Ruger Vaquero SS 44 Spl. (PIC ADDED)

[Old Savage]

Here it is fellows - it is here and on the requisite Ca 10 day wait. Anyone have one and what do you think?

http://www.lipseys.com/itemdetail.aspx? ... 44+Special

[gak]

Congratulations! Great, great gun. I've got the shortie Sheriff in stainless and 4-5/8" in blue. Swapped a Montado hammer into the Sheriff--now a perfect twin to my .357 Montado, and a SBH into the blued model. Mine now wear Carl "Private" Schultz' very nice holly and figured walnut grips, respectively. I tamed the factory "hard rubber's" aggressive checkering a bit with some 000 wool and swap them back in occasionally when taking them camping or on the trail--just because I can.

I'm sure you meant "New Vaquero" . (I know it oddly just says Vaquero on the frame--unique to the .44 Sps-- and Ruger and vendors are inexplicably describing all NVs as "Vaqueros" in literature and ads these days.)

[Pitchy]

Looks nice OS, is that the small frame model?

[gak]

Pitchy, if I beat him to it--yes the smaller "mid" frame as all New Vaqueros and (non .44 magnum) Flattops.

Turnbull must have taken advantage of the same "sale" pricing as he is selling the 4-5/8" with his CCH for $799, and an interesting "Carbona bronze" for $899. My 4-5/8" is begging for his CCH treatment and is where it's headed when funds are available.

[madman4570]

Very nice gun OS
Daughter's boyfriend recently got one in .357mag and they are very nice guns.
You will love it(44spl great choice)
Congrats and pics and reports when you get it please!

[3leggedturtle]

It looks nice, tho the grip area looks a little small for the it. Or is it the angle of the picture? Savage when you said a special 44, I was envisioning a different picture in my mind!

[gamekeeper]

OS, you have got great taste in firearms as well as the ladies! That is one heck of a nice revolver, congratulations...

[Pitchy]

Pitchy, if I beat him to it--yes the smaller "mid" frame as all New Vaqueros and (non .44 magnum) Flattops.

Turnbull must have taken advantage of the same "sale" pricing as he is selling the 4-5/8" with his CCH for $799, and an interesting "Carbona bronze" for $899. My 4-5/8" is begging for his CCH treatment and is where it's headed when funds are available.

Nice, thanks

[Old Savage]

And on the Jan. 19th Colt patent date not only did the 44 Spl. Ruger arrive but I succeeded in relocating this fine lady after 30 years. Seems I drove almost right by her house in Las Vegas and played golf on a course 2 blocks from her.

[Blaine]

You brought someone TO Kali? Oh, the humanity....

[Old Savage]

Not so fast - I knew where she was 30 years ago, she stayed put for 10 years and then in 92 she left. I just managed to locate her yesterday in Las Vegas - I have been looking for her for some time. We explored some remote mountain areas back then in a 4x4 and some mining shafts. She had a lovely rustic hot tub and some delightful white wine.

[Pitchy]

Hey old fanny burp, i mean old savage did ya get that new sixgun yet?
Now ya got me wanting one, of course i`m still a young fellar and need one more than you.

Edit to say ya know i`m just kidding OS, those look like one nice gun and might have to get one too.

[O.S.O.K.]

Looks great! If it's half as nice as the flat top 44 Special that I bought, you'll love it! Same frame size.

Mine likes 250 grain keith lswc's with a good dose of Power Pistol.

Congrats!!

[2ndovc]

That's a nice looking six gun!

I need to replace a .45 Colt Blackhawk that I sold last year. Haven't decided what to replace it
With yet but I like that Vaquero.

jb

[kimwcook]

Nice.

[Old Savage]

2nd - one choice I was looking at was the SS Ruger New Vaquero with two cylinders - I had a Ruger 45 Convertible years ago and really liked it. Ruger has confused the terminology to some extent - my 44 Spl says Vaquero on it but is really a New Vaquero.

I just got such a good deal on the 44 I had to go with it. Always has seemed a good match to me and I think the New Vaquero will handle hotter loads in a 44 Spl than a 45 Colt. Not that I plan too much of that but 17.0 gr of 2400 behind a 240 is like low end 44 Mag.

[O.S.O.K.]

If you want a good listing of loads that this can handle, I recommend the article by Brian Pearce in Handloader for the 44 Special Flat Tops. I'd tell you the issue, but I can't find the mag... You can push a 240 grain XTP to 1190 with a top dose (19 grains) of H110/W296 - but that would shoot quite low to the sights on your Vaquero. I'd think that a more useful and more fun load would be with a 250 Keith boolit and Power Pistol - I don't remember the load but it's quite easy to push that to 950 fps. You can use Unique too but the Power Pistol operates at a lower pressure.

