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#9282204 10/24/14
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SargeMO Offline OP
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If I deer hunt this year, it's going to be with a handgun. So I swapped into an old heavy-frame Vaquero with the 4 5/8" barrel in 45 Colt. Figured I better get a glammer shot before it gets beat and abused like all my other working guns.

[Linked Image]

This is a 1st year of production gun. Apparently Ruger was was on their best behavior because the grip frame to receiver fit and polishing is near perfect. The cylinder throats were a perfect .452 all the way around, which means either Ruger actually got a cylinder right or it's already been reamed. The hammer & trigger have been blued (personal reference) the internals cleaned & oiled and the pull set to three pounds with a lot less creep. It shoots dead on for windage and a tad low at 50 yards with my standard and 'second gear' 13.0 HS6/255 SWC* loads. All that remains is to perfect zero at 50-75 yards she's good to go.

I have always favored 4 3/4" single-actions and this one just fits.

Load is slightly over max for standard pressure 45 Colt. Use at your own risk.

Last edited by SargeMO; 10/25/14.

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Nice. What speed you gettin' with that 13 HS6 and 255 SWC? Seeing as how the Vaqueros had steel grip frames, they tend to fit better than the Blackhawks aluminum ones.

Looks like you have the aluminum ejector housing? Didn't some of the original Vaqueros have steel housings? Never owned a Vaquero. Quite a few Blackhawks though.

I like my Galco Single Action Outdoorsman holster. Light, trim and can be worn strongside or crossdraw.

Good luck on your hunt(s).

Last edited by 270winchester; 10/24/14.

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Very nice. I've owned several Vaq's over the years. My first was a 5 1/2" 44-40 that I wish I'd never gotten rid of. It was polished stainless. Here's one I had a few years back.

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SargeMO Offline OP
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Originally Posted by 270winchester
Nice. What speed you gettin' with that 13 HS6 and 255 SWC? Seeing as how the Vaqueros had steel grip frames, they tend to fit better than the Blackhawks aluminum ones.

Looks like you have the aluminum ejector housing? Didn't some of the original Vaqueros have steel housings? Never owned a Vaquero. Quite a few Blackhawks though.

I like my Galco Single Action Outdoorsman holster. Light, trim and can be worn strongside or crossdraw.

Good luck on your hunt(s).


I haven't chrono'ed the load out of this particular Vaquero yet, but it did 1045 fps from my old 5 1/2" gun and was slow with most loads. IIRC the Super Blackhawk was or is offered with a steel ejector housing. Borchardt Rifle offers a steel replacement housing which I have used and can recommend.

http://www.brownells.com/handgun-pa...using-200--sku850200200-12762-30940.aspx



Last edited by SargeMO; 10/24/14.

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That's a perfect field sixgun and a perfect load. Should cover any need well and will easily cleanly take deer without all the flash/bang of any magnum. Just have to do your part aiming it well.

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Nice Vaquero.




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Thank you all for your comments.

I can't take credit for the load, good as it is. I purloined it from John Linebaugh's small list of 'personal loads' shown at the bottom of this article, which should be required reading for anyone reloading the 45 Colt:

http://www.customsixguns.com/writings/dissolving_the_myth.htm

On hunting holsters... I dug around a closet and found this old holster, which I built about 20 years ago as an indestructible hunting holster. It is loosely based on the Tom Threepersons holster; the crossdraw cant was stolen from a Thad Rykba holster featured in American Handgunner, about that time. I located an Amish saddle-maker who had some extra skirting laying around and the stitching was done by a half-blind cobbler in Concordia, MO. It has been wet molded to a 4" S&W Model 29 DA, 5 1/2" Ruger SA's and it carried a 5 1/2" Redhawk a couple of seasons. Once wet-molded, it gets hard as a rock and despite numerous re-fittings it has never lost that property. Yesterday it was re-molded to the 4 5/8" Vaquero and it is the perfect size for that.

Ugly as sin, but it is my most-used hunting rig. It has offered up the sixgun for 5 Bambis I can recall w/o thinking too hard.

[Linked Image]


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Originally Posted by SargeMO
If I deer hunt this year, it's going to be with a handgun. So I swapped into an old heavy-frame Vaquero with the 4 5/8" barrel in 45 Colt. Figured I better get a glammer shot before it gets beat and abused like all my other working guns.

[Linked Image]

This is a 1st year of production gun. Apparently Ruger was was on their best behavior because the grip frame to receiver fit and polishing is near perfect. The cylinder throats were a perfect .452 all the way around, which means either Ruger actually got a cylinder right or it's already been reamed. The hammer & trigger have been blued (personal reference) the internals cleaned & oiled and the pull set to three pounds with a lot less creep. It shoots dead on for windage and a tad low at 50 yards with my standard and 'second gear' 13.0 HS6/255 SWC* loads. All that remains is to perfect zero at 50-75 yards she's good to go.

