Blackhawk or Vaquero

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0ne3

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This may have been asked before, however I did nit see the post, please excuse me. I am thinking about buying a new revolver in .357. It would be used for plinking and target shooting. I am trying to decide between the New model Blackhawk and the Vaquero. I was thinking that you guys that know a whole lot more than I do would be able to tell me the differnces between the two and help me decide. Thank you for your help.
 
This may have been asked before, however I did nit see the post, please excuse me. I am thinking about buying a new revolver in .357. It would be used for plinking and target shooting. I am trying to decide between the New model Blackhawk and the Vaquero. I was thinking that you guys that know a whole lot more than I do would be able to tell me the differnces between the two and help me decide. Thank you for your help.
The Blackhawk has adjustable rear sights the Vaquero only has fixed sights and comes with wood grips. If you buy a Blackhawk with rubber grips you can always buy some kind of grips you like , wide variety out there to choose from. Just really depends on the style you like. They are both good guns.
 
For plinking I went with the Blackhawk convertible .38/.357 + 9mm cylinder. Mine came with wood grips. People complain online about the accuracy of the 9mm, my experience differed at normal pistol ranges and it shot well.

I prefer the sights on the Blackhawk, but the Vaquero is more classic looking.
 
The Blackhawk has nice big adjustable sights, instead of the tiny hard to see rear notch of the Vaquero. Also, IIRC, the Vaquero is slightly smaller.
 
I would go with the new model Vaquero. In my opinion the Blackhawk is overly big and heavy for the .357 Magnum. I had the Blackhawk convertible with the 6.5 barrel. Pistol shot fine with both cylinders, just didn't balance well in my hand. Felt top heavy.
Good luck!
 
First, both are great and I'm sure you will be pleased whichever way you decide to go. Obviously the adjustable sights on the Blackout allow you to realize the versatility of a .357 revolver which will shoot everything from light loaded target .38 Specials, through the midrange and Plus P .38s, all the way up to full power .357 Magnum ammo.

If you go with the Blackhawk, there are actually a couple of choices. Until, say, 2005, Ruger built all of the Blackhawks using the same cylinder size as the Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum. The blued .357 Blackhawk came with that big honkin cylinder, and an aluminum grip frame and ejector housing (the stainless version was of course all steel. Those guns seem to me ill-proportioned and I don't care for the aluminum parts. The large frame Blackhawks also have a quirk in that the chambers don't match up exactly to the loading gate which makes them a little "fiddly" to load and unload. Ruger made the fixed sight Vaquero (what some now call the "Original Vaquero") on that same frame.

In late 2004 Ruger announced the "New Vaquero" which had a smaller cylinder, making the gun roughly the same size as a Colt SAA. The New Vaquero also features a "reverse indexing pawl" which makes the chambers line up perfectly with the loading gate. Here is a link to an article describing the New Vaquero: http://www.gunblast.com/Ruger-NewVaquero.htm

In 2005 Ruger made a Blackhawk on a New Vaquero cylinder frame as the "50th Anniversary .357 Blackhawk" and because it was about the same size as the original "flattop" Blackhawk from the 50s, Ruger made it in the old "flattop" frame and, like the originals, it is an all steel gun. All of the "Anniversary Model" .357s are blued with a 4.75" barrel. Ruger made plenty of these guns and I see them for sale from time to time in the $450 range. If that finish and barrel length suits you, it is a great revolver.

Later on Ruger made (and makes) Flattop Blackhawks on the so-called "medium frame" of the New Vaquero in .45 Colt and .44 Special. I have a Bisley variant .44 Special Blackhawk and it's a great gun. I always though that Ruger should bring back the .357 in the flattop.

Lipsey's got Ruger to make the .357 Flattop Blackhawk in a 9mm convertible version. Pretty much like the Anniversary .357 but with a choice of blued or stainless, and the choice of 4.75 or 5.5 inch barrels. Here's a link to Lipsey's page showing these and other Ruger revolvers. http://www.lipseys.com/itemfinder.a...+Series&model=Blackhawk+Flattop&type=Revolver I have seen these in shops for sale new and they were in the mid to high $600s. Very nice revolvers, though.

I started shooting cowboy action in early 2010. I passed up a deal on a pair of Anniversary Blackhawks because I thought the fixed sight New Vaqueros looked more "cowboy". The Blackhawks are good guns for this game and they are legal in the "age based" categories which is what most people shoot. Fixed sight guns are legal in more categories, though, so the New Vaqueros turned out to be a good choice for me since I ended up gravitating to "Gunfighter" and black powder categories later on. That may not be relevant to you but it may be for someone looking at the choice between the fixed or adjustable sight Rugers.

