Question please.

I found a pair of New Vaqueros ,blued ,7 1/2" .45 Colt like new, consecutive SN's . He will be out of town for a few days so I cant ask him.
Do these have steel grip frames ? It dont realy matter because I am buying them either way. I have several pairs on NV's but they are all stainless. Thanks, Chuck

I believe they will have aluminum alloy grip frames.

I believe the blued New Vaqueros have steel grip frames, same as the Flat Top Blackhawks, and are of the XR-3 style, though the grips are not interchangeable.

Bob Wright

Bob is correct in his belief. No New Vaqueros have ever been made with alum alloy grip frames. Nor have any of the NM Flat Top Blackhawks.

Ruger has not made the XR3 'similar size' grip frames shared by those two models in alum alloy.

Original Vaqueros also only came with steel grip frames, but of the XR3-RED size.

Thanks guys ! That is what I thought. These are used but in new condition and owned by a CAS shooter friend. I saw one of the pair this weekend and it was verrry nice. He told me the other one is in the same condition. It seems another Cowboy shooter bought them new and decided he wanted shorter barrels and sold them to my friend. A couple years of Cowboy shooting will remove the new from them.

From a collector's standpoint, the blued, 7 1/2" are over toward the 'rare' or at least 'uncommon' side of things.
If they are the CCH finish, even more so. The longer barrel hasn't been offered for a few years now.
Terry T

Terry T said:

From a collector's standpoint, the blued, 7 1/2" are over toward the 'rare' or at least 'uncommon' side of things.
If they are the CCH finish, even more so. The longer barrel hasn't been offered for a few years now.
Terry T

Click to expand...

Terry, they are blued ,not CCH. Probably have locks and to me will be good shooters.

Well , I picked them up today. Flawless except for minor draglines. The front sights are plumb and they have blued hammers and stainless triggers At least thats what they look like. And steel grip frames like you guys said. Thanks again.
I have not removed the grips BUT there are sets of lock keys stapled to the op manuals. Kinda suggests they have the locks. No big deal,the pair I have been shooting all season have locks. Maybe thats the reason I missed two pistol targets last weekend, yes/ no ???

Uh...yeah that's it! Locks have been known to cause misses.

Made before 2012 when locks were eliminated and after 2009 when CCH New Vaq eliminated.

Hondo44 said:

Uh...yeah that's it! Locks have been known to cause misses.

Made before 2012 when locks were eliminated and after 2009 when CCH New Vaq eliminated.

Click to expand...

Hondo, come to think of it, that funny little bump on the end of the barrel may just not been on target when it fired. That is , kinda important, I am told. ???

The date on the fired case envelope is 7-16-09. S.N 510-800xx .

Chuck 100 yd said:

Hondo44 said:

Uh...yeah that's it! Locks have been known to cause misses.

Made before 2012 when locks were eliminated and after 2009 when CCH New Vaq eliminated.

Click to expand...

Hondo, come to think of it, that funny little bump on the end of the barrel may just not been on target when it fired. That is , kinda important, I am told. ???

The date on the fired case envelope is 7-16-09. S.N 510-800xx .

Click to expand...

Operator error!

Chuck 100 yd said:

Hondo44 said:

Uh...yeah that's it! Locks have been known to cause misses.

Made before 2012 when locks were eliminated and after 2009 when CCH New Vaq eliminated.

Click to expand...

Hondo, come to think of it, that funny little bump on the end of the barrel may just not been on target when it fired. That is , kinda important, I am told. ???

The date on the fired case envelope is 7-16-09. S.N 510-800xx .

Click to expand...

Operator error!