Pietta/Vaquero ?

Chuck McCann

Chuck McCann

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I'm thinking about getting into Cowboy Action shooting and am a bit clueless about the revolvers needed. What is the big difference between the Pietta and the Vaquero other than price, or should I be looking at something totaly diferent? :confused: I will likely go with 45 colt or 44 mag (leaning to the 45 colt) as far as caliber. Next question can anyone steer me towards dealers who know their s*!t? As little as I know I'm sick of talking to sale people who know less than me or will tell you anything to make a sale.
 
HOWDY; ruger look old style but are a new design with coil springs and very strong and a bit heavey. The Pietta is a copy of the colt with flat springs and 100 year old design flaws , It is well made and good bang for the buck right out of the box .
If you wish to go worthog cal go for a 45 colt ,most common is 38/357 cal. mainly due to this is getting to be a "stand and deliver" speed game with riseing costs of lead and brass .
Try to go to a match in your area and talk up the local folk , maybe get to handle a few samples.
Marstar has Piettas at a fair price ,rugers try the used market as they are hard to hurt even for a cowboy.
 
I fired in excess of 20,000 rds of .44 through my Vaquero (old style) before a part broke. The transfer bar cost less than $20.00 and took another 20 minutes to install. Now that is a pistol!!
 
Thanks guys it sounds like the Ruger may be the better buy even though it costs more up front. I need to get to a few gun shows and to the range once the snow goes and handle a few different guns before I plunk down any money. That being said I'll keep a eye on the ee forum for deals.
 
The old has the 44 mag cylinder, heavy mamma, and does not have the half #### cycling as the 1873 colts or beretta which is close in weight and function. The new Vaquero, they tried to match the 1873 closer, and made it a lighter gun, with all the hammer clicks of the old west 1873. The old one just came back to full #### from fully forward. The new gun I would guess will not take the pounding of heavy loads as the old.
Blackhawks are also strong. Hope I got some of that right:D
 
Levi is pretty much on the money about the differences between old and new Vaquero's. I am 99 % sure that you don't need to go to half #### for reloading, but a modification has been made so they cylinder holes index perfectly for quicker loading. When loading the old Vaquero's one had to hold the chamber in alignment with the loading gate to feed cartridges in and it was easy to slip past. The New Vaquero I handled but did not shoot seemed to fit and balance a lot better than the previous model and the hammer was definitely easier to reach without having to change grip position.

I have a pair of .45 Colt Blackhawks and they have yet to let me down (6 years of pretty constant usage). When funding permits I will get a set of New Vaqueros for CAS shooting and keep the Blackhawks for the heavy loads.

CAS only I would go with New Vaqueros and never look back - money well spent in my opinion.
 
I have had my two new vaqueros for a year now. I was told to buy them because I would be trouble free. 20,000 rounds later I have just taken them completely apart for a full cleaning because one was hanging up a little. Problem fixed and back to shooting. If you are planning on heavy use go ruger. Directions for disassembly and assembly are reasonable, this coming from a shooter not a gunsmith. I would rather shoot than takes things apart.

Had to do a lot of looking at the time found a set in Calgary but not sequential serial numbers.
 
Chuck: I see that you are in the PA area of Saskatchewan ... so maybe you're not too far away to consider coming down to Medicine Hat and having some fun with the "Rocky Mountain Rangers, No. 4 Troop" ... at least for one of our two 2-day shoots each year! The next one, "Shootout at Cactus Flats 2007" is on the Victoria Day weekend in May. (The other, "Last Chance at Cactus Flats 2007", is on the Thanksgiving long weekend in early October.)

For a bit more info, check out our web page: http://members.memlane.com/gromboug/rmr4site.htm

You simply can't beat Ruger quality and durability ... but I've had (and disposed of) one "Old Vaquero" - didn't like it because they are too bulky in the hand for my taste: the design was based on the "New Model Blackhawk" frame. Unless you are buying "used", you are unlikely to find an "Old Vaquero", anyway, since that model was discontinued when the "New Vaquero" came out a few years ago. (To confuse things a bit, the "New Vaquero" actually represents a return by Ruger to the "Old Model Blackhawk" frame, which had been based on the original Colt SAA configuration but was discontinued when they brought out the considerably beefier "New Model Blackhawk" ... :rolleyes: )

Thus, the "New Vaquero" is smaller over-all - very close in size and weight to an original Colt M1873/SAA revolver - I believe it represents Ruger's attempt to position themselves even more strongly in the Cowboy Action market ... and they have seemingly succeeded in that intention. (First attempt had been the "Old Vaquero", which was really just a nonadjustable-sight version of the "New Model Blackhawk".)

