Old style Ruger Vaquero

[ANGUSLINCOLN]

I will be aquiring an older style Ruger Vaquero shortly and I was wondering what it's best charactestics might be. It's chambered in .357 and has had some work done to it to smooth out it's action as it's former owner was into cowboy action shooting. Can anyone offer any pros or cons regarding this revolver?

 

[1911Tuner]

Only that I'd love to have a few of'em. I may have to remedy that in the near future.

Ruger revolvers are noted for their strength and durability. Some of the loading manuals have a section for .45 Colt data specifically for the Ruger single-actions...that invades .44 Magnum ballistics. I never really cared for the aesthetics of the old Ruger flattops...as good as they were...but the Vaqueros are just too close to the 1873 Colt for me not to lust after'em. I want one in .41 Magnum with the 4 and 3/4-inch barrel.

Sadly...If they make'em in that caliber, I've been unable to prove it.

 

[johnmerry]

I have a Ruger Vaquero in .45 Long Colt with a 5 1/2 inch barrel, the revolver is is excellent. Very tough absolutely reliable, it is accurate and good looking to boot. But I must admit that no matter how good the gun is like all thinks I know it can be better, not taking anything away from it's performance, I just have a love for custom revolvers.
So what i am going to do is install a new cylinder which will be line-bored and the chambers will be cut to a tight .480 and the chamber throats will be cut to .453. A belt Mountain locking bases pin will installed along with a free spin pawl and a over sized cylinder latch. The original barrel will be replaced with a pacnor 1-22 slow twist barrel that will be cut to 4 5/8 inches. A Hamilton Bowen Endshake bushing will be installed to remove all lateral movement from the cylinder. The cosmetics will be a set of Cracked Antique Ivory grip that will be slimmed down and precision fitted to the gun. A Bisley hammer will replace the original hammer for ease of repatative fire and a birds head ejector rod will be installed, and to finish it all off the Freedom arms windage adjustable front signt will be mounted on the barrel. And the entire frame and barrel will given a deep blue with a buffed finished.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

They're very likeable, tough, and pretty high quality right out of the box.

The cons are that they're kinda big and kinda heavy. But, that's kind of the name of the game with the single actions...

 

[ANGUSLINCOLN]

Just out of curiosity Johnmerry, what will be the ballpark price of all that custom work and what improvements are you likely to see?

 

[Bullet]

I have an Old style Ruger Bisley Vaquero in 357. I mostly use it for Black Powder 38’s - lots of smoke - real fun .

 

[Jim March]

That's a 44Magnum-class gun with a 357Mag cylinder and barrel.

It's basically way oversize for the power level on tap with standard factory 357 ammo (even the really hot stuff by Buffalo Bore, Grizzly and Doubletap doesn't need that kind of strength).

The good news: with careful handloading using data for this class of gun, you can seriously hot-rod the 357. Or if you're a newbie handloader, a minor to moderate mistake at the reloading bench will be unlikely to detonate the gun. Don't get me wrong, you CAN blow one up(!) but you have to really screw up to do it.

You can also swap parts around to shrink the overall bulk some - bird's-head grip frame fr'instance, chopped barrel, whatever. Rugers respond very, VERY well to "tuning and tweaking". Or if you have hands on the bigger side, it might fit you well as is .

Finally, the 357 version is a good candidate for conversion calibers. The cylinder can be safely reamed up to 41Mag, 44Mag or whatever, and then a barrel swap performed. Want an oddball caliber like the 10mmMagnum? The 357 is a great starting point...

 

[johnmerry]

Hey ANGUSLINCOLN,
All of the improvement with parts and laber will cost right around 400.00. The improvements will be dramatic compared to the stock Vaquero, such as high velocity with less powder this will be accomplished through tighter tolerances ( I forgot to mention that the barrel to cylinder gap will be right around 2000 of a inch) this will produce tighter groups becuase of the uniformed gas burn off you get from equal sized chambers. Greater accuracy made possible from the line boring and the slow twist barrel. Greater accuracy control which is achieved with the windage adjustable front sight which actually comes in a lot of three sight blade of different heighth.
I have also com to find that the blackhawk style grip frame is very large at the bottom where iot flares out on both sides. So i am going to have my gunsmith grind of the flares and make it more like the Keith #5 grip frame, I am quite certain this will improve the handling of the weapon which will in kind improve the accuracy. pointability, and palming aspects. The reasonI am doing all of this is because I already own the gun and I really do not feel like spending the money on a blackhawk to customize when I already have a fully converted and customized Ruger Bisley.

