vaquero vs cattleman

deadman

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need some input from people who have experience. i have heard from quite a few people that, for the dollar, the ruger is hard to beat. lately i've been reading some reviews on the uberti, and now i'm having a hard time making my decision, cause the reviewers seem to like it a lot too. can anyone give some pros and cons about these two pistols? thanks
 
When I first started shooting SASS I bought a pair of Uberti Cattelman 45 revolvers I had so many problems with those guns even shooting a stage in a competition so I had them fixed up and sold them off.

I replaced them with consecutive serial #ed s/s 5.5" Ruger Bisley Vaquero's in 45 Colt I have never had an issue with these revolvers and couldn't recommend them more.

Now Ruger has discontinued these guns and have the smaller New Vaquero's and New Bisley Vaquero's they come in 357 mag and 45 Colt they do not handle the same high pressures as my guns but if you are looking for the untimate SASS handguns that you will never have an issue with these are the guns I would buy.

I love the balance/feel/pointability of the 4 3/4" 45 Colt New Vaquero's and now that the New Bisley Vaquero's which I haven't seen yet are out I know I would go for them.

The grip and lower hammer of the Bisley Vaquero make it far easier to reach the hammer for any shooting style you may want to use myself I shoot dualist style so the lower hammer makes it so much easier to #### the hammer one handed.

I was actually on Ellwood Epp's site yesterday looking for these guns because I see Ruger does not have the 4 3/4" guns listed any longer on there site Epps did have several in stock.
 
im going to go transfer up my new chapparrel 1873 in 44-40 today i will post back here whewn i get it home hopefully it is a decent revolver. dont intend at this time to be doing any cowboy action more or less just picking it up so my 1892 winchester is not lonely
 
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I've come full circle, sort of. I started CAS way back when with Vaqueros. Switched to Cattlemen because they were lighter and handled better, and now have a pair of New Vaqueros. Didn't have any problems with my Ubertis, but I just preferred the sights on the RNVs. Also have a pair of stainless Old Army 5.5s that I love. Can't go wrong with the RNVs.
 
if i was to buy used, in either make, is there anything in particular i should watch for? there seem to be pretty low prices on some, and was just wondering if there is a reason for it? do they just not hold their value? i don't have any experience with single-actions, actually hadn't paid too much attention to them until recently.
 
Cylinder play, lock-up, timing, obviously the best piece of kit is an assortment of round gauges measured in thou., use the proper sized one down the barrel to see if cyls line up perfectly, these ga. sets are avail. and actually not that expensive. Drag marks on the cyl. also give some clue on timing, B-C gap can be important, below .006" is good, for BP loads I wouldn't go too tight.
 
The Ruger will have better long-term durability, but the Cattleman is more true to the original Colt design.

Personally, one thing I don't care for are the matte blued models of the Cattleman, or any other SAA copy; it just doesn't look right on that type of gun.
 
chapparel 1873 my transfer is complete i go to pickit up tomorrow very nice pistol way nicer than i was expecting i will do a review on it and post my results in the handgun section
 
Another Ruger fan here, as far as strength and durability are concerned on my Old model Vaquros.
I did had problem with my second Ruger, with the POA and POI being so far off that I wondered how it got out of the factory that way.
At 10 yards, it wasn't even on the paper, using a 20 yard handgun target.
A little judicious barrel turning and front sight filing by Jason of Gunco soon put things right, but IMHO, it shouldn't have left the factory the way it was.
Oh well, maybe it came out of quality control on a Friday or a Monday.
 
Ruger all the way

Over 10,000 rounds per pistol, not a problem.

One malfunction due to my fat fingers pushing cylinder pin during match, my fault not Rugers.

Had Ubertis but seemed to need a lot of attention and some parts.

Only thing done was a set of wolf springs which included a stronger cylindier pin spring.
 
I am currently shooting 2 Uberti's. A Cattleman, and an 1875 Remington Outlaw. Both in .45 colt. They both handle very well, but the cattleman is the easiest of the 2 to shoot. Most of the guys I shoot with use Rugers, and they are everything they say about them. Rugged, and very well made. I think the Uberti's are good to. I am trying to get away from Colt clones, and shoot Remington's. My Outlaw is brand new, it is not as smooth as my Cattleman right now. Like 'em both!
 
if i was to buy used, in either make, is there anything in particular i should watch for? there seem to be pretty low prices on some, and was just wondering if there is a reason for it? do they just not hold their value? i don't have any experience with single-actions, actually hadn't paid too much attention to them until recently.

In addition to the other instructions, pull the hammer to half #### then, take your thumb and push back against the hammer. If you can push the hammer down with your thumb then it needs a new hammer as the half #### notch is worn out.
 
i was in calgary a few days ago, checking out what some of the shops there had. along with suggestions posted here, i think i've got it narrowed down to rugers. now i just need to decide which one. right now i'm kinda leaning toward the bisley. anybody use one?

of course, i still need to unload a couple other firearms to fund this venture, and it doesn't help that i picked up another ruger #1 while i was in calgary. minor setback.
 
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