xd9fan
Member
A guy at sportsmans warehouse said they cant get the new vaquero's in stock due to a recall on the new version. Is this right? (its too early for me to call the ruger factory...a weekend)
recall on Ruger New Style Vaquero??
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SouthpawShootr
Member
I seem to remember something about it, but I don't recall what it was and it was back before the first of the year when these things first started appearing. Might have had something to do with cylinder indexing. Now, if something popped up in the last couple of weeks, I haven't heard about it. I was in my favorite local shop a less than 2 weeks ago and they had two new ones in the case. It's very possible that these things have become extremely popular and they just can't get them.
So Much for "New & Improved"
I have never understood why companies make new versions of firearms that are perfectly reliable, appealing, etc. Then, tah dah, recall. Before I could view which Ruger was recalled, I had anticipated that it would be the new and improved Mark III .22LR pistol. I loathe its "loaded chamber indicator". Not only are they miserable to clean, but now they look hideous. Kimber's latest debacle at the external extractor was equally if not more laughable. I can rightly add to the "duh list" the "improvement" to the Kimber 1911 going from series I to series II. It was a waste of money, resources and energy to add a firing pin block. The old 1911s have two safeties already, and the inertia-driven firing pin withstands something like 7 feet drop on hard surface with no "boom". Is this all marketing and bragging, or is it truly intent to improve? For my part, I sold all of my series I (80) pistols and have only series I and series 70 style 1911s. I had actually considered a Vaquero back about 6 months ago. They look great, and I hear that they shoot great. I think I'll wait until they get the "improvements" out, ooops, I mean get the "bugs" out before I buy one.
Rant off
Doc2005
I have never understood why companies make new versions of firearms that are perfectly reliable, appealing, etc. Then, tah dah, recall. Before I could view which Ruger was recalled, I had anticipated that it would be the new and improved Mark III .22LR pistol. I loathe its "loaded chamber indicator". Not only are they miserable to clean, but now they look hideous. Kimber's latest debacle at the external extractor was equally if not more laughable. I can rightly add to the "duh list" the "improvement" to the Kimber 1911 going from series I to series II. It was a waste of money, resources and energy to add a firing pin block. The old 1911s have two safeties already, and the inertia-driven firing pin withstands something like 7 feet drop on hard surface with no "boom". Is this all marketing and bragging, or is it truly intent to improve? For my part, I sold all of my series I (80) pistols and have only series I and series 70 style 1911s. I had actually considered a Vaquero back about 6 months ago. They look great, and I hear that they shoot great. I think I'll wait until they get the "improvements" out, ooops, I mean get the "bugs" out before I buy one.
Rant off
Doc2005
Jim March
Member
Some very early New Vaqs were recalled on a minor issue, I forget what but if memory serves it wasn't safety or functionality related. Mine in the SN 5xxx range is fine.
The New Vaq is different from the "Old Vaq" both in terms of size and in one key area, manufacturing technique. Ruger has long used a "six drills at a time" machine on the "Old Vaq" and 44Mag-frame-size Blackhawks, and you sometimes see cylinder throats vary a bit between cylinder bores on the same cylinder.
Not a good thing for accuracy.
The new process uses one drill bit on every cylinder bore, done one at a time, rotating the cylinder six times per process. It's not "line boring" of course but it's closer than the old process and field reports (including mine) show that accuracy is good as is consistency from bore to bore. With the right ammo I'm pulling 2" groups at 25yds...it just loves the Gold Dot 357Mag "short barrel" 135gr load for some reason
.
The bad part is that new keylock for legality in the worst-case-scenario states. But even then, they figured out how to hide it well for most folks, allowing only those who need it to drill out the grip panel (drill bit starter dimple already done on the inside of one grip panel) to give access to the lock without pulling the grip panels.
Overall I consider the New Vaq the best of the "Colt SAA near-clones with a transfer bar", beating out the Beretta Stampede on toughness and both that and the Taurus Gaucho on aftermarket parts and accessories availability (mine already sports a SuperBlackHawk hammer...).
