Is Corbon 200gr. 45 long colt truly +P?

Since you have the Ruger, you shouldn't have a problem. The Rugers are strong and should handle any factory load.

Another round you might consider is the Winchester STHP. A truly destructive round. Ruger will handle that round equally well

The 265 grain+P BCJHP from Crobon are wicked on deer, I don't have the pictures to prove this but I can atest to it!

had a Vaquero just didn't have a practical purpose for it and plinking with it wasn't exactly cheap. Ended up trading it for an 870 Wingmaster to work on finishing a collection of 870 Wingmasters.

It is my understanding that the New Vaqureo is somewhat less robust than the old one, hence no 44 Magnum for it. But I can see no reason why it would not hold any factory load easily. I am a big 45 Colt buff, and have several old Vaqureos in that caliber, and a few S&Ws. I have used both Buffalo Bore and Corbon in all of them without ill effects, although when you get into the big Buffalo Bore bullets the recoil will get your attention, not violent like a 41-44 mag, but a little slower but very substantial push.

Quoting Jack2427:

It is my understanding that the New Vaqureo is somewhat less robust than the old one, hence no 44 Magnum for it. But I can see no reason why it would not hold any factory load easily.

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Then you have no idea what you're talking about.

OK. First: the New Vaquero in 45LC is about as strong as a Colt SAA of recent vintage. *Maybe* the Ruger is a fraction stronger but then again maybe not. Like the Colt, the cylinder bore walls are almost paper thin. (Which is one reason why my NewVaq is a 357, as I can get wild without worrying about it.)

If you run REAL 45LC+P out of it, including the aforementioned Cor-Bon 265gr, there is a chance you'll grenade it. If you run Buffalo Bore or other super-potent 45LC+P in a New Vaquero, you are very likely to run into big, big trouble and bits of metal in multiple directions. Buffalo Bore has a *specific* warning about the Ruger NewVaq in 45LC and their hottest 45L+P ammo. They also make a couple of 45LC loads that ARE compatible with the New Vaq, Colt SAA and others.

Now, the question remaining is "is that Cor-Bon 200gr JHP really a +P?".

45LC ammo can be divided into three broad categories:

* "Cowboy loads" don't exceed the original 14,000psi recommended level for early smokeless powder-rated Colt SAAs. You'll usually see 225gr stuff doing 700 to 800fps with plain lead slugs.

* "Modern combat 45LC jacketed" generally stay around 20,000psi or so. Typical loads range from the Speer 250gr Gold Dot doing 900fps, the Winchester Silvertip 225 doing about the same, and various 200gr slugs (usually the Speer 200gr big cavity Gold Dot) doing up to 1,100fps. Buffalo Bore sells a slug like that, and a heavier hardcast at 1,000fps. These are compatible with post-WW2 Colt SAAs (2nd/3rd/"4th" gen), most Italian clones except for maybe the crappiest specimens of years back, the S&W and Taurus DA 45LCs and the Ruger New Vaquero.

* "Ruger only monsters" run pressures from 25,000psi up through 33,000 or so. Some of these blow the doors off the 44Mag in terms of bullet energy and weight. You do NOT want to run these in a New Vaquero. Cor-Bon's 265 is in this realm, although it's among the milder specimens. THESE ARE STILL "FACTORY LOADS" THAT CAN BLOW A NEWVAQ45 TO KINGDOM COME. M'kay?

It LOOKS like the Cor-Bon 200 load is in the middle category above. But we don't know for sure: either Cor-Bon considers anything past the first category as "+P" where nobody else does, OR the loading recipe for their 200 is just stupid and is producing more pressure than it needs to for the amount of work done.

Which isn't impossible. You can do a "stupid load" that does a brief but extreme pressure spike that blows the gun to hell, BUT it's so short (in time) that you don't get efficient bullet push.

I'd like to think Cor-Bon aren't idiots to do a load like that and if that's the case, they're just being over-cautious. In which case the load will work in a NewVaq.

But...since Cor-Bon doesn't publish pressure specs (neither does anybody else mind you) there's no way to know for sure. I'd say 90% odds you'll be fine but then again...why risk it? For a bit more money get some Buffalo Bore standard pressure 45LC - they do NOT do "stupid overpressure loads", in fact they get more push for a lower pressure than anybody by messing with the length of time the pressure curve stays high, which takes R&D and good test gear which is why you pay more - it would be difficult to duplicate handloading no matter how good you are without that test gear. For the amount you're going to shoot "the good stuff", why not?

Most of the time you're going to shoot bulk cowboy practice stuff, your own handloads and maybe some Winchester Silvertip 45LC (which is a good load in it's own right).

