New Ruger Vaquero .357 in silver finish: Good gun?

S

SilentClocktower

Inactive
Hefted a New Ruger 357 Vaquero with the Nickel plated finish at the shop the other day and am impressed (to say the least) They want 450 for it. Question number one: how well does it shoot? Question number two: Is this a good price or where can i get it cheaper? And question number two: What other single actions are really solid shooters?
thanks

"I crash through the door and motor-head through the window, with a heavy pistol"
 
I don't know much about the New Vaquero but I have the New Blackhawk in .357 and it is my most accurate gun. I am very wary of getting guns w/ fixed sights because you have to deal w/ the POA/POI issues.
 
Si,
It's stainless, not nickel.
My blued one holds 2-3 inches at 25 yards depending on ammo, no reason to think the stainless ones would be any different.
Price sounds good. Might beat it, might not.
Colts are good, USFAs are good, Freedom Arms are great & expensive.
Very mixed reviews on the Italian clones.
Denis
 
but I have the New Blackhawk in .357 and it is my most accurate gun.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I have a Blackhawk .357Mag and it's the only gun I can't hit diddley with. Other people can set the town on fire with it and chew out the center of targets all day long, so I know it's not the gun.
Weird thing is that I have no problems at all with my Blackhawk in .45LC. Go figure..
 
This is surprising to me as my dealer, who gets his Ruger deliveries no later than others, tells me that they have not yet received the new 2005 downsized Vaquero.

I have one on order and Ruger has not yet given a projected shipping date nor are they showing the 2005 guns on their website. While they have shipped a few guns to magazines, they target deliveries to start after the SHOT show.

So what gives here?

Are you talking about the new downsized 2005 gun or just a "new" (as in new vs. used) gun?
 
Berg,
The new Vaqs are out all over the place. Ruger's been shipping them for about a month.
Denis
 
I have a first model in 45 LC stanless

I hope the new ones are better than the ones I have fired. Both were the older model and nether shot any where near the target. Mine shoots low and to the left almost 6 inchs off center. My friends shoots same distance right. They seem to be very strong guns but for SASA matches trying to hit a 4 inch disk at 20 feet is hard with this gun.
Its really annoying.
 
Why are you putting up with it that way?
Four practical options: Return to Ruger for correction, file front blade slightly to bring bullet up, have barrel turned slightly, have the rear sight notch milled slightly wider in the direction you want the bullet to go.
None are very involved or very expensive. The front blade filing you can do yourself.
Denis
 
They are _supposed_ to shoot low NIB. You then try a few different loads to figure out what you like. And then you file down the front sight blade until the load is hitting where you want. If the factory tried to get them to be "right on" at 25m straight from the factory, they would first have to decide "with what load?" And you are never going to get everybody to agree on that one.

You are a lot better off with a gun that shoots low since you can then file down the front sight. Much more of a pain in the butt with a gun that shoots high!

Gregg
 
I think you guys are missing the point

The Ruger Vaquero has a history of being about as accurate as any postol. But if you read some of the threads about the gun, the past gun you can take 10 of them, put them in a ransom rest and use the sights that they came with and get 10 different hit points and were not talking one or two inches here, we are talking 6 to 8 inches all over the planet.
Shooting SASA cowboy shoots there are a lot of jokes bout the Ruger Vaquero being a point of aim gun, just as long as your eyes are crossed. Yes I can bend the front sight, I can lop off the front sight, and I can open the rear sight, but thats not the point.
Ruger uses investment casting, that allows them to build very strong guns at much lower prices, And mass produce them with less manual labor than say an origional Colt or the new Beretta single action.
But with that said, Rugers execution of the single action is a long way from the quality and workmanship of ether a colt or bretta, and unless I see that they have fixed the Vaquero and improved the the alignment of the barrel to the sight pattern of the gun I will not suggest one over the counter.
There is nothing worse than to have a person come into the shop and say,
"I have had 3 different people shoot the gun and its shoots into the next county, I cant even hit a small target unless I am pointing to the left 8 inches."
And then have to tell them just what you said "bend the front sight, I can lop off the front sight, and I can open the rear sight, I can send it to a good gun smith" Is not the answer that people like to hear.
I hope that the newer Vaquero is a better assembled package, and I hope that they fix the one other problem that I have seen with many that come through the shop and thats the P-ss Poor fit of the grips.
If you want to see what I mean, pick up a Ruger and pick up a new Beretta.
I can promiss you this, you will not be taking home a Ruger.
I dont want any one to think that I am a Ruger hater, I have 6 in my own personal collection from MarkII's to Black hawlk to super black hawlk, they make very fine guns, Its just that the Vaquero leaves a lot to be desired, I have seen Itialian Cap and ball pistoles that sell for less than 200$ with better fit and better accuracy out of the box.
 