The New Vaq is different from the "Old Vaq" both in terms of size and in one key area, manufacturing technique. Ruger has long used a "six drills at a time" machine on the "Old Vaq" and 44Mag-frame-size Blackhawks, and you sometimes see cylinder throats vary a bit between cylinder bores on the same cylinder.
Not a good thing for accuracy.
The new process uses one drill bit on every cylinder bore, done one at a time, rotating the cylinder six times per process. It's not "line boring" of course but it's closer than the old process and field reports (including mine) show that accuracy is good as is consistency from bore to bore. With the right ammo I'm pulling 2" groups at 25yds...it just loves the Gold Dot 357Mag "short barrel" 135gr load for some reason
.The bad part is that new keylock for legality in the worst-case-scenario states. But even then, they figured out how to hide it well for most folks, allowing only those who need it to drill out the grip panel (drill bit starter dimple already done on the inside of one grip panel) to give access to the lock without pulling the grip panels.
Overall I consider the New Vaq the best of the "Colt SAA near-clones with a transfer bar", beating out the Beretta Stampede on toughness and both that and the Taurus Gaucho on aftermarket parts and accessories availability (mine already sports a SuperBlackHawk hammer...).
bubbygator
Member
Thanks, Jim - such a sincere description by a real owner is better than any magazine review.
Jim March
Member
No problem.
If there was one thing I'd change it's the cheesy "fake color case" on the "blue" guns. Mine really doesn't look real - it's not BAD looking mind, it's basically all smoky-gray-mottle all over but there's no hint of brown/red and the area describable as "blue" would cover less than half my pinkie fingernail if that.
They should have just blued it all over and be done with it the way Taurus did on the Gaucho. You're not going to get real case hardening on a $500-range gun, so why bother pretending?
That said, reports are that the early Ruger fake-color-case process actually attracted rust, or at minimum didn't stave it off any. I've not abused this gun but I deliberately haven't babied the finish and it looks fine. I figured that at the first hint of an issue I'd strip it myself and home-blue - I'd rather know NOW if this finish is totally out of the question for street carry.
Then again...I'm back in Cali where my WA CCW is worthless so that's not an issue for a while...not until this CCW thing is really fixed (and yeah, I'm in the scrimmage again...).
If there was one thing I'd change it's the cheesy "fake color case" on the "blue" guns. Mine really doesn't look real - it's not BAD looking mind, it's basically all smoky-gray-mottle all over but there's no hint of brown/red and the area describable as "blue" would cover less than half my pinkie fingernail if that.
They should have just blued it all over and be done with it the way Taurus did on the Gaucho. You're not going to get real case hardening on a $500-range gun, so why bother pretending?
That said, reports are that the early Ruger fake-color-case process actually attracted rust, or at minimum didn't stave it off any. I've not abused this gun but I deliberately haven't babied the finish and it looks fine. I figured that at the first hint of an issue I'd strip it myself and home-blue - I'd rather know NOW if this finish is totally out of the question for street carry.
Then again...I'm back in Cali where my WA CCW is worthless
so that's not an issue for a while...not until this CCW thing is really fixed (and yeah, I'm in the scrimmage again...).SouthpawShootr
Member
Happened to me and I always wipe my guns down before placing them in a humidity controlled safe. Also, I have several other guns with high grade blue finishes stored within inches of the Ruger. None have ever rusted. Neither the barrel nor the cylinder rusted on my Vaquero, just the fake color case. I thought about having Bowen do a real color case on this gun, then discarded the idea (would have cost over 70% of what I paid for the gun) and got a high polish blue instead (for a little over $100 by the local 'smith). No more problems. The last Ruger Vaquero I will ever buy was an older model .357 in stainless. Nothing wrong with the gun, I'm just a little upset over Ruger's finish. Next single action I get will be genuine color case; maybe a Cimmaron or Uberti. Maybe even a genuine Colt SAA.
