Ruger Vaquero Yes . . . Winchester ammo No . . .

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Prof Young

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Wheel Gun Lovers:

Latest fire arm to come home with me is a Ruger Vaquaro. I put about 120 rounds thought it today and am well pleased. Picture below is my las six rounds shooting with the fixed sights, of course, and resting my elbows on the bench from about seven yards. My other big hand guns is a Taurus Raging Bull in 44 mag and the Vaquaro has made me appreciate the Taurus rubber grip. Shooting the Vaquero made me wish I'd brought my shooting gloves. I had two snafus and both were ammo related. I was shooting Winchester 45 LC round nosed lead target loads. After the seventh shot the cylinder would not advance. I assumed gun malfunction. Wrong. A bullet had crept forward and was sticking out the end of the cylinder. Pushed it back in and proceeded . . . which in retrospect may not have been the best choice, but there was no disaster. It happened once more with the Winchester ammo. Getting used to the fix sights was okay, but am shooting to the left. Not sure what to do about that but aim a touch right. Mostly bought this gun for the fun of it, but now kind of have a hankering to try to take a whitetail with it. Hmmmm . . . .

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 

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Wow after a lifetime of shooting thats never happened once to me. Too bad about the sights being off. I'm guessing its a 4 5/8'' barrel?
 
Congrats!, they are generally very good guns.

First off, lets be clear, is your gun a "Vaquero" or a "New Vaquero"? (it does make a difference).

The Vaquero is out of production. Current production gun is the New Vaquero, and it is a different gun with a smaller frame than the Vaquero.

Look on the left side of the frame, below the cylinder, and it will say either "Vaquero" or "New Vaquero".

Bullets jumping crimp, particularly large bore heavy bullets in a light revolver is a well known problem to reloaders, BUT SHOULD NOT HAPPEN WITH FACTORY AMMO!

The second time it happened, you should have stopped, unloaded the gun, and saved the rounds, for Winchester. Call Winchester, give them the information (including the lot# on the ammo box!). Often, reporting problems (and having the problem ammo available for their inspection, if they desire) will get you replacement ammo free. Even if it doesn't the makers need to know when there are problems. They can't fix what they don't know about.

Winchester 255gr lead, conical bullet with a small flat point is the standard loading for .45 Colt, and has been since the black powder days. It is not a light "target" load (those are "cowboy action loads"). It duplicates the black powder load for pressure and velocity, and should be running about 900-950fps, depending on individual gun and barrel length.

The New Vaquero is not suitable for the heavy "Ruger Only" loads. Even though it is a Ruger. "Ruger Only" loads for the .45 Colt were developed in the Ruger Blackhawk (a larger, stronger gun than the New Vaquero), and were developed at a time when the only Ruger .45 Colt was the Blackhawk.

I have Blackhawks, Vaqueros, and a New Vaquero in .45 Colt. Got my first Blackhawk in 83. Love them all, although personally, I like the New Vaquero least. A matter of personal taste, nothing else.

DO NOT do anything to the sights on your gun..yet. Shooting to the left might be all you. OR it might be that gun and that particular ammo. And you.

Your other gun is a DA revolver. Any chance you are trying to shoot the Ruger the same way? You don't need to, and my experience is I get best results when I don't try.

Don't try to hold it on target for that fast second shot like a DA gun. The SA grip is designed for the gun to roll in the hand, and things usually work better if you let it, some. This also helps reduce the felt recoil.

I allow any one individual round to be bad, consider it a fluke. But when you get more than one, that is a QC issue with the factory, and they need to be aware, and be responsible. Call Winchester. Bet they do right by you. Come back here, and tell us what happens.

Try some different ammo, a different shooter,(if you can) until you know for certain it is a GUN problem, don't mess with the fixed sights.

If/when you are certain, don't mess with the sights, call Ruger. Give them a chance to see if they can fix it. Especially if it is a new gun.

Please let us know how things work out.

I prefer the Blackhawk because of the adjustable sights. But the classic (Colt) cowboy look isn't all that important to me. For a lot of people, it is, which is why Ruger makes the New Vaquero in the first place.

Changing the fixed sights because of one shooting session with one brand/type of ammo is "jumping the gun" in my opinion. I consider "adjusting" the fixed sights to be a last resort.

Aim "off" to compensate, for now, at least. Reconsider your options when you know more.

Good Luck and good shooting!
 
I've found that for some of my pistols when I rest my elbows on the bench it's too different from when I shoot off hand.

By not engaging my shoulder and arm muscles it sets me up to change how I grip the pistol too, which ultimately interferes with my consistent hold and trigger press. I find myself gripping the pistol lighter, and the wrist angles are different. I've actually shot WORSE shooting with elbows rested than free hand before. Wrists or forearms rested (at an appropriate height) is a little closer to how I usually shoot but I still get some benefits for stability. It has changed my POI before.

