New Vaquero's

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Olsherm

Blackhawk
Joined
Feb 16, 2007
Messages
557
Location
Dexter,Missouri United States of America
I have Colt,Uberti's ,USFA's and Rugers but more & more I find myself liking the New Vaquero better than all the others. I find myself wanting to shoot the Vaquero more. Maybe because of the wider trigger ect?? I have both the New Vaq and the original vaquero but I think I like the size and feel of the New Vaquero much better. I keep wanting another one. I guess I have what you fellows call "Rigeritise"??
 

maxpress

Buckeye
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
1,280
Location
Central Washington
i like them just cause i can carry 6 beans instead of hammer down on an empty chamber. well thats not even close to the only reason but its what made me decide on my first one.
 

JimMarch1

Blackhawk
Joined
Feb 19, 2007
Messages
525
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
My sole centerfire gun period is a NewVaq357 bought in 2005, now seriously modified. My first choice would have been the very similar Ruger 50th Anniversary 357 but those were scarce and expensive...the sight mods I ended up doing to the NewVaq would have been easier with the 50th 357 as a starting point but that's OK.

I wanted a transfer-bar-equipped gun for six-up carry, as I knew it would likely be my CCW piece at some point. I picked Ruger over Beretta's Stampede because I figured the Ruger was tougher and easier to get alternate parts for as I knew it was going to get modded.

Sure enough a SuperBlackhawk hammer was grafted on quickly, sight mods have been an interesting evolution and my piece now wears the most exotic "iron" sights" I'm aware of in daily use :). A grip frame swap could still happen one day, and if I can ever afford it a caliber conversion to 45ACP with a shortened cylinder and back-set barrel would be way cool.

No regrets whatsoever.
 

glen851

Bearcat
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Messages
4
Location
SE Arizona
I have the New Vaquero in stainless and a Vaquero blue/case-colored. Both have 7 1/2" barrels and are chambered in 45LC. I like shooting both, but the New Vaq is a lot better balanced and lighter. I had a New Vaquero in .357 ss with the 4 5/8" barrel and it was heavier than the ss 45. Ended up selling it so I could buy a new 581 Mini 14 ( a good decision). Anyway, both of the Vaqueros are keepers!
 

JimMarch1

Blackhawk
Joined
Feb 19, 2007
Messages
525
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
I don't mind the weight of my NewVaq357 with a 4.68" tube, because I like to shoot very high-end loads (and carry full-house DoubleTaps up close to 800ft/lbs energy). The weight helps cope with big power at respectable fire rates.
 

Olsherm

Blackhawk
Joined
Feb 16, 2007
Messages
557
Location
Dexter,Missouri United States of America
I have a Ruger Montado with the modified hammer(looks like a SBH hammer to me).Not sure about that but I kinda wish my New Vaquero's had that type of hammer in them. I guess I could have a customsmith do them for me? I do not particular like the looks of the "long horn"type hammer that comes on them. Has anyone changed the hammers in the New Vaqs to the Montado type themselves?
 

JimMarch1

Blackhawk
Joined
Feb 19, 2007
Messages
525
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
The SBH and Montado hammers are the same profile as seen from the side. Thumb reach is the same. I actually prefer the SBH pattern of thumbpad "checkering" (actually just horizontal grooves) because I'm a strong-side thumber and it's easy to let my thumb slip off the side when I finish the cocking stroke. That lets me drop my strong-side cocking thumb down onto my off-hand thumb at the moment of firing, forming the same sort of "thumb on thumb" Weaver-based hold Jeff Cooper used to teach for the 1911.

If you're an off-hand-cocker as is all too common in SASS, the Montado pattern might work better as it lets the off-hand thumb side backwards over the end of the hammer easier. In that style shooting the off-hand thumb crosses the back of the strong-side hand. Problem with that system is that first, it's power-limited...run big recoil and that system falls on it's face. In my opinion, it's also not good practice in that the transition to one-handed shooting isn't very "clean".

Dropping an SBH hammer in yourself isn't at all hard. Actual installation is a snap. Once in:

1) First make sure it's safe. With the gun totally unloaded, cock it and then finger off trigger, make sure it's not possible to push the hammer off the sear. Jiggle the hammer a bit, push on it some, etc.

2) Make sure the trigger pull isn't too light.

If it fails either of those tests, time to see a gunsmith.

Next:

3) With the gun UNLOADED, dry-fire it and hold keep holding the trigger back. If the hammer moves any as you ease the trigger forward, you have "hammer pinch". Another test for the same thing: with the trigger back, hammer down, push the hammer forward and hold it down. Now let up on the trigger. If the trigger doesn't go forward, the hammer is "pinching" the firing pin. Not cool. So what you do is, you cock it, wrap a strip of rag around the base of the hammer, file some with a small file on the hammer where it hits the transfer bar...NOT on the outer-most surface, on the "step" inside. Examine it a bit...if you still don't get it, no problem, use a toothpick and put a tiny drop of peanut butter on the transfer bar, and dry-fire it. Cock it, look for the peanut butter - that's where you file.

Take it REAL slow, keep any grit from dropping in there with the rag, wipe the shavings down each time you FREQUENTLY stop and see if your "pinch" is gone. You want to stop filing right when the pinch stops.
 

flatgate

Hawkeye
Joined
Jun 18, 2001
Messages
6,784
Location
Star Valley, WY
A peanut butter smith! Now I've heard of everything!

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

It's not hammer pinch, it's transfer bar pinch, though.

flatgate
 

Olsherm

Blackhawk
Joined
Feb 16, 2007
Messages
557
Location
Dexter,Missouri United States of America
Thanks for the peanut butter Jim March 1. I like that approuch.Hard to miss where to file huh? Just like the dentist with his endelible tape to tell where your teeth are coming together when he adjusts your new dentures,so he can file a little off here and there. HA HA
 

JimMarch1

Blackhawk
Joined
Feb 19, 2007
Messages
525
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
See, I was in a bit of a hurry, no time to take pictures, I needed to explain what was up in a brief chunk of text. So how else do you describe exactly how to find the place to file?

Seriously?

:)
 
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