Looks like i just bought another one that needs to go back to Ruger...

L

lonegunman

New member
Ruger Vaquero, 38-40/40 S&W convertible... neat gun but unfortunately WONT work.

With the 40 S&W cylinder, the gun works fine.

38-40 cylinder is a problem. When I load cartridges in it (2 different brands), the cylinder binds, and will barely turn. The hammer won't cock all the way back either. Looks to me like there ain't enough clearance between the back end of the cartridge case and the frame of the gun.

What gives with Ruger?

Maybe I should have bought a Lorcin or Jennings instead?
 
If I was the former president I would say "I can feel your pain, man", but since I am not I will try to help you out. I have one of the 38/40 and 40 S&W Ruger Vaquero's like yours. I had the same problem you have 40 S&W worked great but the 38/40 did not; did two things to correct mine.

First, the throats in the chambers were way too tight, that kept some 180 grain lead bullet reloads from seating fully in several chambers. Had Dave Clements open the throats to .401 (the factory throat diameters were .398 in chambers #1, 4, 5, & 6 and .387 in chambers #2 & 3). That cost me $50.00 bucks, but handled most of my problem, however chambers #2 & 3 still where hard to load - had to push the round way too hard to seat it. I reloaded a dummy round, and used a dremel tool to cut a big slot in the base, and put fine valve grinding compound on the case where the shoulder and the neck join and then I used a large screw driver to turn the case in the two chambers. That finally did the trick after several applications. I did all this myself because Ruger would never acknowledge the problem on the telephone because the jacketed Winchester 38/40 Factory ammo chambered okay; I didn't want to waste the shipping cost to Ruger and have them tell me the gun was in spec. Great gun now.

Another shooter I know had .001 inch of metal taken off the bottom of his re-sizing die; that also fixes the problem, but doesn't fix the gun.

Good luck, NG Bruce
 
Yeah, Ruger quality control has been terrible the last two years. I've had several problems recently, but I still buy Ruger--mostly cause they will stand by their products. Once they are fixed right, they keep going bang, the frustrating part is buying a NIB Ruger and it don't work as it should. Until 2 years ago, I had great luck with Ruger and very few problems. It seems like that once Mr Ruger retired and left the company in others hands, quality control has gone to he**. Present day Ruger products are actually stooping to down to Taurus QC levels of many years ago (when Taurus was producing lots of junk). It seems Taurus has improved quality the last couple years, while Ruger and S&W have slipped drastically in quality. Its very frustrating having to KEEP sending guns back to the factory because the companies refuse to monitor quality.
 
What did Ruger tell you exactly when you called them? I am planning on calling on Monday.

By the way, I can't even find the Winchester 38-40 you describe even listed on the Winchester website. I am not sure Winchester is making it any more. If that is the brand they are using for testing, then that is kind of a huge problem too.i

What brand ammo were you using when you had the problem?

This really is a dumb-ass problem for a gun to have in the first place.
 
I have a Ruger Bisley Vaquero on the way to me right now from my dealer. You have me crossing my fingers now. Shesh ...
 
Lonegunman;

1) What did Ruger tell me exactly; "just send the gun in, we will inspect it to see if it is in our specification". The young lady I talked to would tell me that the bore diameter specification was .4005 (I slugged it and that was correct). She would not tell me the throat specification (I guess Ruger gets hell raised with them all the time over .45 Colt chamber throats being too tight?)

2.) The Winchester ammo I used was purchased last year off the shelf at a local pawn and gun shop. My box of Winchester factory ammo was in the white box with orange and red stripes of the type used recently, but probably a few years old (catalog #X3840). The same catalog number is now being shipped in a silver box with a red Super X label. I think it is what Winchester describes as "limited run" ammo (like the .225 Win, 458 Win Mag, 348 WCF, etc.) and only made up once a year or so as demand requires. It is listed on page 17 of the 2002 Winchester ammo catalog as item #X3840 (remember, Winchester considers the 38/40 to be a rifle load so it is listed in the rifle section of the catalog- the round was introduced in their Model 1873 rifle in 1879).

I shot some old Remington factory ammo (long discontinued) and the Winchester described above - no problem with chambering in my Vaquero. The REM and WIN factory loads use a 180 grain jacketed soft point bullet. The 180 grain lead bullets made for handloading the 38/40 have a crimping groove in them. The lead band above the crimping groove is where the problem came into play in my Vaquero; it caused a small amount of "lift" when contacting the throats which were too tight. If you handload a 180 grain lead bullet made for the 40 S&W and crimp over the shoulder then you will eliminate the lead band touching the throat - that was my next plan, but opening the throats and the chambers solved the problem in my gun.

Good luck, NG Bruce
 
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