Good luck in your decision making and have fun.
 
I use fixed sight old model Vaqueros in cowboy action competition, just because the categories in which I can compete do not allow adjustable sights. When they were new the point of impact was several inches low and to the side of point of aim. Frustrating, and it took some grinding on both front sight and rear notch to correct. The adjustable sighted Blackhawk will be much more versatile for most uses, allowing adjustment for different loads.
 
Ive also found the adjustable sighted guns much easier to use for general use. The medium size flat tops seem like a nice size.

Its funny, ages ago, I was thinking of how an adjustable sighted Ruger could be altered to fixed sight with welding and lots of work so it would look cooler. Now, after having had several of the vaqueros, and their difficult to see sights, especially at dusk, and with a little holster wear, I find myself thinking about adding good adjustable sights on a Vaquero. I too have gone though the work/headache to get fixed sights to hit where I wanted. The bit about never changing adjustable sights after zeroing isnt a negative, it simply means adjustable are vastly simpler to use for most of us. Ive not had any go out of adjustment other than a cheap, poorly designed holster (Hunter) that pushed the rear sight down allowing the elevation screw to come out. A small leather pad stitched into the holster that keeps the sight from hitting the leather alleviates that, as does a cutout for the sight.
 
Adjustable sights are infinitely better for using but only a fixed sight sixgun will scratch that "need an SAA" itch.

Interesting you bring that up. If another genuine Colt SA was in my budget, Id opt for the New Frontier, and have a front sight like the old Colt Flat Top Target models made for it. I seriously dislike the looks of ramp front sights on SAs. The old Colt Flat top target models sort of split the difference on looks and good sights.

Ive flat topped a couple Blackhawks, and had a small block and blade front sight made for one of them. Unfortunately the gunsmith totally ignored my directions and made a huge ugly monstrosity of a sight that I had to hand file down to the size I wanted. It really needs to just be redone, but is still better looking, to me, than the ramps. If I add good sights to a Vaquero, it will be an S&W K frame rear and Colt Flat Top target style front.
 
I usually shoot one of my Colts or Uberti's. Never owned a Ruger SA. That is until last weekend. Bought a 7 1/2 inch New Vaquero, 45LC, NIB at a gun show. Very nice. Classic look and feel, fit and finish is great and the CCH frame is pretty nice. Took it out to the range and was very pleased. The rear sight notch is wide enough that it offers a lot of "air gap"., The front sight was the tallest I have ever seen. Filed it down to shoot POA with no problem.I can see other Vaqueros in my future, probably a 5 1/2 inch CCH 45LC.
 
My 38 and 357 loads that I shoot have quite a bit of elevation change so I much prefer adjustable sights on my 357, however 357 Blackhawks on the large frame balance for crap. I'd second the thought to get one of the anniversary guns on the mid frame.
Had one of those and an original 3 screw liked them well enough but when I decided to thin the herd a bit they were sold and I kept the big bores (44 special n 45 Colt)
 
My aging eyes need the higher profile of adjustable sights to have any reasonable hope of getting good hits on targets beyond five yards or so. It would have been possible to try custom fixed sights with a higher, bolder profile, but I sold my stainless Vaquero, and kept my Blackhawk Bisley.
 
I've had both; and I love both. The sights on Blackhawk are great. I like the traditional (Peacemaker) look of the Vaquero. The process of the fixed sight gun is reverse; find a load that shoots where the sights point. With adjustable, shoot the load and adjust the sights.
 
I disagree. Find the load you want to use and adjust the fixed sight gun to shoot to the sights.

I agree but I seem to never have a gun with fixed sights that I do not have to adjust them, both horizontally and vertically. For me, it's easier to spin the screws on adjustable sights.

I've bought only Blackhawks when it comes to Ruger single actions.

(fixing my grip has been a "holy grail" for the past several years. Unfortunately, not much progress:))
 
Both SA, both Ruger. Pretty hard to make a bad choice with either. My choice would be' get one of each, I did. They are both great shooters and well built. The Blackhawk makes a better hunter because of the sights.
 
As much as I love the look of the traditional fixed-sight SAA-pattern sixguns, the late, great Elmer Keith set me straight, in his writings on revolvers. He was a believer in adjustable sights. To borrow words from a non-firearms-related movie I loved, as a child, "So let it be written; so let it be done."

This does not keep me from owning several fixed-sight Colt and USFA Sixguns, but my Blackhawk Bisley is the better field gun. In dense woods, where everything happens at much closer range, fixed sights are OK.
 
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