Ruger SAs do sometimes shoot left, that's a regrettable fact.
My question to you was why do you keep shooting yours that way? That's a fixable situation.
Ruger builds their guns to provide a certain level of performance at a certain price. The manufacturing process they use to achieve that means they do not fit individual grips to the guns. Grips are specced from the maker, gripframes are cast to +- tolerances, and the grips are installed as they come. This is cheaper than mating every set of grips to every gun, and I'd expect it to always be that way from Ruger, for the reason given. Some grips will mate better than others.
The Italians fit their grips to their gripframes. They have a much lower labor rate. The Beretta-marked Uberti semi-Colt-clones may look prettier than the Rugers, but in my case I prefer the steels and long term reliability of the Ruger to the fitted grips of the Italian guns. People already complain when Ruger raises prices, do you think many would be happy at spending another $30 for fitted grips that add nothing to performance? Look at the high prices on Colts. That's because there's still some hand work that goes into them, the grips are mated to the individual gripframes, and people complain about paying so much for Colts.
Just because the Uberti looks prettier doesn't make it a better gun.
I'd also like to see better fitted grips, and admittedly it's a nuisance when Rugers shoot left. You'd think by now they'd have figured out how to reduce the frequency of the sight occurrance a little more, but it doesn't happen with every Vaquero, and the Ruger is hands down a better gun than the Beretta/Uberti.
Show me a Beretta Stampede with 20,000 rounds through it that's still functional without repairs & I'll be properly amazed.
I expect the five Vaqs I have to still be perking along just fine.
The Rugers are not perfect, but they generally give very solid value for the money, and minor problems like the sights are annoying, but easily corrected.
As far as the cap & ball guns with better finish go, Smith Enterprises has made more than a couple bucks hardening the guts on those, including the soft cylinders, to keep them running for longterm serious use. A Ruger Old Army, on the other hand, may not be finished as pretty, or look as authentic, but it'll outlast any 10 Italian percussion revolvers as they come from the factories.
The Italian guns are getting slowly better, but that's entirely due to the importers riding them to bring quality up. The Italians for literally decades did not take their Colt clones seriously, they did not build them for continual heavy use, and they still laugh at the "crazy Americans" who spend the money on them. You can thank your various importers for any improvements in the overall FUNCTIONAL quality of the Italian guns.
Ruger has built their guns to be used, and used for a long time, from day one. They do not laugh at their customers.
Personally, I look for function first, looks second. If I can only have one, I'll take function.
Anyway, hopefully most of the New Vaqs will shoot where they point. Those that don't can be adjusted.
Denis
 
Interesting thread because if some of you remember my recent thread on the AWA clone I picked up does the same thing. Shoots low and to the left.

Because of these issues and reading more about the Vaquero in this thread, I am wary about spending another $400-$500 just to turn around and spend more $$$ to "adjust" it. I wish this wasn't the case. I do really like the feel of the Vaquero. I'll just stick to the Blackhawks and adjustable rear sights.

This is interesting though because my 3" GP100 w/ a fixed rear sight is dead on POA/POI w/ 158gr. Federal SJFP's and about 1" high w/ 158gr .38sp SJFPs.
 
Nin,
Don't blame you.
I have five Vaqs (four old & one new) for general use up near the top end of the normal range of factory ammo in the .45 Colt & .44-40. Two shot left. In my case, since I have the rear notch widened for better visibility with my eyes anyway, I just have it widened to the right and the windage problem is gone. Can be done for about $40 or less. The front blade I can do myself with a good file, a fine Arkansas finishing stone, some masking tape, and some cold bluing.
A gunsmith should charge less for just turning the barrel slightly.
Or, the gun can be returned to Ruger for windage adjustment at no cost, and lots of people have gotten Ruger to pay the shipping.
For .45 Magnum-level loads that shoot to a very different point of impact, I use a Blackhawk.
Buying a fixed sight gun is always a risk, it may or may not be set up to match the type of load you want to shoot.
If you want a gun that you can adjust to just about any load without spending a dime, and don't care about the traditional fixed sight looks, the Blackhawk is an excellent choice. If you want a fixed sight SA for CAS use, then sometimes you do have to tweak the sights a bit.
Denis
 
