Ruger Vaquero Birdshead .45ACP

redlevel · Feb 4, 2012

I put this on layaway just after Christmas. Got it out of hock with the proceeds from sale of "old junk" at the gun show last weekend. Shot it for the first time today. I only had time for 18 rounds just before dark.
It seems to shoot low, but I will do some experimenting before I start filing the front sight. First impression of the bh grip is favorable. This is the Lipsey's exclusive. This is the new Vaquero, so it isn't quite as hefty as the early models. Still a handful of "big iron" though.

deanodog · Feb 5, 2012

NICE.....I never shot a bird's head grip but I have 4 Rugers. One of them is a bisley grip. I always liked the looks of the bird's head grip and I love anything in 45 colt.

Cherokee Slim · Feb 5, 2012

The bird's head Rugers in .45 are my main SASS match pistols. The NM Vaquero has a hammer spur that is twice as wide as the OMV, and more of a curve in it. I love shooting mine. I never aim, SASS at pistol distances for me is more of a point & shoot way to do it. The bird's heads are definitely fun to shoot and have a certain sassy look to them.
Cherokee Slim

Erich · Feb 5, 2012

Funny you should put this up now. I've been looking really seriously at getting one of these TALO guns in the .45 ACP - I had a .45 ACP/.45 Colt 3.5" birdshead Cimarron SAA and liked it a lot, but for the "five beans in the wheel" thing - and the fact that it was so light-triggered (bought it after a SASS guy had played with it) that it was just dangerous. The .45 ACP is a really great round from a revolver, particularly from a single-action (no moon-clip hassle), and Lord knows it's a treat to handload with its short throw of the lever and light-on-the-pour (compared to the .45 Colt for the same ballistics) powder charges.

redlevel · Feb 5, 2012

Erich said:
Funny you should put this up now. I've been looking really seriously at getting one of these TALO guns in the .45 ACP

Erich, when I put the gun back, it was actually a blued .45 Colt. It was the only one the dealer had in stock. He promised me that if he got a stainless gun in, he would substitute it. He was as good as his word. I assumed that the ss gun was also .45 Colt. I actually got the .45 ACP cylinder from a Lipsey's Flattop Blackhawk Convertible I bought in November and checked to see if it would function in the Vaquero, so I could use what I thought was my .45 Colt Vaquero as a convertible. When I took it to shoot, I tried to load a .45 Colt cartridge, and it wouldn't go.

I was confused for a while, thinking I had left the cylinder from the BH in the VAQ. Finally, it dawned on me that both cylinders were for the ACP.

Upon further inspection, the Vaquero is marked .45 ACP, while the BH Convertible is marked .45 Caliber. I wondered why they did not offer the Vaquero as a convertible. Someone on another forum pointed out that he thought Davisons has an exclusive on Vaquero Convertibles, so Lipsey's offering has to be either/or. In that same thread, someone also said that the .45ACP was going to be limited to 250 units, making it pretty hard to find. I don't know how true that is.

Anyhow, I actually prefer the .45ACP. I still might try the BH .45 Colt cylinder in the Vaquero, and if it works, I might try to procure another .45 Colt cylinder. Both guns are built on a medium frame, by the way. The BH is advertised as being on the old flattop .357 frame, and the Vaquero is on the small New Vaquero frame.

Erich · Feb 5, 2012

You're not helping, amigo.

LouisianaJoe · Feb 6, 2012

I have a mirror stainless Vaquero made in 2001 with both cylinders. It shoots so well with the .45 Colt that I rarely use the .45ACP Cylinder.

Ivan the Butcher · Feb 6, 2012

If you want to shoot short 45's in a Colt chamber, you have a few options. First, trim long brass to ACP length, sometimes this requires reaming. You then think of it as a thin 45 Auto Rim, you could use up L.C. cases with split mouthes.
Second, on cylinders that don't recess the rim you can use 45 Schofield, a.k.a 45 S&W, this also works in my Rossi model 92 and adds a couple of rounds to cap.(I haven't tried ACP length in tube mag.) Ivan

Erich · Feb 6, 2012

Well, I just placed a bid on a 3.5" birdshead TALO .45 ACP new Vaquero.

Thanks a lot!

Ruger Vaquero Birdshead .45ACP

redlevel

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Cherokee Slim

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Erich

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Erich

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LouisianaJoe

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Ivan the Butcher

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Erich

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