I always wanted an old style Vaquero that shot to the sights

[Scott Tschirhart]

I think I found one. 8 gr 231 255 gr Hornady cowboy.

[Scott Tschirhart]

13 gr HS6 under a 270 SAA bullet.

[Scott Tschirhart]

8 gr 231 and a 270 gr Keith sized to .453

[Scott Tschirhart]

This gun was a wreck. When I saw it, there was rust in the bore and the cylinder was fouled as if it had been shot with black powder and not cleaned afterwards. There was also rust on the underrated of the barrel near the muzzle.

The gun was obviously owned by a shooter at one time. It has a free spin pawl. The center pin has been cut down so it can be removed for cleaning. The cylinder throats have been honed and are uniform. The gun has also been re-crowned. And it has the lightest and crispest trigger that I have ever experienced on a New Model Ruger.

When I cleaned it up, I found that the bore shone like a mirror.

After shooting it quite a bit this morning, the bore still shines with no discernible fouling.

[JimT]

RESURRECTION! I love bringing a beat-up gun back to life! Great job my friend!

[JDL]

Good for you Scott, you brought it back from the dead! I haven't any experience with the Vaqero and always wondered if they shot to the sights. Much nicer looking than the Blackhawks I've always used.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I sort of wish I had taken some before photos

[2ndovc]

These two early .44 Magnums will shoot like that w/ a .430 LSWCGC and 10.5 gr. Unique. One of them was worked over by someone that knew what he was doing. Very smooth and a fantastic trigger. That one started the Vaquero obsession a few years ago. I went through about a dozen, but kept these two, a .44-40 and a fixed sighted Old Army. All large frames.
jb

[LeverGunner]

Sounds like you have a great shoot, congraulations. What did you do about the rust in the bore and on the outside of the barrel?

[Walt]

In my experience, fixed sight Ruger single actions seldom need windage adjustment. I have a friend who has a handful of Uberti and Pietta single actions that definitely needed windage adjustments so I put them into a barrel vise and turned them slightly. A barrel vise from Midway came with wooden blocks that are properly profiled for the barrels I use it on and using the included resin I have never scratched a barrel. An old-time gunsmith I know says he wraps his barrels with Saran Wrap to avoid scratching and I assume that works as well. Most single actions benefit from filing the front sight down to match point of aim with point of impact for a specific load.

The only fixed sight Ruger I have is this 4 5/8" New Vaquero in .45 Colt. The front sight was lowered to shoot my favorite load of a 250 gr RNFP bullet over 6.2 gr of Titegroup to point of aim.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Sounds like you have a great shoot, congraulations. What did you do about the rust in the bore and on the outside of the barrel?

It cleaned up with a little Hoppe’s No. 9 and Balistol. It didn’t take much work.

[Ysabel Kid]

I sort of wish I had taken some before photos

+1

[LeverGunner]

Glad it wasn't too bad.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Glad it wasn't too bad.

It looked terrible! Especially inside the bore for the first three inches or so.

[LeverGunner]

Glad it wasn't too bad.

It looked terrible! Especially inside the bore for the first three inches or so.

I'm glad it cleaned up, and shoots well.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I cleaned it and took it back out today.

Same deal. Very nicely zeroed.

[horsesoldier03]

I passed on a gun almost identical to that probably 10 years back. However, it was a .357 mag. I passed on it because I had gravitated from .357 to the .44 spc and .45 acp because I was tired of my ears ringing. It was at a very good price, looking back I wish I had bought it, it would have made a great investment.

[LeverGunner]

I definitely am a fan. I've not owned one though. I'd like to find one in 45 Colt to mess with. I like the simplicity of the sights and the overall style. Just a good looking gun. Course, I love Blackhawks.

[Pisgah]

A satisfying restoration of a first-rate thumper.

[Scott Tschirhart]

This gun is just super accurate! I have two Freedom Arms revolvers that won’t shoot as good as this gun does from my hand.

[LeverGunner]

Looks like nice shooting. What range?

[Scott Tschirhart]

15 yards

[AJMD429]

RESURRECTION! I love bringing a beat-up gun back to life! Great job my friend!

That's cool. Same with old cars, boats, or pretty much any tool; nice to see them restored.

(I guess that's kind of what I try to do with people, in my line of work... )

[JimT]

RESURRECTION! I love bringing a beat-up gun back to life! Great job my friend!

That's cool. Same with old cars, boats, or pretty much any tool; nice to see them restored.

(I guess that's kind of what I try to do with people, in my line of work... )

I do that to old tools also!
My Dad loved restoring old bullet molds.
And as for people, that's the best of all ... whether physically, mentally, spiritually, financially, socially or whatever the need, I like seeing them "brought back" also.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Exactly Jim!