Ruger New Vaquero 5 shot .44 Magnum Birdshead

Just saw an image from SHOT show on this revolver that is shown as a Lew Horton special. It was on guns.com FaceBook post. Sorry if this is old news, but is was the first time I have seen it. Very tempting.

I bet that one is a real lively kicker. Short barreled .44's are a handfull with the regular plow handle and just a little better when they have the Bisley grip.

The birdshead Vaquero in 44 is a 6 shot.
I have one. It's a handfull!

I'd like to see one, a 5 shot......

The one in the photo is marked "New Vaquero" and is pretty clearly a 5 shot. It is a new model, not a "Vaquero" 44 Mag.

I'd like to see the 5 shot as well.
Here's the 6 shot. Released early last year, I think around April if I recall.

http://www.realguns.com/articles/789.htm
And here
http://ruger.com/products/vaqueroStainless/specSheets/10596.html

Ok, I am a bit confused perhaps. The gun in the photo and links is marked "New Vaquero" but the Ruger specs state it is on the large frame. The gun I saw in the shot show photo was also marked "New Vaquero" and looked to me to be a five shot, I hoped on the "medium" NV frame. Now, I am not so sure. It was also identified as a Lew Horton, not a Talo. Oh well.

It's my understanding that the 6 shot, large frame birds head 44 mag is actually marked 'New Vaquero' just to confuse us all.
A few years back, the 44 spl. Sherriff's medium frame was marked simply 'Vaquero'. Are we confused yet? Of course we are! :shock:

Now....having said all that - this is the first I've heard of a 5 shot medium frame .44 mag "vaquero".
I think alcohol may be called for. :roll:
Terry T

For fun, I got out the missus' 45 ACP New Vaquero, on the right, and my 44 Mag New Vaquero, on the left.
The 44 is a bit larger all the way around. Both are marked New Vaquero.
The 45 has a serial number with a 3 digit prefix.
The 44, a 2 digit prefix.

A detail that has been brought to my attention, is that all of the large frame Vaqueros have a 2 digit, and all of the mid sized frames have a 3 digit prefix.

Looking through my collection, I find that to be true.

There's no confusion once one understands that the reason for the name "New Vaquero" has nothing to do with the frame size, that's just coincidental (in some calibers, excluding the 44 Mag) to the engineering change (described below) that warrants the label "NEW" in New Vaquero.

The New vaquero is NEW because it's new design includes Ruger's Reverse Indexing Pawl System (RIPS) design, which simply aligns the loading trough and the chambers at the 'click' when advancing the cyl for loading and unloading.

Just like the NM FLAT TOP Blackhawks in both frames sizes also have the RIPS.

Note: 44 Spl Vaqueros are simply Vaqueros because there was never an original Vaquero made in 44 spl w/o the RIPS design. So it can't be new, it's the first version of the Vaquero in that caliber.