 

[ANGUSLINCOLN]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I'm having withdrawl symptoms after having parted with my GP100 today which will finance the Vaquero; couldn't see having 3 double action.357 magnum revolvers and since the other 2 are somewhat collectible Smiths, I figured I could round out the collection with a single action. I still can't help feeling kind of empty; like I just gave away my first born.
But I am looking foreward to scratching that single action itch.
And Jim, as a new reloader, I am looking foreward to working with the Vaquero and some load varieties. It's good to know the .357 Vaquero can handle most anything I feed it.

 

[John C]

johnmerry;

Who's going to do the work for you?

-John

 

[Jim March]

Angus: please understand that you CAN break one with stupid reloading, m'kay?

The good news is that if you're careful and start with good standard 357Magnum recipes, you have some "breathing room" for newbie mistakes.

I would tend to recommend you NOT load "super hot" 357 made for this large frame and cylinder until you've gained considerable experience.

The thing is, adding powder in even very small amounts can give you enormous spikes in pressure. You can get to a situation where adding 5% more powder gives you a 50% or more increase in peak pressure - and it's peak pressure that can kill the gun.

What this means is, "exploring the edge" of a gun's performance envelope is best done with great care backed by experience.

The good news is, as you grow as a handloader you'll be able to explore more of this gun's capabilities, which are considerable . It's a fantastic gun to learn handloading with .

I have a NewVaq in 357. It's cylinder is still beefier than a GP100 which is by no means a weak gun. Your gun's cylinder will dwarf mine in turn .

 

[ANGUSLINCOLN]

Understood Jim, as an understudy in the science of handloading, I have no desire to push the limits of anything. In fact, I was interested in loading smaller charges with wax bullets that I may practice around the house with. Any experience with that?

 

[johnmerry]

Hey JOHNC thanks for responding. Jim white, the owner jwgunsmithing.com is going to do the work for me. The price I gave is not set in stone but this a price compared to the other work I have had him do, and the price also includes the parts. So go check him out at jwgunsmithing.com. The videos of the ruger bisley is a gun that he rebuild for me.


Sorry, I gave you the wrong website it is jwhitegunsmithing.com

 

[ANGUSLINCOLN]

Well I sealed the deal today; put 50 rounds through it this afternoon and can't find anything not to love about it. The action is smooth as silk and the trigger breaks like a potato chip. After a good cleaning, I took some portrait pics

This Vaquero feels every bit as rugged as the GP100 did if not more so. It may weigh an ounce or two more as well, but it tames recoil significantly. I have no regrets!

 

[texagun]

I'm a big fan of the Old Model Ruger Vaquero. They are much more robust than the newer models that were made primarily for lighter loads used in Cowboy Action Shooting. It's a shame that Ruger didn't continue to make them and offer them, side by side, with the newer models. My Older Models are in .45 LC.

 

[johnmerry]

Hey ANGUSLINCOLN what kinda of grips are those on your gun? They look like gunfighter grips from Eagle grips.

 

[Jim March]

I was going to say, yes, they look like Eagle gunfighters. If they fit your hands they're a great choice for this caliber...by the time you hit 44Magnum or hotter power they have limitations.

Compare the cylinder of this gun versus a GP100 and you'll rapidly learn the OldVaq is WAY tougher. On any Ruger it's the cylinder that will form the "weak link" in terms of "resists blowing up". That doesn't mean the cylinders are weak, it means the frames are VERY strong...

 

[ANGUSLINCOLN]

Hey! You guys know your grips! They are indeed Eagle Gunfighter grips. They were on the gunwhen I bought it and they fit my hand really well. I was used to my Ruger Single Six factory grips and I don't consider those to be all that comfortable but the Gunfighter grips are a different story. They look like walnut to me; maybe someone more familiar with this type of grip could confirm that. Here's a better picture






Texagun, those are a nice looking pair of Vaqueros; consecutive #'s too?

The previous owner of my gun was into the cowboy competitions and although this gun has been well cared for,(action /trigger job), I do notice a bit of flame cutting above the forcing cone. I don't know how to rate how serious it is, but given the stout nature of this design, I don't think it's a serious issue to worry about.