A useful sixgun.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I’ve been shooting a Ruger New Vaquero in .45 Colt/.45ACP for some time now. When I took it to the Confederate Sixgunners shoot in Arkansas this year I also took a bastard mill file and I filed down the front sight to coincide with the point of impact.

Fortunately all the loads I use tend to group in much the same place.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Very accurate too.

270SAA over 8 gr Unique 837 fps

255gr Hornady swaged RNFP over 8 gr Unique 826 fps

454121 RNFP over 8 gr Unique 885 fps

Remington factory 250 gr load 788 fps

Garrett 265 gr Hammerhead. 982 fps

[Scott Tschirhart]

If I do my part the 270 SAA will stay on an 8 inch plate at 50 yards which is better than I shoot with a lot of guns.

[Walt]

Scott, I have a nearly identical sixgun except that it's blued. I have the front sight regulated to shoot 250 gr cast bullets like the Lyman 452664 with 6.2 gr of Titegroup (at 860 fps) to point of aim at 50 yards. It's a good shooter and most of my shooting these days is at steel gongs varying in distance from 35 to about 65 yards. It's a handy little devil.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I only dislike the hammer on my gun. It just doesn’t look right.

[Walt]

I agree with you on that. I have replaced the hammers on all but one of my Ruger Blackhawks with Super Blackhawk hammers and I find them to be superior both in use and in appearance. I did put a Bisley hammer on a Blackhawk .357 and as much as I like them, I'm not looking forward to doing another.

[Malamute]

I only dislike the hammer on my gun. It just doesn’t look right.

I agree with you on that. I have replaced the hammers on all but one of my Ruger Blackhawks with Super Blackhawk hammers and I find them to be superior both in use and in appearance. I did put a Bisley hammer on a Blackhawk .357 and as much as I like them, I'm not looking forward to doing another.

Do the standard full size frame old style hammers drop into the new medium frame vaqueros?

Ive been a little put off by the hammer shape also, I didnt know if the regular ones fit.

[Old Savage]

This might be the best shooter I have in a Ruger.

[Walt]

"Do the standard full size frame old style hammers drop into the new medium frame vaqueros?"

Malamute, yes, the hammers for full-size Blackhawks fit all Blackhawks and Vaqueros including New Vaqueros. They do not work in Single Sixes and of course the Bisleys arre different. Using a Blackhawk hammer in a Bisley works but leaves a large gap between the rear of the hammer and the grip frame. Bisley hammers used in Blackhawks require lots of grinding and shaping.

[Walt]

Nice Old Model, Old Savage! Great finish, no holster wear and no cylinder line.

Thanks for the picture.

[Malamute]

"Do the standard full size frame old style hammers drop into the new medium frame vaqueros?"

Malamute, yes, the hammers for full-size Blackhawks fit all Blackhawks and Vaqueros including New Vaqueros. They do not work in Single Sixes and of course the Bisleys arre different. Using a Blackhawk hammer in a Bisley works but leaves a large gap between the rear of the hammer and the grip frame. Bisley hammers used in Blackhawks require lots of grinding and shaping.

Thanks, good to know.

[Scott Tschirhart]

The truth is that the current hammer works just fine. It just looks strange to my eye. I should not try to fix what isn’t broken.

[Paladin]

Very fond of my (slightly modified) Ruger New Vaquero.

[Walt]

Interesting gun!

Who did the sights and the interchangeable cylinder? I've been thinking of a birdshead grip; how do you like it?

[Scott Tschirhart]

Agreed! A very interesting revolver!

[Paladin]

Interesting gun!

Who did the sights and the interchangeable cylinder? I've been thinking of a birdshead grip; how do you like it?

It was a package deal back in the 90s with both cylinders and a friend (who left Van Comp and lives a few miles from the winter house) worked on it for me. I had him put a Ruger Birdshead grip on it, S&W rear sight, a good blade front sight, and a new trigger. Shoots really well and with the warmer loads in Alaska feels pretty good.

[Sixgun]

Wow! I sure was fooled by your subject line! I’ve been told my whole life that I’m useless but at least Scott thinks I have some use.

I just can’t get by the thinking that 6 grains of Bullseye OR 7 grains of 231 is the perfect load for the 38-40, 44-40, 45 Long Colt, 44 Spl, 44 Magnum, 41 Magnum ALL with standard bullet weights for all around plinking or play loads and work well in any gun, modern or antique.

Scotts 8 of Unique is mighty close, maybe a 100 fps faster.

This thinking came to me 45 years ago when I had a box of 100 years old U.S. military 45 L.C. that was rubber stamped “6 gr. Bullseye” and “250 gr.lead bullet” on the box.

[Grizz]

Interesting gun!

Who did the sights and the interchangeable cylinder? I've been thinking of a birdshead grip; how do you like it?

you can get the current Vaquero with 2 cylinders, saw one at LGS. With birdshead grip too

[Scott Tschirhart]

This thinking came to me 45 years ago when I had a box of 100 years old U.S. military 45 L.C. that was rubber stamped “6 gr. Bullseye” and “250 gr.lead bullet” on the box.

No doubt that I could push this load a lot harder but I don’t know why. That’s interesting about that old box. I’ve never used Bullseye in the .45 Colt and that goes back to the 1980s when we were seeing PPC shooters blowing up revolvers in .38 Special with tiny charges of Bullseye.

On another note:

In my 20 inch Winchester 73 this load gives me the following with 8 gr of Unique.

270 gr SWC 1075 fps
255 Hornady Cowboy 1086 fps
Remington factory load 1031 fps

[Scott Tschirhart]

This morning I was gifted a hammer.

Let’s see how this works out.

[samsi]

That's gonna look good.

[4t5]

+2

[Scott Tschirhart]

Much more better! There’s a hint of creep before the hammer falls but I’ll bet it polishes out quickly.

[Walt]

Very nice! That looks like a Power Custom hammer that's already been converted to fit a Blackhawk.

[Scott Tschirhart]

There’s a little gap but not bad.

[JimT]

That looks a lot better than the Vaquero hammer.

[Scott Tschirhart]

That looks a lot better than the Vaquero hammer.

No doubt! Timing is just about perfect now.

[Scott Tschirhart]

As expected, no change in the point of impact and no problems with ignition with either cylinder. But it is easier for me to shoot because I can still see the front sight as the hammer falls.

The factory hammer obstructed the sight picture when in the forward position.