Guys, there is the Vaquero, and there is the New Vaquero. Ruger recommends SAAMI-spec loads for all if its weapons, but handloaders have found the Vaqueros and Blackhawks can be loaded to higher pressures. The New Vaquero does not need to be babied with "cowboy" loads, which are mild loads for the sport of cowboy action shooting; it can handle any SAAMI-spec load. People have shot holes all the way through far larger animals than deer with SAAMI-spec loads. PRESSURE is the key word, not "hot" or "heavy." A humongous 300-grain bullet can be loaded to standard pressure, and a light sub-200-grain bullet can be loaded to pressures which will challenge a Casull. The new Vaquero was not "made to be weaker" than the original Vaquero, it was made to handle standard-pressure ammo while being lighter and handier, the EQUAL of the Colt SAA and its replicas. FWIW, at least one leading gunsmith recommends that the original Vaquero not be fired with over-standard-pressure ammo, either, indicating that only the Blackhawks truly have enough beef in the frame to withstand the over-pressure loads.