Might want to try again shooting with forearms or wrists rested. My range back on top of the bench is usually good enough, if I rearrange some of the doodads inside and zip the zipper.
 
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Well, I've had my New Vaquero .357 for two months and have yet to shoot it.....maybe next week:

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Howdy

Many shooters are surprised to find that with fixed sights they tend to shoot to one side. Check the adjustable sights on your other gun. Are they adjusted off to the right a bit? Shooting to the left is often the result of too much finger on the trigger. You should be pulling the trigger with the pad of your trigger finger, not the crease at the joint. Be sure you are pulling the trigger straight back.

I have lots of single action revolvers; Colts, Rugers, and clones. And some antiques too. For what it's worth, I never try to cram my entire hand onto the grip, I always allow my pinky to curl beneath the grip. Holding the pistol this way shifts your grip down a bit on the gun, just the opposite of what you have been taught to do with an automatic. The benefit is, a space of about 1/4" is opened up behind the trigger guard between the trigger guard and the knuckle of your middle finger. The 1/4" space means the trigger guard will not whack your knuckle in recoil. I never need a glove to shoot a revolver.
 
Just my opinion, but for me, the pinkie finger under the butt only works up to a certain level of recoil, and then not only does your middle finger get slammed by the triggerguard, your pinkie feels like it is being dislocated too!

Standard .45 Colt with the standard wood grips is the top end recoil I tolerate. Over that, I use other grips.

My personal preference for shooting at that level are the oversize rubber (usually Pachmayr) grips. More room on the grip, so my pinkie finger fits on too, and they fill in a bit behind the triggerguard. And the reduce the roll of the gun in the hand on firing, some. This reduces or eliminates the middle finger bash from the triggerguard, and the pinkie torque, for me.

I don't even own a shooting glove. Do have a trigger finger mitten, somewhere...haven't used it in decades, though....
 
I can shoot my Colts with full power Black Powder 45 Colt loads all day long without getting my knuckle whacked or my pinky finger 'dislocated'. Full power Black Powder loads are pretty stout and give a pretty good recoil. I can do the same with any standard 45 Colt SAAMI spec load. Can't speak for anything more powerful than that, I have no use for them.
 
Answers to questions . . .

Timothy the barrel is 5.5.

44 Amp, yes it's a New Vaquero. I hadn't been aware of the difference. So much to learn.

Yes, I should have kept those winchester rounds. But I shot them all and tossed the box. Ah well . . . next time I'll know better.

And it most likely is me that causes the POI to be to the left. I kind of have that problem with all my pistols and need to learn to be a better pistol shooter.

Thanks for all the good thoughts and info.

Live well, be safe.
Prof Young
 
I can shoot my Colts with full power Black Powder 45 Colt loads all day long without getting my knuckle whacked or my pinky finger 'dislocated'. Full power Black Powder loads are pretty stout and give a pretty good recoil. I can do the same with any standard 45 Colt SAAMI spec load. Can't speak for anything more powerful than that, I have no use for them.
Click to expand...

I didn't fully appreciate my Vaquero or its place in my collection until I found out it was capable of shooting well over the SAAMI pressure standard, 20k psi instead of 14k. There is still a level above that better left to the Blackhawks, Old Vaqueros, and Redhawks (32k psi max).

I find standard 45 Colt loads rather dull to shoot, so I load according to articles on the three tiers of 45 Colt. I reserve the standard load for my Uberti El Patron, that is a pretty accurate copy of the old SAA Colt and rated accordingly. The Vaquero is a different gun, despite its Old West appearance.
 
Perhaps this will help..


They are both .45 Colt
Top gun is a NEW VAQUERO
(one of the earlier ones, with the faux case hardening colors)
Barrel 5 1/2"

The bottom is a VAQUERO
barrel: 4 5/8"

Note how they are virtually the same overall length, despite 7/8" difference in barrel length. You can also see the difference in the cylinders and frame sizes.

"old Vaquero" is a reasonable term to help avoid confusion, but I prefer "Original Vaquero". I think it is a bit better term, because some might confuse "old Vaquero" with "old model" which is a common term for the original Ruger lockwork, which is also known as "3 screw". Ruger's original system was the same as the Colt SAA, in operation, although the parts were different.

In 1973, Ruger introduced the "NEW MODEL" system, with the transfer bar and other changes from the Colt system of operation. Blackhawks & Super B's with this system say "new model Blackhawk" (or Super Blackhawk) on the frames.

ALL VAQUEROS and NEW VAQUEROS use the "new model" operating system.

The second Tuesday of every week, the shades of shooters past line up in the Happy Hunting Grounds, to thank Bill Ruger for all the fine things he gave us.

And then SLAP him, twice.

Once for the rear sight windage screw slot being such a tiny thing, and once for their naming practices with SA revolvers. :D;)

(slapping him for other reasons are done on different days :D)
 
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