OT-Ruger Old Vaquero 44-40 , price help !! GOT IT= Pics

[pwl44m]

Guy at the next table to Me at the Chico Gun Show has an old Vaquero in 44-40 anib. He says fired 6 rounds and it looks it. It has a nice set of stag Grips and the originals. Asking price is $ 500/ what say Ye.
Well I didn't know whether to just include it in this thread or start a new one so it is obvious what I decided. I made the deal on it. His asking price was $500. We worked out a deal where as I have about $450 in it plus Ca. transfer $35
It is Sambar Stag Grips. It has the yellow Ruger box but not the brown cardboard with the info on it. I do have quite a bit of Ammo already for it plus I plan on reloading. I took a couple Pics before I put it in Jail. The sentence starts tomorrow and 10 days after that I get to drive back to Chico (60 miles) to pick it up.
Someone posted that They got an xtra cyl on e-bay in 44 mag. That sounds interesting.
Here r some pics. The Longhorns r a Bonus, after all don't Coboy Guns & LOnghorns go together ? enjoy

[jhrosier]

The original Vaqueros were barreled with .44 Mag barrels and were said to not work well with the smaller .427 bullets of the 44-40.
I,ve never fired mine so couldn't say from experience.

Jack

[pwl44m]

The original Vaqueros were barreled with .44 Mag barrels and were said to not work well with the smaller .427 bullets of the 44-40.
I,ve never fired mine so couldn't say from experience.

Jack

This is what I'm looking for, someone with more knowledge on these Guns than I do. I wasn't particularly delighted with the caliber, would rather have 45 or 44 special. Anyone else ?

[M. M. Wright]

Had a pair of them for SASS and they were fine. Always loaded .429 bullets, (all current 44-40s that I know of need that size bullet). Around here, about $425.

[longarm4146]

if the grips are sambar stag its a good deal, if elk stag a fair deal.....

[pwl44m]

if the grips are sambar stag its a good deal, if elk stag a fair deal.....

And how does one tell the diff if the owner doesn't know.

[Marlin32]

Offer him $450 and call it good.
I do not have a 44-40, just the 45. My brother has and is, still looking for the 44-40, but less so now as it does seem that the 44-40 out of the Vaquero's has some issues. IF you are needing any degree of accuracy. For just plinking around or having fun, probably no big deal.

OR if you can get it cheap enough, call Gary Reeder and see what he can do for you with that gun!

[kimwcook]

Sambar stag has no pith, it's all bone with a small central hole. Elk on the other hand has a outer bone and then a porous pith center.

[3leggedturtle]

I'd say buy it. If you dont like it, sell it to me They are great pistols. Well next to a 45 Colt 3leg

[longarm4146]

What Kim said. Just want to make sure they are not plastic or polymer if you want to include them in the value of the gun. A good pr of Ajax or Eagle sambar stag grips now will set u back $200 or more per pr. The elk like Executioner make (I have 4 pr of them as well) will run about $125 pr. The gun itself in good condition will bring $350-$450 bout anywhere, even in 44-40, whic as mentioned aabove was not Ruger's finest moment.

[Boreman]

pwl44m,
I have 2 Ruger Vaquero's (old if you will or orig.) in 44-40.Neither one was very accurate in the orig cofiguration.The cyl.throats miced .4265 and the bbl slugged .429,BIG problem.I found out the early models had 44 mag bbls.I call Ruger and talked to the about the problem.Their answer to the problem was to write up the problem in a letter and send same and the SA to them for inspection. Long story short. I recieved the SA's back with cyl. throats to match the bore(.429) at no charge.Those pistol's shoot great.
One other small problem.I had to change the expander plug size and took my sizing die to my gunsmith to have it releived a couple of thousandths to accomodate the larger bullet so the case was not sized to much.
I bought mine locally for $395 and $425.One is blue and the other is SS.Both have the 4 5/8 in bbl.

[buckeyeshooter]

I have a pair of the vaquero stainless 44-40's. As stated, the cylinders are .427 and the barrel is .430. Accuracy out of the box is poor. I spent $250. to have the cylinders opened up and work on the forcing cone. They shoot well now.

If you are not a reloader 44-40 is very expensive to shoot with ammo in the $50. a box range. If you are a reloader--- brass is somewhat expensive and can be difficult to find on a regular basis.

If you do buy the gun-- don't buy Magtech brass. It is made to south american specifications and I have had big problems in the cases either not chambering in the gun (both rifles and pistols) and breaking at the channelure they use where the bottleneck is on other manufacturers cases.

I bought my guns from different folks at a price of $450 per gun. I managed to pick up extra 44 mag cylinders on gunbroker for $80 each and had them fitted to the guns when the cylinder work was done.

I now have 44-40/44 mag convertible vaqueros which is a great way to go. I shoot the 44 mag cylinders and smokeless for practice and fun and the 44-40's and black powder for cowboy action shooting.

[pwl44m]

BTT

[J Miller]

Perry,

Congrats on getting a fine looking Ruger.

When you get it in your hands slug the throats of the cylinder and the bore. Like it was said above the throats used to be on the small size, but Ruger later changed that. At any rate, check them and if they do need opened up contact http://www.cylindersmith.com/ . He can fix it up right smart.

Joe

[pwl44m]

I'm wondering if that is why He only fired 6 rounds through it.
When did Ruger fix the problem.does anyone have a quick ref with sn, this one is 55-59xxx
I bought a S&W 44sp from the same Guy back in Feb. Maybe He is the type that just buys Guns, shoots them then gets rid of them. WE will see.

[kimwcook]

Looks like a nice piece. Let us know how she does at the range.

[longarm4146]

with those grips you got a REAL GOOD deal by local standards. I've seen grips like that go for
$200-250 routinely on SASS classifieds. you can make it shoot, just gotta find the right combination. 5 grs titegroup with 200 rnfp works awfully good in most 44-40s...good luck

[Boreman]

pwl444m,
My Vaquero with SN 55-873xx required the cylinder fix. My other Vaquero has an earlier SN which also had the same problem.
Good looking SA. Cograts !!!!!!!!!!!

[Old Savage]

That is a good looking gun.