Master Blaster
Member
I have one, have been shooting it for almost a year now, no problems.
As far as the fake case coloring goes its humid here like 95% everyday.
I have had no problems with rust, I just wipe it down with a little CLP after I shoot it.
Real case color hardening does look different, its also very fragile, rusts easily, and fades when exposed to direct sunlight for a period of time.
Real case hardening is not a durable finnish its very fragile, more so than ruger's faux case hardening. Its a method of imparting carbon in mild steel/iron used in the old guns before there were alloys and modern heat treating.
As far as the fake case coloring goes its humid here like 95% everyday.
I have had no problems with rust, I just wipe it down with a little CLP after I shoot it.
Real case color hardening does look different, its also very fragile, rusts easily, and fades when exposed to direct sunlight for a period of time.
Real case hardening is not a durable finnish its very fragile, more so than ruger's faux case hardening. Its a method of imparting carbon in mild steel/iron used in the old guns before there were alloys and modern heat treating.
SouthpawShootr
Member
Maybe so, but all of my other blued guns were S&Ws with color case hardened hammers and triggers. None have ever rusted just sitting in the safe as the Vaquero finish did. Fading is fine with me. You can still see the patterns when this happens, the color just isn't there and it takes many, many years for this to happen. Maybe the Ruger finish had a problem on my particular gun that was uncommon. Possibly in application problem or maybe there was a clear coat or something that was omitted on my gun. At any rate, I wasn't going to have the frame refinished in the same manner by Ruger ($25) unless they sent me a prepaid shipping label and they weren't going to do it, so I just told the gunsmith to reblue the whole damned gun (looks nice too).
Jim March
Member
Southpaw: if my experience is any indication so far, Ruger has tweaked the formula on their fake-color-case.
The other indication that this is so is that the actual faked color pattern at least on my gun appears to be different than prior variants. Like I say, it's even MORE fake looking, much more "gray dominant" than before.
I think they paid attention to the rusting reports and changed the formula.
The other indication that this is so is that the actual faked color pattern at least on my gun appears to be different than prior variants. Like I say, it's even MORE fake looking, much more "gray dominant" than before.
I think they paid attention to the rusting reports and changed the formula.
SouthpawShootr
Member
Well, probably a good thing. The gray areas never rusted.
Jim March
Member
Huh. I didn't know that, I haven't actually seen a Ruger with the older formula fake case rust, I only read about it on SASSNET.
Yeah, looks like a good bet they altered the formula.
Yeah, looks like a good bet they altered the formula.
SouthpawShootr
Member
Looks like. Mine had gray, black, and several area of an almost purple (kind of looked like the old charcoal bluing you see on Cimmaron replicas these days). Rust first appeared on the largest of purplish areas. I found it right away and wiped the rust away with a gun cloth. Didn't pit, but left bare steel exposed. A few weeks later it happened again on a smaller spot. Each time the color was completely gone (I didn't rub hard either) and no pitting was occurred. These were commercial gun and reel cloths that I have used for years on all my guns. These colors would not rub off until they rusted and didn't rust again after the purplish areas were gone. Kind of odd, huh? Anyway the bare areas bothered me as I didn't want them to rust again. So I had the gun refinished.
Incidentally, I read a review about the Taurus Gaucho (I know, I know, gun rags ). It's available in stainless, all blued, and blued with a color case frame (which is supposed to be real color case). Might try one of these out. I'll have to check the calibers. I'd prefer a .44 (special, not magnum) to a .45 Colt, but I don't think Taurus will chamber this gun in .44 magnum (frame looks a bit thin in the topstrap area).
Incidentally, I read a review about the Taurus Gaucho (I know, I know, gun rags
). It's available in stainless, all blued, and blued with a color case frame (which is supposed to be real color case). Might try one of these out. I'll have to check the calibers. I'd prefer a .44 (special, not magnum) to a .45 Colt, but I don't think Taurus will chamber this gun in .44 magnum (frame looks a bit thin in the topstrap area).- Status
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