Ruger NM Vaquero "Joe Bowman 1/500" ???

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NoDak

Blackhawk
Joined
Apr 21, 2013
Messages
797
Location
Red River Valley, ND
Can anyone take me to school on this Vaquero?

CCH, blued, faux ivory, gold hammer and trigger... it's neat, but I don't know anything about it. Has a JB prefix
 
Joined
Mar 2, 2000
Messages
1,266
Location
Tennessee
Those New Vaqueros were made commemorating Joe Bowman, the "Straight Shooter". Joe used earlier Ruger revolvers made to look like a Colt SAA sight wise. Great entertainer and trick shooter, used to be at the Ruger booth at the NRA and SHOT shows. He entertained many of us at RCA events down in Texas. He could draw his single action and shoot it 3 times and it sounded like one shoot. Expert at fast & trick shooting as well as rope and card tricks. Passed away in 2009 on the way home from a SASS shoot at the age of 84 years. See below and google Joe Bowman the Straight Shooter to read more about him. Quite a showman!!

FT44

Joe Bowman, born Joseph Lee Bowman, was a Houston boot maker and marksman called "The Straight Shooter", considered to have been a guardian of Texas and western frontier culture. Shortly after his death, Bowman was inducted posthumously into the Texas Heroes Hall of Honor at the Frontier Times Museum in Bandera.

Joe received a Combat Infantry Badge, four Battle Stars, Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, was twice nominated for "The American Outstanding Handgunner Award," and carried a special Texas Ranger Badge presented by a Governor of Texas. He has been appointed "Ambassador of Goodwill" for the State of Texas by four different Governors.
 

NoDak

Blackhawk
Joined
Apr 21, 2013
Messages
797
Location
Red River Valley, ND
OK! We are off to a good start!


flattop44 said:
Those New Vaqueros were made commemorating Joe Bowman, the "Straight Shooter". Joe used earlier Ruger revolvers made to look like a Colt SAA sight wise. Great entertainer and trick shooter, used to be at the Ruger booth at the NRA and SHOT shows. He entertained many of us at RCA events down in Texas. He could draw his single action and shoot it 3 times and it sounded like one shoot. Expert at fast & trick shooting as well as rope and card tricks. Passed away in 2009 on the way home from a SASS shoot at the age of 84 years. See below and google Joe Bowman the Straight Shooter to read more about him. Quite a showman!!

FT44

Joe Bowman, born Joseph Lee Bowman, was a Houston boot maker and marksman called "The Straight Shooter", considered to have been a guardian of Texas and western frontier culture. Shortly after his death, Bowman was inducted posthumously into the Texas Heroes Hall of Honor at the Frontier Times Museum in Bandera.

Joe received a Combat Infantry Badge, four Battle Stars, Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, was twice nominated for "The American Outstanding Handgunner Award," and carried a special Texas Ranger Badge presented by a Governor of Texas. He has been appointed "Ambassador of Goodwill" for the State of Texas by four different Governors.
 

Jimbo357mag

Hawkeye
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
10,350
Location
So. Florida
Video of Joe Bowman the legend. He had a fancy van and toured the country. :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7btEEHRza0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vXxw4L7kIY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAlTXUSW-cs
 

T.A. WORKMAN

Hunter
Joined
Mar 24, 2006
Messages
4,266
Location
MANSFIELD, OHIO USA
They move (slowly) at around the $750.00 to $850.00 range on the auction sites.
Beautiful revolvers and a fine tribute to the man they were named after IMO.
Terry
 

ThreeEyedWilly

Bearcat
Joined
Dec 26, 2016
Messages
3
Location
Spring, Texas
I can give you a bit of insight into Joe Bowman and the emergence of the Ruger Vaquero. I became acquainted with Joe during the 1970's. I was a professional magician at the time, and Joe was not only an amazing shootist, but also a magician. He belonged to some of the same magicians' clubs that I did. We ran into one another at various events.

In 1998 or 1999, I became interested in Cowboy Action Shooting, and purchased a pair of Ruger Vaqueros. Part of this was due to Joe's recommendation. Once I got the revolvers, I contacted Joe, who lived fairly close to where I lived at the time. He did action jobs on both of them, and they were really great revolvers -- they shot a lot better than I did!

When I went over to pick them up from Joe, he told me some interesting history about the Ruger Vaquero.

He used to shoot Colt SAA's, but they were kind of finicky. They definitely weren't as durable as a Ruger. One day, he was looking at some revolvers, and a Blackhawk caught his eye. Except for the sights, they looked an awful lot like an SAA. So he purchased two of them, took them to a local gunsmith and had him machine the frame to look like an SAA, and change the front sight to a blade. This was the style he shot from that time on. If I remember correctly, Joe had a total of four of these pistols made over time.

He wasn't happy with the grips, though. So he had some grips made that were thinner than the originals to give the revolvers more of a "Colt" feel.

He was wearing these pistols at one of the national trade shows, either the SHOT show or the NRA show, when Bill Ruger spotted them and realized what they were. Joe let him examine them. Bill asked Joe if he would permit him to manufacture this model. And that's how the Vaquero came to be.

The last time I saw Joe was at the NRA show in Houston in 2005. He was at the Ruger booth, and he was grinning from ear to ear! Ruger had decided to issue a Joe Bowman limited edition model.

I never got any of those revolvers. Wish I had. In fact, I didn't learn of his passing until about a month had gone by.

He was a truly amazing guy!

Three Eyed Willy SASS #22949
 
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