It has been almost six years now since Ruger
introduced their New Vaquero
revolver. Very similar to the original Vaquero, but built on a
slightly smaller frame, with a couple of improvements to the
action. The New Vaquero is sized like the original
Blackhawk 357, being smaller than the New Model Blackhawks
and Vaqueros, which were built on the 44
Blackhawk-sized frames. The different sizes of frames can
get confusing as to what caliber is built upon what frame, etc.,
unless you really stay on top of such things. I live and breathe
single actions, so it is all pretty simple to me, but from the
emails that I receive, there is a lot of confusion out there. Up
until now, it was pretty easy to tell the difference on the
Vaquero, as the smaller frames were marked “New Vaquero”,
and the original larger frames were marked “Vaquero”. If it
read “New”, it was the smaller, handier, Colt-sized frame.
However, the 44 Special New Vaqueros are marked “Vaquero”,
with no mention of it being the New Vaquero at all. Just keep in
mind that every 44 Special built by Ruger is on the
smaller-sized frame. This frame size is ideal for such a
cartridge as the 44 Special. There is no need to build a 44
Special on a 44 Magnum frame, as the Special cartridge can
always be fired in a Magnum revolver. Now, if I haven’t
confused you to the point that your eyes are bleeding, read on
about what has become one of the most popular, reliable, and
accurate single action revolvers ever built: the Ruger Vaquero.
Originally designed with Cowboy
Action Shooters (CAS) in mind, the Vaquero has developed a
large following with hunters, shooters, and outdoorsmen who want
a rugged, reliable sixgun to keep on the hip. Cowboy Action
Shooters wanted a revolver that looked like a Colt, but with the
rugged reliability of the Ruger Blackhawk. The Blackhawk is a
dandy sixgun, but CAS wanted the internals of the Ruger, with
the look and feel of an old west sixgun with its high-swept
hammer and fixed sights. After they got what they wanted, they
further desired a gun that was also sized like the old Colt
Single Action Army, and Ruger answered with the New Vaquero. I
own several of the New Vaquero revolvers, and each one has
proven to be a reliable, accurate sixgun. The Ruger New Vaquero
replicates the look and feel of the original Colt, and has the
grip frame shape that has been adored since its introduction on
the 1851 Colt Navy, but has modern, rugged internal parts. It
also has Ruger’s transfer bar internal safety that allows the
Vaquero to be carried with a cartridge in each chamber. The old
Colt SAA and the new Colt SAA and its replicas, as well as the
"Old Model" Rugers, should be carried with an empty
chamber under the hammer. The New Model Ruger’s transfer
bar eliminates the chance of accidental firing if dropped, and
can be carried fully loaded.
For years, shooters have been prodding Ruger
to build a 44 Special on the smaller Blackhawk frame, and Ruger
delivered early last year with the 44
Special Flattop Blackhawk. While many folks, including
myself, had been pestering Ruger for such a revolver for many
years, even decades, Lipsey’s was instrumental in getting the
guns finally built, by placing an order for 2000 guns. Nothing
gets a manufacturer’s attention like an order.
With the 44 Special Flattops being a huge
success, Lipsey’s put in an order for the New Vaquero to be
built in 44 Special as well, and they are the exclusive
distributor for the 44 Special Vaquero revolvers. These 44
Special Vaqueros are available in either a blued steel finish or
polished stainless, with a four and five-eighths inch barrel, or
as shown here with the three and three-quarter inch barrel,
dubbed the “Sheriff’s Model”.
Traditionally, Sheriff’s Model sixguns have
been offered by makers of single action revolvers, designating
pretty much any barrel length shorter than four inches. I have
seen as short as one-inch barrels, having no ejector rod at all.