Jim,
Thanks for the analysis. You explained why my Old Vaquero will be my only Vaquero. I never have understood why the original heavy duty Vaquero is not good enough for so many shooters who turn to a lighter frame thinner cylinder gun meant for black powder.

Blacksmoke:

I bought a NewVaq357 because I didn't need more horsepower than that, and the NV357 is a fine, tough platform well suited to the cartridge.

Here's the kicker. Take a dozen NewVaqs of either factory caliber, put them in Ransom Rests, test their groups. Do the same for a dozen OldVaqs of the same caliber.

I guarantee the NewVaq's average group size will be lower.

You're also less likely to see a "bad monday gun" misaligned mess of a specimen. It's not THAT common with a "large frame" Ruger SA but they do happen - Linebaugh has described guns where each part is "in spec" but they're all in the wrong direction and the only cure left is a new custom cylinder.

What I guarantee you'll see in too many large-frame Ruger SAs is variances between bores, while the NewVaqs will virtually never have that flaw. The cylinder manufacturing process on the NewVaq (and it's 50th Anniversary 357 Blackhawk Flattop cousin) is different. Your cylinder was made with six drill bits/reamers all going at once, mine was done with one bit/reamer used on all six bores in sequence on a very modern machine - it ain't line boring but it's closer to it. That's why my cylinder can't show throat size variance. And since it was easier to check one bit/reamer set than six, the bores I do get (in either caliber) are better quality bone-stock on average.

And that's why I have a NewVaq, with zero regrets. My specimen passed "the checkout" with flying colors, as did the other two available at the store in the configuration I wanted. I picked mine purely via the fake case pattern, which isn't something I cared a lot about. At the range, mine shot well with windage dead on. An SBH hammer dropped in smooth as silk with me wielding the screwdriver, as did a spring kit.

If you don't need big power past what hot 357s can do, the NewVaq is among the best-built guns Ruger has ever made.

Jim, I appreciate the clarification on the New Vaq. Also, happy you seconded my recommendation of the Winchester STHP.

Now if they would just make one of these beauties in 44 special!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks , I was the one who asked that question about Corbon and my EAA Be the way that Winchester load is what is in my EAA right now

Blacksmoke

The Vaquero is nothing more than a blackhawk without the adjustable sights. They are a great, strong, durable design capable of pretty much double the pressures of the .45 Colt in standard loadings. They are also very heavy. To really get the most out of that potential it would seem that adustable sights would be needed.

The New Vaquero was designed to appeal to someone who has no problems with standard loads and wants something that doesn't feel like ton strapped to his hip.

Now, to get Silvertips or Gold Dots?

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Right, I didn't address this .

The Silvertip in 45LC is a fine self defense load and would do well enough against most critters short of a griz. It's time-tested, it works.

The Gold Dot 250gr is something special though. What Speer seems to have done is taken the superb 135gr 38+P "fat hollowpoint" design and scaled it WAY the hell up. Speer's 200gr "flying ashtray" slug in .44Spl was a damn good load, this 250 as a .45 is just unbelievable. Probably the most deadly subsonic load available today in any caliber, if we're talking about personal defense against human targets.

The other thing is, being a 250, it should print to about the same point of elevation as the 255gr hardcast hunting 45LC loads, so with a fixed-sight gun you should be able to dial it in to that bullet weight and shoot hardcast in the woods, and the Gold Dot 250 jacketed as a personal/home defense load.

Given Speer's rep with the Gold Dot series in general, and the design of the 250, I rank that load above the Silvertip. Not by an enormous margin mind you, you're not making a huge mistake with the Silvertip, esp. if it happens to shoot better in your gun.

But the Gold Dots are known for excellent accuracy and it'll probably shoot at least as good if not better than anything else you could run short of maybe a quality hardcast...

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One more detail on the NewVaq357: the cylinder has more "beef" than a GP100's cylinder when compared side by side. So in 357, the NewVaq is NO weakling of any sort. Only in 45LC do you have to think about loads and pressures and that's really only because Ruger has been making enough abnormally strong 45LCs previously that "supersized" factory 45LC+P loads exist.

New Vaquero not equal to Blackhawk

This is not true of the New Vaqueros. They are a different frame than the the Blackhawks (new or old) and should be treated like a Colt SAA.

"The Vaquero is nothing more than a blackhawk without the adjustable sights. They are a great, strong, durable design capable of pretty much double the pressures of the .45 Colt in standard loadings. They are also very heavy. To really get the most out of that potential it would seem that adustable sights would be needed.

The New Vaquero was designed to appeal to someone who has no problems with standard loads and wants something that doesn't feel like ton strapped to his hip."