New Model Vaquero Style Hammer For Old Model?

[JohnnyRingo]

hey guys.

i have several vaqueros in both old and new model,various calibers and configurations.

what im wondering is this. does anyone know if there is a "new style" hammer that will fit the "old style" guns?


i sure love the profile and feel of the new style hammer vs the old style. i thought about just buying one and putting one together myself, but i figured before i dd id check in and see if there was one available.

im assuming the new style hammer wont work on the old style (larger framed) guns

 

[REP1954]

I know that the NM SBH hammer will fit the NM Flat Top guns. some say they had to modify the hammer just a wee bit with a file to get it to work correctly. So I would think that the area requiring changing would be out of the way on the swap you want to do. I dont know how hard it is to get replacement hammers right now but your best bet might be on the Classified section or thru one of the top gunsmiths that do a lot of conversions.

 

[flatgate]

I think it's a great idea! I bet it would be a simple
screwdriver job.

flatgate

 

[JohnnyRingo]

i emailed reeder custom, and this is the email i got in return:

Many of the features of the New Vaquero are features we have installed on the old model Vaqueros for years. The people in the R&D at Ruger are good friends and they have copied many of our series. Our Alaskan Survivalist that we built for 15 years became their Alaskan. Our Tombstone Classic became their birds head Vaquero. Our Long Rider became their Bisley Vaquero and so on. We can build a hammer almost exactly like the new Vaquero hammer if you like. They are a drop in hammer too. We actually build a couple of different hammers for the old model Vaquero that are just like the New Vaquero hammer. They are $50 plus shipping.
Gary

 

[Aggie01]

I have a New Vaquero hammer here set on the same hammer pivot pin as a "old" Vaquero hammer.

Unfortunately I can't seem to take pictures tonight that can show what I want. Tops of the hammers are even, the new vaquero hammer has a slightly larger skirt.

The NV hammer here is available, I put a Montado hammer in mine (high polish stainless)
You might have to a do a little file work on the skirt to make it fit an older Vaquero.
$30, shoot me a PM if you want it.

 

[tek4260]

If you get Aggie01's hammer and it works and you want to change another, PM me for one. I have one from a stainless 45 NV in the parts box.

 

[JohnnyRingo]

ACTUALLY guys, i appreciate the offers, but i just got off the phone with Gary Reeder over at Gary Reeders Customs and he's making me up a custom hammer, and also hes going to turn me a custom base pin off while hes at it.

ill post some pictures when the stuff gets here. he said he will have it done by this evening, and will send it out first thing tomorrow.

i love my old models to death, but also love the looks of the new model.

 

[JohnnyRingo]

well, i finally got my hammer and pin from reeder. the pin was about 1/4" t long, so i had to trim it, and regroove it. the hammer was totally and completely wrong. i was supposed to get a "new model" hammer for the "old model" vaquero, and what i got was someone else hammer, a "new model" hammer that was made to mirror the "old model" hammer. looks pretty sweet ) great craftsmenship) but it isnt what i ordered. i called gary, and hes supposed to have sent out the correct one today. cant wait to get it. gary seems like a real easy going guy and easy to deal with.

 

[JohnnyRingo]

i was going to post this picture before and i got sidetracked. this is what my old model 4 5/8" 45 colt looks like after i customized it

you cant really tell much from the picture, but it is super high polished, almost like high polished chrome

customized hammer, custom pin,freespin pawl, triggers about 1 1/2 lbs ( done correctly, not by removing one of the triger spring legs from its post)with no creep or overtravel. breaks like a crisp glass rod.pearl grips,ect my favorite vaquero

 

[flatgate]

Boy, you guys are sure having trouble with the nomenclature. If 'ya simply read what's roll marked on the side of the cylinder frame you'll keep things perfectly clear.

Ruger stopped making Old Models in early 1973. The New Model Blackhawks, Super Blackhawks and Single-Sixes appeared at that time. The New Bearcat didn't appear until 1993.

In 2005 the New Vaquero was introduced and it's made on a smaller sized cylinder frame than are the Vaqueros and most New Model Blackhawks.

I would imagine that a New Vaquero's hammer could be easily fitted to the Vaquero with the only modifications required being fitting the lower/rear portion to match the contour of the grip frame's "ears".

Just my guess since I've not actually tried this swap.

