Stainless Vaquero?

[leejack]

I'm closing in on my next purchase and I have a question or 2 or 3.

How well does the stainless finish hold up on these guns? Do they scratch easily? Is it hard or easy to keep em looking good? etc.....
The moisture thing is a non issue for me.

I've always been a blue guy, but I must admit, the SS Vaqueros sure are perty!

Comments??

Thanks,

Lee

 

[JustsayMo]

My Montado's finish looks shiny new despite being carried frequently and shot regularly.

I have an older Stainless Single Six, the same can be said about it.

 

[Redstick]

Step over to STAINLESS and you'll wonder WHY they still even make Blued guns! :?: The Stainless is far more durable than a coat of bluing and if it did get a scratch, you could possibly polish it out - rather than re-blue!

 

[Rclark]

They make blued guns because they are sooooo much nicer. Not so 'tin-horn' flashy like the stainless... so to speak .

 

[flatgate]

Get one of each, of course.



flatgate

 

[rugerguy]

I agree with 'redstick' ...that is the way to go for any "work" gun...easy to maintain and care for.......

 

[KenK]

Get one of each, of course.



flatgate

I had a 5 1/2' Vaquero .357 Blued!!!
I really never considered the SS models..

Read your post and went out looking for a mate to it in Buled!!!

I saw this 5 1/2" Vaquero .357 in SS.....well now I one of each. Only problem is I still need a matching mate for one of these??? Only problem now is which do I pair up...
Might have to get one more of each!!!
This sure does get complicated...I like both versions.

 

[Texas Jack Black]

Stainless is great BUT, trying to use those sights in bright sunlight is like me trying to get my Mother in Law to cut the lawn.

T J B

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Just to correct your question. The finish on these guns is not Stainless. In fact, there is no finish on them at all, they are made of raw Stainless steel through and through. The surface is highly polished though, so it is very shiny.

When Ruger first introduced the Vaquero, it was the blued version. When they got around to making a Stainless version, the first ones had a brushed finish to them. However Ruger soon realized that a highly polished Stainless gun looks a lot like the nickel plated guns of old. If you closely compare a nickel plated gun to a bright finshed Stainless gun, you can tell the difference, nickel has a slight yellowish tint to it. There is no color at all in highly polished Stainless. But at a glance, a bright finished Stainless gun looks a lot like a nickel plated gun.

I have a couple of Stainless Vaqueros, 45 Colt, one with a 7 1/2" barrel and one with a 5 1/2" barrel. Like any gun, if you take care of them, they will last forever. Yes, you can scratch them, if you drop them on something harder than the Stainless, like rocks or gravel. But it is easy to polish out any light scratches with a buffing wheel and return them to their factory shiny condition without any scratches. You can't do that with a blued gun, if you scratch it, or if the blue wears, you either live with it, or have to blue the entire gun again. Cold blue just doesn't cut it.

One drawback to a bright finished Stainless gun is in the right conditions you can get a lot of glare off the sun, which can disturb your aim, depending on where the sun is. I also like to blacken the rear edge of the front sight, to make it stand out better against most targets.

And let me dispell one myth before it gets started. A Stainless gun is no easier to clean than a blued gun. I don't know where this myth came from, but it is not true. Ease of cleaning depends on the surface polish of the gun. A highly polished gun will be easier to clean than a gun that has some 'tooth' to the finish, either blued or Stainless. Given the same amount of polish, a blued gun and a Stainless gun will require the exact same amount of elbow grease to clean. And a bright finished Stainless gun will show powder fouling more than a blued gun will. The blued gun will tend to hide fouling that the bright Stainless will highlight.

I like my Stainless Vaqueros, but I usually prefer a blued gun.

 

[Rex Driver]

I have several Vaqueros, both in the fake case hardened finish (Worst possible choice) and stainless. I like the idea of the case finish and I also know the cost control of the way Ruger did it, however, this was a great thought that suffered the effects of cost cutting. I love the stainless, as I have three, two NMVs in 357 and a Bisley in 45 and they really do look beautiful and tend to be easier (in my mind) to keep that way.

All Ruger single actions are great choices and it really adds to the spice and problems of just what to purchase as all of them can call you over to the counter in their own way.

As far as for the bright light shooting with a stainless, I carried a Smith model 64 for many years on the force and also had a soot lamp in my shooting bag for qualification time. I always wondered if the "Bad Guy" would have given me time to soot up the 64 before firing at me, if the ultimate had happened in the field.

 

[AzRebel]

The posts above are pretty much right.

If you do something dumb and drop the gun, it can scratch. Scratches are pretty easily buffed out, I'm sure, but I haven't had to do that.

The shiny surface does reflect light and can make sighting sorta hard for bad eyes. I bead blasted my primary one though, and it's not much of a problem any more. The sights are finer than adjustables, so when they're sighted in properly for your load they allow a finer sight picture on smaller targets.

They aren't any easier to clean than blued guns, but they're more forgiving if you fail to clean them. They can still rust, I've heard, but I've yet to see it on my guns and I sometimes carry them daily for weeks while neglecting to clean them properly. The nature of a working gun, I suppose, which is what I use mine for.

Overall, a stainless finish is far more durable than a blued one.

Daryl

 

[Highhawk1948]

I've had a polished steel New Vaquero, .45 Colt , age 2013. It gets carried a lot, (Mexican carried, IWB holster, Tom Threepersons OWB holster, rides in farm cart holstered, and is shot a lot. It is as shiny as ever. I do clean it every couple of weeks and it gets wiped off between cleanings. It does have some scratches on it but it's a working gun for me. Best pointing pistol I've ever had.

 

[Enigma]

Resurrect 8 year old threads much?

 

[WanderLust]

I've had both blued and stainless. I agree 100% on the cleaning, just as hard either way. Stainless will rust, just takes more to get there. Carry either one for a while, and you'll love the stainless real quick!

 

[BigBlue]

Resurrect 8 year old threads much?

No less pertinent now than it was then.

 

[David Bradshaw]

The polished stainless Vaquero is beautiful. Polish intends to mimic nickel plating seen on many old Colt and Smith & Wesson and Remington revolvers, and popular on the many lesser brands. As alluded earlier, nickel has a warm silver color. Whereas, stainless appears cool in the silver spectrum.

Polished Stainless
Scuffs show on polished stainless (and may be polished out). Polished mirrors light. Because it resembles the nickel of old, polished looks right on a stainless Vaquero.

Brushed Stainless
Brushed stainless, the standard treatment, does not show holster wear. When scratched, brushed stainless may be dressed with a Scotchbright pad. Brushed stainless is handsome on an adjustable sight revolver. Polished stainless is gaudy on a single action with adjustable sights.

Blue
Polish makes bluing jump. A lower polish finish, as used on the old Blackhawks, is handsome, less labor intensive. Another method of avoiding skill-intensive polish is to bead blast. Unless bead blasting is finely done to reveal no texture, the look is cheap, standing apart from technique available in the old days.
David Bradshaw

 

[Armybrat]

Resurrect 8 year old threads much?

No less pertinent now than it was then.

And a 2017 NV glossy stainless looks just as good as their older Ruger brothers.... (but not quite as "rich" as a good nickel finish)