Beginner seeks advise for shooting/sighting with a Vaquero..

[Lookat2011]

Hi all,

I recently bought a Vaquero Bisley .44 Mag, basically because I dig the style and the fixed sights and I needed a short companion for my Rossi in .44 Mag. It is the 5.5" stainless steel version and I dulled it with glass pearl blasting.

Now while shooting it and sighting it in more or less well with my trusted gunsmith (using factory loads from Remington) we grinded a bit of the front sight and gave it some decent blows to one side. It shot left and down before and shoots more up and into the center now.

Shooting it on the range with the gunsmith (very good lighting, a lot of calm concentration and good atmo) I came to more or less the same results, and I credited my not so consistent shooting to my beginner's level and not knowing the gun yet.

Shooting it on my home range, it went all the ways without any consistency... I then painted the inside of the back sight and the ridge of the front sight black to get less reflections and a better contrast. The light on my home range is not necessarily worse than the light at my gunsmiths range, and I also experienced a better shooting in slightly low light conditions than in real good light, almost as if the less light made me 'feel' the sights better...

Next fact, when I shoot it casually or with one hand in a shorter distance (30ft / 10mtrs) I hit effortless bulls eyes - all the not so good targeting mentioned before is shot at a distance of 70 - 75 ft. (25mtrs.)

Then I have that weird wish to shoot it with different loads - I know that they will go to different places on target, I just would like to know where and how to aim with .44 Magnum factory loads, with .44 Mag handloads (easier loaded) and with .44 special factory loads. Eg. when I shoot at a distance of 75ft. at the moment I would say it shoots straight with .44 mag (holding it center) and for hitting the target with .44 special I have to hold it about a foot lower (as far as I can trust my targeting).

In the last session I kept hitting over and under the center, with no known difference in aiming... I feel like the slightly rounded hill of the back sight makes me hold it differently everytime I shoot... sometimes levelling the front sight onto the highest crest and sometimes into the edge where the black starts...

Are there any tricks of the experienced 'old hawks' here in the forum, how to get used to a Vaquero? Or is blackening the sights a good or a bad idea? Should I grind away the rounded ridge of the back sight? I'd be happy to get some advise, and thank you very much in advance for any input from you guys here!

with best regards
Ingo

 

[DanChamberlain]

Lookat

I went another route, but that's me. I had a new front sight dovetailed so that I could work with windage a bit before settling on a particular load for the .44 Mag

But, for purposes of using different loads there are a few rules of thumb to consider.

Bullets of the same construction and weight but pushed to different velocities will generally strike higher for slower, lower for faster. Get it? It has to do with time in bore and recoil forces causing the barrel to move perceptively on camera before the bullet exits the bore.

Bullets of different weight, but pushed with the same charge will generally strike higher for heavier, and lower for lighter. This again has to do with the lighter bullet being pushed faster with the same load.

Dan

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[John Fox]

Cock the hammer with your left thumb if you are a righty. You won't change your grip with every cock and will make you more consistent.

 

[sunday bill]

Lookat, IMHO, Dan pretty well nailed it.

However, if my "trusted gunsmith" "grinded" away part of the front sight on my Vaquero before I settled on a load/bullet weight, regardless of to which side of the sight blade he applied "decent blows", I'd be forced to consider modifying my salutation for him. I'd probably opt for some version of that classic, albeit overused, moniker usually applied to the "piccolo player" in the redneck joke, :shock: especially when referencing him on the sides of rail cars. :lol:

 

[DanChamberlain]

I normally settle on a particular bullet weight for all my shooting with a particular fixed sighted revolver. Then, for target work I just load it a tad lighter and deal with the elevation accordingly.

There are a lot of variables such as grip, trigger pull, where your finger is on the trigger, one handed vs two handed...and the list goes on.

Once you've "adjusted" your sights...you're pretty much done if you want to hit the bullseye with a dead-on hold. You'll normally have to be satisfied with that load for all your shooting fun.

Dan

 

[44shootist]

I have the same problem with one of my Vaquero's I have two the same one shoots fine, the other left and low no matter what I do with it or shoot in it.
All I could do it change it's name from Vaquero to left and low, and will likely trade it off for a new gun next time I buy one.

 

[powder smoke]

In the last session I kept hitting over and under the center, with no known difference in aiming... I feel like the slightly rounded hill of the back sight makes me hold it differently everytime I shoot... sometimes levelling the front sight onto the highest crest and sometimes into the edge where the black starts...
Sounds to me, the first thing you got to do is get some consistency in how you aim. Open sights whether adjustable or not is knda personal thing. Everybody gets a little different sight picture, that said you gotta stay with the same ammo and start getting consistency before you file or grind down the front sight.

Then find the ammo you want to shoot and shoot that consistent then adjust. In other words practise practise practise. Get a sight picture your comfortable with and stick to it! BTW Welcome to our forum, hope this helps. ps

 

[EDK]

Most shooters who reload are always looking for the ONE GOOD LOAD. If you shoot a revolver with fixed sights, this really becomes important. You need to find a bullet weight and powder charge that suits your needs and THEN do the modifications on the sights.

Something to consider is the trigger pull. I have several VAQUEROS and BISLEY VAQUEROS with a trigger pull of 2.5-to-3 pounds and smooth by Jim Stroh of ALPHA PRECISION. Since he did those guns two years ago, I have acquired several more identical guns. The tuned guns are a lot easier to shoot tight groups with...not as accurate in my hands as tuned adjustable sight guns, but far better than "box stock VAQUEROS."

Another consideration is the grips. The factory grips are decent, but I find the Gunfighter model from EAGLE GRIPS is a lot more comfortable and helps my shooting. Caryc and other custom makers make a similar item. You might want to do some research on this also.

The 5.5 inch Original Size BISLEY VAQUEROS are my favorites in 357 and 44 both.

 

[Lookat2011]

Hi fellow posters

and a good Easter for you! First of all, thank you all very much for the helpful supply of information. I appreciate the help and will try some stuff during the next session.

I am aware of the idea with the 'one good load' and I think I settle with the factory load, which provides the best result so far and will be consistent no matter if I or someone else loads other variants in the future...

My idea was that next to shooting 'the one good load', there should be a chance to also know where to hold the gun while aiming with one other load. It is clear, that there is a difference, and as long as it is a consistent difference it should be possible to have that 'one other aimpoint' for the other load...

And as for my inaccurate first description: Of course the works my gunsmith did were done after we settled on the one good load 'factory .44 remington'... so the changes actually helped the gun to be corrected from 'too far down and left' to 'more in the center'...

The problem I tried to explain was, that after sighting it in and changing from the gunsmiths range to my home range (and not changing the sights anymore after the first correction), I lost the center again. So the only change was the location/lighting of the range... then I tried the colouring of the sights, but it does not seem to help too much...

except for the fact that everyone really has helpful hints for me I think the closest description of my problem is Powdersmoke's: I don't get the sighting consistent, and I think it has to do with the rounded top of the back sight...

(Open sights in general is actually what I am used to shoot, I get my Rossi levergun with open sights to shoot pretty accurately standing up at 300 ft. ...) But the top of the Vaquero where the back sight is cut into is rounded. And even painted black I don't seem to hold on to the same horizon...

Sorry, if that is not explained very well, I don't speak English as my mother tongue...

Anyway - thanks to all, I think a lot is practise and getting to know the Vaquero and its sights better, best regards
Ingo

 

[pavementends]

Ingo,
Several smiths install a rear sight blade (some offer both fixed and adjustable) which allows a more defined sight picture. Most of these are quite "low profile" and do not disturb the style of the vaquero.
Kind regards
Kent