved the process.

 

[Hawk]

I have yet to see charcoal blue in the flesh - looks good in the pics, I'll admit.

Uberti's color case looks OK. Turnbull's work looks better IMO, but I've only seen it on USFA. I heard he does Colt's case color and I know STI is using him. However, I'm not sure about Colt and haven't seen an STI.

I believe real case color will eventually go away - don't know how long this takes but it'll eventually go away.

Nickel is nickel. Shiny and period correct.
It even holds up well to judge by this example from 1891.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Navy Arms yet. They have some very nice SA revolvers and they even have 3 models in .357 Mag with 7.5" barrels.
http://www.navyarms.com/html/sa_rev_of_west.html

I've heard good things about these revolvers but have never shot one so I hope owners will jump in and give you a report.

Also, don't forget about the original, the Colt. Colt is still making their SA revolvers and they have a .357 Magnum model in 4.75", 5.5" and the 7.5" model you are looking for.
http://www.coltsmfg.com/cmci/saarmy357.asp

 

[jad0110]

As for case hardened frames, Uberti and Cimarron are the real thing. Not sure about the Stampede, or the new Colts for that matter. I also did not know that the new Vacquero is offered with real case hardening ... learn something new everyday.

Jim is correct about Ruger's fake case hardening: like plastic simulated wood trim available in a lot of cars, it does look nice, but it is obviously fake.

Speaking of simulated case hardening, are there any cleaning agents that should be kept away from it to avoid screwing it up? My father is considering either a Uberti (real case hardening) or New Vacquero (possibly with the fake stuff), so I am just wondering.

 

[Jim March]

>>I also did not know that the new Vacquero is offered with real case hardening<<

Huh? I hadn't heard that. It's offered in all-blue, no fake-case at all (no real case either!) with white micarta grips as a distributor special. Very cool.

 

[jad0110]

Jim,

Oh, okay ... I just misread your post - you are correct!

 

[applesanity]

Thanks for all the help. Now I have more choices that I started with. Unfortunately, my local gun store carries neither the stampede nor the gaucho. (Northern Virginia, anyone?) However, I did notice that the Gaucho had an ugly hump thing on the hammer, as well one giant, not-so-tasteful company banner on the barrel. Still, it's $100 less. Gotta pay my rent + insurance before paying for my hobby.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

I have a Gaucho in .357 with a 5 1\2" barrel that is CCH. Bought it 9 months ago and it is a nice gun. It looks real nice with its CCH and the action is real smooth. Have not had any trouble with it and it shoots well. I am glad I bought it when I did because it would cost me about $100.00 - 125.00 more today. The only thing I wish it had was a 6 1\2" barrel but they don't make one with a 6 1\2" barrel. If I were to buy another one. I would go with the 7 1\2" barrel, just my personal taste.