I have been shooting mostly Uberti clones during the past several years, but last year I broke down and acquired a 5 1/2" "New Vaquero", which I am quite pleased with. I have been shooting it in conjuction with my Uberti "Cattleman" 5 1/2" SAA clone, and they are very close is size and heft, but they do function somewhat differently in loading and unloading. I will probably get a second New Vaquero to have a truly matching set of pistols ... (I shoot .45 Colt, exclusively, and currently have 5 single action revolvers and 4 lever action rifles chambered in that round.)

Wholesale Sports in Calgary (where I bought mine) finally got in quite a few New Vaqueros last year ... there were supply problems for the first couple of years, I think because demand was outstripping production capability ... including a few pairs with consecutive serial numbers, which they won't break up, of course. If the Saskatoon store doesn't have much of a selection, I'm sure they could get them in from Calgary or Edmonton ... since Cowboy Action Shooting is pretty strong here in Alberta. (A good contact guy at the Calgary store firearms department is Bob Gibson ... he is a cowboy action shooter himself, under the Alias "Hoot Gibson".)
 
i have 2 new model vaqueros in .45 long colt, great guns.i have a few ruger guns and for the money there are hard to beat . get the ruger, also .357 are hard to find u may have to go with the .45s.
 
Ah yes the great six gun debate... Here are some pics of my babies. First pic is from bottom to top. Colt SAA, Colt SAA, Ruger New Vaquero, Ruger Vaquero, Pietta

You will notice in the next pic that the original Vaquero is much beefier in the backstrap and top than the new. One thing nice about the new Vaquero is that Ruger moved the ugly safety warning engraving to under the barrel instead of the side like on the original Vaquero.

And for fun a third pic showing the Pietta against a Colt SAA 1st Gen.

P1050022.jpg


P1050025.jpg


P1050026.jpg
 
Hi, contact Pat Boland in P.A. and he will be able to tell you all about C A S shooting in P A and Candle Lake. The regular shoots will be starting up again at Candle Lake in April, weather permitting, Check out the Saskatoon gun show next weekend.
Regards
 
Hi Doc I just rejoined the PA club (I moved away in 1995 and let the membership go around 98) and the first person I saw when I walked into the range was Pat. He's a great guy and always alot of help. Any way I did get to the Saskatoon Gun show and the first table I walked up to was the P and D table. Chris had a New Vaquero color case hardened in 357 with a 51/2" barrel on display that I now own.:) :) :) :) The only downside is I need to wait until he can ship it back, oh well that will give me some time to find some brass and load some ammo. Thanks for all the help guys once I handled the New Vaquero the only decision I had to make was not to buy 2 of them right away (Chris hinted he could get me a mate for this one). My good little wife (always the voice of reason) suggested I should shoot this one first and then decide if I should have a second one.
 
Actually, Chuck, unless the PA club has a "Working Cowboy" shooting class, you are going to need two revolvers, since most stage scenarios require the use of two .... (Perfectly logical reasoning to convince the good little wife that you must acquire a second one! ;) )

At Medicine Hat, we have adopted a "Working Cowboy" category (following the lead of the National Congress of Old West Shootists in the U.S.) in which shooters have only one revolver ... The scenario stage directions specify that "Working Cowboys" either reload on the clock to engage the second set of revolver targets or they only engage one set ....
A good reason for you to try to get down here for a shoot! :welcome:
(Our "WC" category still requires a shotgun, however ... under the NCOWS rules, "Working Cowboys" actually use only a single revolver and rifle ....)
 
GrantR said:
Actually, Chuck, unless the PA club has a "Working Cowboy" shooting class, you are going to need two revolvers, since most stage scenarios require the use of two .... (Perfectly logical reasoning to convince the good little wife that you must acquire a second one! ;) )
Click to expand...

Grant believe me I tried but getting down on my knees and begging seemed abit much in a public place like the gun show.;) Actually the reason I didn't buy two right away is I'm really torn between the 357/38spl and going with a pair of 45 long colt. Gerry (my wife) is expressing some intrest in handguns. She hunts deer with a 6mm rem and a 50 cal muzzel loader and is asking to try handguns so I'm kind of hoping that I have to buy another 357 and a pair of 45's. Wouldn't that be just awful. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: At my age I'm not real competitive anymore I just like the fun and fellowship that's shared in the firearm community. When I go to the range I enjoy the bsing as much as the shooting. You never know about getting down to the Hat for a shoot I think it would be a lot of fun, I do get down there once a year to a meeting at the college there so anything is possible.
 
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