I have always favored 4 3/4" single-actions and this one just fits.

Load is slightly over max for standard pressure 45 Colt. Use at your own risk.


Nice touch on the blued hammer and trigger. I like that.

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That's a nice set up, I have a Ruger Bisley in 357.
Great minds think alike, except I'm shooting a Colt SAA in 44 Special and a little longer barrel. Should be fun, I try and keep my shots in bow & arrow range.
[Linked Image]


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That's a fantastic old Colt jbmi.

Thank you Walker6. Think I'm going to add a set of these and call it good.

[Linked Image]


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Here's a pic of my new-to-me NIB 93 Vaquero in 45 Colt.

[Linked Image]


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SargeMO Offline OP
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Dang Dirt, that thing looks unfired/unturned. Nice score!!


Direct Impingement is the Fart Joke of military rifle operating systems. ⓒ
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Very nice.

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I like your style Sarge! I love my older large frame Vaquero 45 Colt...
[Linked Image]
Rtf
Originally Posted by SargeMO
If I deer hunt this year, it's going to be with a handgun. So I swapped into an old heavy-frame Vaquero with the 4 5/8" barrel in 45 Colt. Figured I better get a glammer shot before it gets beat and abused like all my other working guns.

[Linked Image]

This is a 1st year of production gun. Apparently Ruger was was on their best behavior because the grip frame to receiver fit and polishing is near perfect. The cylinder throats were a perfect .452 all the way around, which means either Ruger actually got a cylinder right or it's already been reamed. The hammer & trigger have been blued (personal reference) the internals cleaned & oiled and the pull set to three pounds with a lot less creep. It shoots dead on for windage and a tad low at 50 yards with my standard and 'second gear' 13.0 HS6/255 SWC* loads. All that remains is to perfect zero at 50-75 yards she's good to go.

I have always favored 4 3/4" single-actions and this one just fits.

Load is slightly over max for standard pressure 45 Colt. Use at your own risk.

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I do love the old large frame Vaquero's and prefer the Bisley grips. I have 2.....a 45 Colt 5-shot by Bowen and a factory 4-3/4" 44 Mag blue/casecolor. Both very nice revolvers.


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SargeMO Offline OP
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Originally Posted by 270winchester
Nice. What speed you gettin' with that 13 HS6 and 255 SWC?


I checked the 13 grain HS6/255 SWC load through the short Vaquero today; once around the cylinder, the numbers look like this:

Temperature: 81 Degrees
Distance: 6 feet
Average Velocity: 1055 fps
Extreme Spread: 54.09 fps
Standard Deviation: 19.39 fps
Chrony BetaMaster II

Cosidering that you are dealing with six different chambers here, the ES and SD numbers ain't bad at all. This 4 5/8" Vaquero only gives up 20 fps to the longer gun and it is much nicer to pack.

[Linked Image]

And while this is no fine measure of accuracy, it at least confirms sight regulation with the six shots sent through the chronograph. I was roughly 10 yards from the paper and holding on the bottom of the staple, right above the group.

[Linked Image]

Great little sixgun and I really like it.



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Thanks, SargeMO and EthanEdwards, And yes to both questions! I paid about $50-60 more than I wanted, but it was NIB. The base pin was a real sumbitch to get out the first couple times. I talked to Ruger customer service and they are going to work on it for me and smooth everthing out, no charge. That's the thing about buying from really reputable US companies. They stand by their product!

Sarge, I really like that crossdraw rig. It's not important to me for my applications, but just curious, is that Cowboy comp. legal?

Gotta cure that wrong-hand schit, though. smile


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Thank you for the compliment on the holsster, LD, I don't cowboy shoot so I can't tell you if it's CASS legal.

It's just an old home-made affair in which I attempted to mix the best attributes of the Threepersons and Rykba, with a belt loop wide enough for a River Belt and a rawhide hammer loop for silent operation. I chose a size and material that would allow for adaptation to my 2-3 favorite hunting revolvers. I have threatened to tear it down and make a pattern off of it, but as yet have been unable to do it.


Direct Impingement is the Fart Joke of military rifle operating systems. ⓒ
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Sarge, it looks like it would be very functional.


Slaves get what they need. Free men get what they want.

Rehabilitation is way overrated.

Orwell wasn't wrong.

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It works fine. Once you get used to a properly located hammer loop, you simply brush it aside with the thumb of the gun hand during the draw.

The trick to getting along with them is to have them just tight enough to retain the gun, but loose enough to brush aside easily. This is accomplished by having them a little loose to begin with and twisting the loop to the perfect tension, before slipping it over the hammer.

Last edited by SargeMO; 10/27/14.

Direct Impingement is the Fart Joke of military rifle operating systems. ⓒ
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