Howdy
That is not a stock New Vaquero. The jeweled hammer looks like the work of Jimmy Spurs, a well known Cowboy Action Gunsmith in New Hampshire. As far as I know he does that to the hammers of all the revolvers he slicks up. If the action is super slick I would bet even money he is the one who slicked it up. Jimmy usually put the free spin pawl in any Ruger revolvers that did not come with it stock.
The early New Vaqueros kept the old Vaquero hammer and with the smaller frame look just like a real Colt SAA hammer sticking up like that.
Have to disagree with you about that though. The early New Vaqueros did not have the 'original model' Vaquero hammer. Completely new design of the profile of the spur on the New Vaquero hammer. With the 'original' model, the gun could be sighted with the hammer down, the hammer spur did not block the view of the sights. Same with a standard Blackhawk. The idea behind the New Vaquero was to make it look more like a Colt than the larger, 'original model' Vaquero did. So in addition to the frame being smaller, the New Vaquero hammer had a taller spur, which blocked the sights when the hammer was down. Just like a Colt. It's a single action revolver anyway, what's the point of being able to see the sights before you cock the hammer.
When I got my pair of New Vaqueros I did lots of comparisons between them and the 'original model' Vaqueros.
This photo shows an 'original model' Vaquero at the top, and a New Vaquero at the bottom. The difference in the hammer spur profiles should be obvious. Later, a few different hammer styles were available with the New Vaquero, but this is the original style.
This photo compares a New Vaquero to a Colt Single Action Army. This particular New Vaquero has the blued frame. (Notice the Colt is identified by the marking on the barrel)
A comparison of the view of the rear sights. The Colt on the left is a 2nd Gen. This generation featured a square bottomed rear sight, not the V groove rear sight of a 1st Gen Colt. The New Vaquero rear sight is similar, but a little bit wider.
If you think those sights are difficult to see, try shooting a 1st Gen Colt sometime.
I never understood the complaint so many had about the 'bible' that was stamped on the side of Ruger revolver barrels. People forget that Ruger lost a couple of very expensive lawsuits back in the 1970s before they started installing transfer bars in all their revolvers. I don't fault Ruger for being a little bit cautious to avoid further lawsuits. All the 'bible' said was to read the manual. Anyway, when I bought my first pair of New Vaqueros was right on the cusp of when they were transitioning to putting the 'bible' on the underside of the barrel. One of them is marked on the side of the barrel, one on the underside. My notes say this photo was taken in 2006.
This is the marking on the side of the barrel of an 'original model' Vaquero that was made in 1994. It never bothered me.
Regarding the faux colors on the frame rusting: That was the reason Ruger stopped using that treatment and went to a blued frame. There were a lot of complaints about the faux colors causing rust. It may or may not happen. This is a photo of my first pair of New Vaqueros, both chambered for 357 Mag. You can see the 'bible' on the side of the barrel of one. I have had these guys since around 2006 or so and they have not rusted yet. And I do not oil them very often.
P.S. Another new feature when the New Vaquero came out was a shorter cylinder pin. It did not stick out as far from the frame as the pin on the older models. With the older models, the cylinder pin could not be completely removed from the gun unless the ejector housing, ejector spring, and ejector were removed. I always thought Ruger felt this was a good idea to prevent a pin from accidentally falling out of the gun. With the New Vaquero, if the pin was loose, or the retaining latch did not have a good grip, heavy recoil could make the pin jump forward. If one were not paying attention the pin could even jump out onto the ground. Just like with a Colt. Don't ask me how I know this.