Wish I could find that mag...

[Old Savage]

Thanks there O.S.O.K., I will look into that. I did a lot of loading including 11.0 gr of 2400 up to 17 in one grain increments with a stop at 12.5 which turned out to be the most accurate in my Model 24. And I do have 5 1/2" Flat top.

Here is a good article by Seyfried. http://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/ross-se ... revolvers/

Some info from the Ruger Forum:

"Brian Pearce ran an article of higher-pressure .44 Special loads (June Handloader, issue #260). His recommended loads were tested in Lipsey’s .44 Special Flattop. With ~250grain cast loads, he shows a 2400 load @1211 fps, a AA-9 load @ 1205 fps. He also lists a Power Pistol recipe slightly in excess of 1000 fps that is still with SAAMI specs. His listed loads are for the Ruger…or guns of similar strength. As he specifically mentions the model 24/624 and the 696 in his article, I am trying to figure how my 696 compares to the Ruger .44 Special in terms of frame/cylinder strength.

Lane Pearce in the November 2009 Shooting Times, again with the Lipsey’s Ruger .44 Special, shows several hard-cast loads, 240-250 grain, using 2400 that fall between 1000-1100 fps."

[claybob86]

I like the Vaqueros too. Congratulations on yours and look forward to pictures! Preferably, being held by one of the ladies you keep company with!

[Old Savage]

Well then - who should be the lucky lady to caress it's stainless steel curves?

[Pitchy]

Well then - who should be the lucky lady to caress it's stainless steel curves?

Remember this is a family site.

[Blaine]

Well then - who should be the lucky lady to caress it's stainless steel curves?

Well, I've an idea on that My favorite famous female

[Hobie]

I believe Buffalo Bore uses a lot of Power Pistol to attain good velocities at the lowest possible pressures. Their .44 Special is good stuff and works great in my Ruger .44 FTs.

[Old Savage]

Well, broke Hobie's rule here and shot some of somebody else's reloads. I was not happy with the accuracy in my Ruger 5 1/2' Flat Top of a load that had been very accurate in a Model 24 but this load with jacketed bullets did very well - first shot my own lack of care.



Very happy to find a great load - this is only at 15 yds. We will see how the new Vaquero does before we decide who caresses it.

[Old Savage]

Here is a picture of the Lipseys 44 Spl. - very nice pistol. One odd note, I think they used a regular old Vaquero loading gate as it does not match the contour of the cylinder.

[Pitchy]

The pistola is nice but the pretty gal thats holding it is hard to see.

[olyinaz]

Here is a picture of the Lipseys 44 Spl. - very nice pistol. One odd note, I think they used a regular old Vaquero loading gate as it does not match the contour of the cylinder.

Well that got my curiosity going so I went and looked at my three New Vaqueros. The loading gate on all three fits and sits just a bit differently. On my Bisley .45 (purchased last year) it matches the contour of both the recoil shield and the cylinder perfectly. On my Montado .45 (about three years old) it sits just a bit proud of the cylinder but fits the frame nicely. And on my most recent, the Birdshead .45 ACP it sits a bit more proud of the cylinder and is a bit high at both the top and bottom with regards to the frame as well. It doesn't look bad as witnessed by my photo in the other thread, but now that you've pointed it out it's going to drive me nuts! Gee thanks Doc!!

Oly

[Old Savage]

Send it over here on the bird o ps: s head, it won't bother me or you then.

[Chuck 100 yd]

You will love it!! Congrats!!
I have 6 SS Vaquaro`s In Pairs,
5 1/2" .44mag. (old Vaquaro)
5 1/2" .45 Colt (new Vaquaro)
4.6" .357 (new Vaquaro)
They are all great shooters.
Some are in this pic.

I need to update that picture to include about 6 more Ruger handguns.

[Old Savage]

Hey, good group - let's see the rest.

[Ysabel Kid]

I'm not a fan of the lockwork on the new Rugers - though I will admit it is better, safer and stronger. I just can't get by the lack of four clicks! Still, they sure do make wonderful guns! Congrats!!!

[brucew44guns]

Congrats on the new .44 Fred. I have the bright stainless 7 1/2 inch "old" 44 mag Vaquero, most accurate of all my handguns. I also bought 4 5/8 "old" blue model Vaquero in .45, still unfired. Take a look at the .41 "Hunter" model, it comes in .45 and .44 also, really nice heavy piece. The feel of those in your hand is great. I have a .41
I think you will enjoy your new toy a long time. Waiting 10 days will also help you be more responsible and law abididng right?