The three and three-quarter inch Vaquero, while having an
abbreviated barrel, still has a practical and useful ejector rod
and housing. With the shortened head of the base pin, the
ejector rod on this Ruger Sheriff’s Model Vaquero is still
able to be used to eject the cases out of the chamber. It cannot
fully eject the spent cases if the sixgun is held horizontally,
but holding the muzzle towards the sky, they fall out pretty
easily. The three and three-quarter inch barrel length is a very
good compromise between fast-handling and good velocities. The
sixgun balances very well, and weighs in at 39.2 ounces on my
scale. The gun is built primarily of all blued steel, including
the ejector rod housing and the grip frame. The checkered
plastic grips are very well-fitted to the grip frame. Having the
New Vaquero design, each chamber lines up perfectly with the
loading gate for easy loading/unloading of the sixgun. The
barrel/cylinder gap measures five one-thousandths (.005) of an
inch. The trigger pull felt good right out of the box, but was
quickly and easily improved with a Poor
Boy’s Trigger Job, reducing the pull weight to a crisp one
pound, fourteen ounces.
While I am certain that many Cowboy Action
Shooters will take to the new Sheriff’s Model 44 Vaquero, this
sixgun should appeal to those wanting a relatively handy and
light single action working sidearm as well. The Ruger is plenty
strong enough to handle loads that are above the mild pressure
limits at which the 44 Special is usually loaded. This Sheriff’s
Model is compact enough, powerful enough, and reliable enough to
make a pretty decent defensive arm, and would carry concealed
high and tight in a Mernickle PS6-SA
or a Simply Rugged
Sourdough Pancake holster. There is nothing at all wrong with
carrying a single action sidearm for defense. For many years,
the single action revolver was the sidearm of choice, and it
works as well or better today as it did in the late nineteenth
century. In a defensive firearm, reliability is paramount, and a
good single action sixgun is about as reliable as it gets. There
is no good reason that what was once the state-of-the-art
fighting handgun should today be relegated to a weekend toy for
plinking powder-puff loads at close-range steel targets. The
Ruger Vaquero is rugged, reliable, powerful, and accurate,
offering six quick shots. The single action is not as slow to
reload as some folks would have you believe, but in reality,
most of us who carry concealed do not carry extra ammo anyway. I
usually do not carry spare ammo when carrying concealed,
preferring to just carry an extra gun instead.
I fired a lot of ammo through the Vaquero
Sheriff, loading up some of my new Shootists brass with some
new-to-me Rimrock bullets. I had not tried these bullets before,
but they seem to be of high quality, and were certainly very
accurate. Even from the short barrel, these 240 grain bullets
clocked an average of 900 feet-per-second (fps) when pushed out
the muzzle with a load of nine grains of HS-6 powder. This load
is a full grain above Hodgdon’s listed maximum. It is plenty
safe in this revolver only. Do not use it in a weaker design,
and always start lower. I began at 7.5 grains and worked up from
there, testing for accuracy, velocity, and ease-of-extraction.
At nine grains, the empty cases still fall out of the Ruger
easily, and were match-grade accurate. For accuracy testing, I
secured the Vaquero into my Ransom
Rest, and fired for accuracy at twenty-five yards. This
Ruger is accurate! My worst group with the HS-6 load that I
settled upon measured only one and one-eighth inches at
twenty-five yards, center-to-center, and most groups were at or
under one inch. That is some real fine accuracy, and attests
well to the quality of both the sixgun and the Rimrock bullets.
This new Sheriff’s Model 44 Special Vaquero
is a limited run of revolvers, and is only available from Lipsey’s.
For the location of a Lipsey’s dealer near you, click on the
DEALER FINDER at www.lipseys.com
or have your favorite dealer contact Lipsey’s at
1-800-666-1333.
To order any of the wide assortment of
Rimrock bullets, go to www.rimrockbullets.net.
Jeff Quinn
NOTE: All load data posted on this
web site are for educational purposes only. Neither the author nor
GunBlast.com assume any responsibility for the use or misuse of this data.
The data indicated were arrived at using specialized equipment under
conditions not necessarily comparable to those encountered by the
potential user of this data. Always use data from respected loading
manuals and begin working up loads at least 10% below the loads indicated
in the source manual.