Cheers,

flatgate

 

[JohnnyRingo]

flatgate

yes, i agree with you on the "new model" and "old model" wording. problem is, like i mentioned before, us old dogs know right away if someone says either "vaquero" or "new vaquero" exactly what they are talking about, BUT on that same note ,alot of guys out there arent as passionate about rugers as we are, and dont know the differences between the two most of the time.

the hammer on the vaquero in the picture above is a new model hammer. the only fitting i had to do to it is to ,as you said, adjust the contour where the rear sight ears on the back of the cylinder frame and the top of the hammer meet. the only real differences in the hammers is the spur is longer on the new model hammer, and the new model hammer face has a "notch" in it that the vaquero hammer doesnt. dont ask me why, it doesnt affect the way it shoots any ( which by the way with the gun above is to drive tacks.) i could have probably rounded the rear sight notch a bit more, but i think it looks pretty hot like it is. the only other thing i did was to stone the trigger and hammer a bit and polish then up a tad.

ill tell you a story about that gun in the picture.

sometime back,i bought a batch of vaqueros from a gun ( the one pictured in 45 colt, a 7 1/2" blued/CCH in 45 colt, a 5 1/2" 357 and a 5 1/2" "baby vaquero" (super single six) 32 H&R. all of the other guns were premo, except for this one. the guy i got the gun from bought it because he wanted to get into cowboy action shooting, so first thing he did was he took the hammer of the gun, and bent it up so he could use it as a "fanning" hammer (hight of stupidity....i guess he didnt realize he could have bought the proper hammer). he did that before he even took it out to shoot it. next, the guy took it and a flat file to the range ( someone told him that hed better take a file so he could adjust the sights...lol...i have never had to file a sight on a single action to get it to soot right. i reload, and have never had issues with my loads POI have always been my POA) with a box of shells. he shot 3 rounds, and when it didnt hit bullseye, he started filing, and shot 3 more, filed some more,ect. by the time he was done, the front sight was about 1/8" tall......anyway after shooting about half a box of shells and fling the site down, he got disgusted with the gun,threw it in the box and in the closet it went. i ended up with it and the other vaqueros ( for a good price by the way. i traded him a 357 blackhawk and $500 cash for the lot) .

i contacted ruger, and sent it to them for a new front sight. i got the gun back in 4 days ( i told them i wanted it for my upcomming hunting trip as a sidearm). while they had it, they didnt just replace the front sight, they replaced the whole barrel and front sight, went thru the gun front to back, replaced all the springs,screws,ect,ect..i had commented to customer service also that i thought the gun was supposed to be high polished from the factory, and they even mirror polished it for me when they had it there.,all free of charge....i got the gun back, and took it to the range. i fired 1 cylinder of shells thru it ( standard cowboy rounds, 14,000 cup),dropped the empties, and loaded it up and shot again. the forst shot on the new cylinder full of ammo sounded funny. no extra recoil ( actually it had less recoil), and it made sort of a "pop". i thought maybe they had underloaded the round or something. i tried to cock it to advance the cylinder, and the cylinder wouldnt move!....i popped the pin out, and low and behold, the cylinder had CRACKED right at the notch. i called ruger, and a manager got on the phone and told me they would have UPS pick the gun up the next morning and they would fix it, and send it back to me overnight, free of charge. they got the gun back, checked it over, checked the frame,ect i got the gun back, and they fitted a new cylinder to it (it fit like a glove too, the cylinder gap was so small you cant get a standard piece of paper to slide thru it) and got it back to me overnight. now it is the best shooting vaquero i own. at 25 yards, it shoots cloverleaf groups right on the bullseye freehand with no issues. smooth as a babies bottom too.

so when they had it they ended up replacing everything on the gun less the cylinder frame and gripframe, all for free. they even sent it back with a new set of cocobolo grips installed on the grip frame.

when the service manager ended up calling me back on the cylinder cracking she said that on the record, they had no clue why it did that, but OFF the record she thought that maybe the cylinder had a defect in it, and when they proof tested the gun after they replaced everything that it might have put a hairline crack in it and didnt know it, and all it took was to fire a few rounds thru it for it to give way.


anyway, like i said, it is now the nicest shooting single action i own, smooth as a babies butt. i wouldnt get rid of it for 3 tmes what its worth!