New Guns/Range report

[Tony Mig]

Got off duty at 0800 Saturday morning, and drove the 50 or so miles to Vineland, NJ where my favorite gun shop is located, I left with a new polished stainless, 5.5" Ruger Vaquero chambered in .45 Colt, and a Winchester '94 "Trails End" edition chamberd in .38/.357 magnum.

I drove from there, strat to the range where I also had to shoot in a bullseye match, so I only got to shoot 100 rounds out of the Vaquero, and the Winchester will have to wait til next weekend.....

I already had 255 gr. RNFP bullets cast, and 200 rounds loaded with 8.5 grs. of Unique in anticipation of this purchase, so that is the .45 Colt ammo I used.
Using a wide tip marker, I drew two big +'s on white paper, and benched the gun, shooting 6 rounds at each +, I found that it shoots pretty darn close to point of aim, but I do believe I will back off my load to 8.0 grs. as these loads were a little hotter than I really wanted. They also were a little hard to extract after shooting.
The gun deffinitely needs to break-in some, and I'll probably pick up a Wolf spring kit for it after I run a few hundred more rounds through it. All in all, I'm very happy with my new cowboy six gun, and will probably get another one with a 7.5" barrel, and maybe even get one of those short barreled jobs with the birds head grips.......

[Crpdeth]

Originally Posted by Tony Mig

and maybe even get one of those short barreled jobs with the birds head grips.......

Yeah, the "birds head" Vaquero, (is that what its called?) is the one I like, and I'd love to get one for my Pops sometime, that thing really looks cowboy.

I was a little concerned that the .45 Colt may be a little too strong of medicine for this little number though...GunBlast.com says it handles the recoil comfortably... What do you think?

[Remington597]

I have the Bird's grip Valquero also., but mine is in .357Mag. I never saw the need for 45Colt, but it will give you endless hours of enjoyment. Its an awesome gun. Also, if you ever decide to take up Cowboy Action, I don't know if you are into it or your local range provides that on the list of firearms activities/disciplines, but its alot of fun. This is the one I have.
I wish I was there with you.

[Rugster]

Ive got 2 stainless .32 H&R Magnums one with the Birdshead grip and one with imitation Ivory Grips.There real good shooters,it took some time to get used to the Birdshead grip though.




Best!!

[Tony Mig]

I've yet to shoot a gun with the birdshead grips, but I've been told that they really do help to roll the recoil off your hand, and they're very comfortable to shoot.

I thought about going with .357 magnum, but I already have two DA wheel guns chambered in that round, and another (snub nose Rossi) chambered in .38Spl only. It would have been more economical to stay with the .38/.357 platform, but I don't want to become bored with it either, so I looked at the other options...(.32 H&R, .44Spl/.44Magnum, .45 LC), and the .45 Colt just appealed to me as a fun cartridge to both shoot, and reload, plus it carries a lot of history & nostalga with it.