MONTADO

[SHOOTER]

Tell me about the ruger montado ... Is this a smaller frame then the original Vaquero?

 

[KWYJIBO]

Yes, it's the same frame as any other New Vaquero, and a bit smaller than the original Vaquero. The Montado is distinguished by several characteristics, some of which are available on other models:

3 3/4" barrel
Truncated base pin (to give the necessarily short ejector a little more travel)
Wide-spur hammer, similar to the Super Blackhawk hammer, but with different checkering pattern
On the early models, vertical grooves on the front strap. (I think the later ones lacked this.)

All were polished stainless steel.

Montado means "mounted," and they were intended for use in mounted (horseback) shooting events. All features aid that style of competition in some way. For safety, mounted shooters do not use lead bullets, but try to pop ballloons with blank cartridges. The Montado edition Vaqeuro will nevertheless handle SAAMI-spec bullet loads with no trouble.

 

[SHOOTER]

I really want a an original Vaquero sheriff KBMV-33-SI but have never been able to...

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Here is one of mine.

 

[Hondo44]

Because the original Vaqs with 3 3/4" barrels are relatively hard to find and therefore usually priced at a bit of a premium, you might just want to find an original Vaq and have the barrel shortened. If I recall correctly the originals had birds heads grip frames so you may or may not like that. The standard model original Vaq has the slightly larger grip frame (more knuckle space behind the trigger guard) than the New Vaq so that's a plus if you want an original Vaq for the larger cyl frame to shoot Ruger only loads.

But the 1st thing I would do is post a 'wanted' ad here on this forum.