Would I pay 30$ more for fitted grips

I think again the point is that for 500 I shouldnt have to, The V's are a very good gun, I dont think that your going to get many arguments with that, But a 500 dollar gun built by a company like that should be able to do better and I dont think you can argue with that, I have had several other guns built by Ruger that diddnt have adj sights, Speed 6's and each and every one hit within what I would consider acceptable for that price of gun.
As far as your argument that Itilian workers are cheeper again I dont think thats that is a valad argument, I was compairing under 200$ guns like Navy arms to +500 Rugers.
Any time you have to work on a gun from a company like Ruger who is known for there great quality just to bring the sights in over 6 inches and that covers a lot of the V's I have fired and sold,
Well Ruger needs to get there head out.
Again yes I can try to do it my self, or a good gunsmith but the point is
why should I.
I havent touched mine becouse I am waiting for some of the new bretta's to show up at another shop and the ruger will be gone, its stanless and its very hard to machine, grind, or file stanless and then repolish it. And my friend, the ammount of bend I would have to put into the front sight would make it look like I had dropped the gun.
And again why should I at 500$
I am glad you have had the luck you have had with V's, I have sold many, and shot many and owned one becouse I was so impressed with the strength of the gun, but the problems that they have, in my book distracks from its over all value.
Personaly I would pay 50 for fitted grips, and I did. After market that I still had to sand down since they were also built to the +/_ tollerances that this kind of manufactureing require.
 
Agreed- we should not have to pay extra to make a gun work correctly right out of the box.
Agreed- Ruger should pay more attention to the Vaqs in this area.
But, that's the world we live in, and Ruger is not the only maker that's shipping guns that may need a little tweaking. Why should you? Because you either deal with what you have, adapt it, adapt to it, or get rid of it. The guns are not perfect, sometimes you gets a cherry & sometimes you gets a pecan.
Your Beretta/Ubertis are having a mixed run, I see about a 50-50 spread saying "good" vs "junk", and know of two Stampedes that friends couldn't keep running & had to send back to the factory.
I was addressing your comparisons, they are apples & oranges, but you brung 'em up.
My mention of the Italian labor rate is very valid. At less than half of what the American rypical labor rate is, the Italians have used cheaper steels and cheaper labor to turn out guns that look nice on the outside, but generally in the past have not held up as well as American guns. This country flat cannot compete in the labor arena. You may be willing to spend extra to put fitted grips on your guns, so am I, but you & I are not in the majority there. Most buyers shoot with the grips that come on the guns. Yes, I know, there's a thriving aftermarket grip industry, but I seriously doubt that more than 30% of new SA buyers replace their grips when they get new guns.
You can have your rear sight notch easily opened up, and the very slight amount of polishing it'd need would be minor & not visible if done right. You can file down the front blade & five minutes at your gunsmith's polishing wheel will polish it up nicely.
Aggravating, yes, but not fatal.
Or, sell the gun.
I still believe your chances with Ruger are far better than with an Italian clone.
Denis
 
I currently own 5 different Vaqueros

in 2 different calibers and all 3 barrel lengths as well as 1 bisley vaquero. All of them shoot to POA for me and have been used for many years in CAS matches. I also have a pair of Old Armys which after many many euorpan BP revolvers I will never part with the quality of the OA's is far far supior to all the others and they shoot like a dream And one of the OAs is a Vaquero OA and it hits to POA quite well thank you. Of course this does not count the various number of blackhawks i also own and perhaops you could tell I am very fond of the ruger guns. Their qual;ity has been excellent as far as i am concerned and O have used loads in my 45 colt that make the 44 magnum look over its shoulder! None of these guns have ever needed a trip to the gunsmith and the only time they went to Ruger is when 1 or 2 were converted to the new model lockwork via Rugers trandfer bar conversion of ols model guns. On the other hand i have had numerous other makers SAA guns returned for repair or sent to the local gunsmith for repair of parts replacemrnt. they just don't hold up to a full match schedule like the ruger will..This is my experience baised on almost 8 years of CAS shooting.
Jim L
 
I would have to agree with DPris on this one. Send it back to Ruger. I can't say that enough. I work in a gunshop and all issues we have with Rugers are sent back to Ruger and all of our customers have been happy with what they get back. I have seen Ruger send a new gun out to a customer at a severly discounted rate in exchange for a gun that he blew the cylinder out of while reloading. This was definately the customer's fault. I have yet to deal with Ruger on a gun issue that was not resolved to the customer's satisfaction. They have always test fired our guns before returning them. I suggest you send them a box of the ammunition you are using as well.

Good luck.

.44mag

P.S. Ruger charged the person who blew up his gun $150.00 for a new Super Blackhawk .44mag to replace his. They even gave him the longer barrel he requested during that discussion.
 
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