It was the best of handguns and the worst of handguns. It was a late 90’s vintage Ruger Vaquero in .45 Colt. Shiny and stainless steel with a 4 and 5/8-inch barrel and rich looking wooden grips, it was a true joy to see and handle. It was the kind of single-action revolver that heroes carried in movie westerns. It had the lines of a classic Colt Peacemaker. Truly, it was a handsome firearm. It was mine for many years. Unfortunately, it never worked well for me and I decided to sell it. Here are some of the reasons why I let it go:
1. It shot too low. The manual said that the fixed sights should be dead on at 25 yards. But, whenever anyone shot my big Ruger, their bullets impacted about 6-inches low from reasonable pistol ranges of about 15 to 25 yards. While some expert shooters suggest that I could take a file and shave metal off the front sight, the thought of taking a file to an expensive pistol was daunting.
2. It shot to the left. The big pistol also tended to shoot to the left. Consequently, I found myself applying Kentucky windage and aim at the top right corner of my targets. Again, this issue could have been rectified by bending the front sight a little to the right, but I’m not in the habit of bending anything expensive.
3. It spit. Friends who shot my Ruger Vaquero told me that it sometimes spit small particles of lead or particle debris from where the cylinder mates up to the barrel. I held up a target to the side of the revolver and shot down range and found a few tiny flecks deposited on the paper. This was disconcerting at best and could evolve into something bad over time. Spitting is just plain rude. Some suggested I take the revolver to a smith or have the cylinders chamfered.
4. Ammunition was expensive. I found .45 Long Colt ammunition to be significantly more expensive than the more economical 9mm and .22 caliber handguns I usually shoot. In one case, ammunition cost around $28 a box. This seemed like an extravagant expense in the wake of the great recession. In this economy, when I have the money to go shooting, I’ll stick to my Ruger Single-Six .22 Revolver!
5. Cowboy Action Shooting looks even more expensive. Even if I started reloading, there is no way that Cowboy Action Shooting would fit into our budget any time soon. When I visited a cowboy action shoot, I noticed that all the participants were in period costume and generally had two six guns, a lever action rifle, and double barrelled shotgun. I didn’t even worry about the carts full of ammunition that they brought with them. That kind of shooting sport wasn’t in my budget back in the 90s and the economy hasn’t gotten any easier.
Ordinarily, I would have hung on to the big old Ruger Vaquero for its novelty, smooth trigger, and good looks. Despite the problems, it was fun to shoot the big cowboy pistol. But, when money got tight, I was more than ready to get rid of it. I didn’t want to spend more money to get the revolver to perform the way it should have right out of the box. Of course, the old style Ruger Vaquero was produced between 1993 and 2005. replaced by the New Vaquero in 2005. The New Vaquero is a little smaller and more closely mirrors the lines of the classic Colt Peacemaker. However, if I buy another single-action Ruger, it will probably be a Blackhawk with adjustable sights.
Sources:
“Instruction Manual for Ruger Vaquero & Bisley Vaquero Single Action Revolvers,” Sturm, Ruger Company, Inc.
www.ruger.com
Other articles by this contributor:
A Guide to Buying A Handgun
The Enfield No. 2 Mk. 1 .38 Caliber Revolver
The Five A’s of Self-Defense
