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My Ruger Pistolas

 

Why Ruger?

Any single action would work.  Colt is the brand-name of the west, so why Ruger instead of Colt?  I bought Rugers for 3 reasons:

  • Affordable
  • Reliable
  • Easy to work on, easy to get mods

The affordability factor plays out pretty quickly, given ya gotta buy two to compete plus all of the other gear required.  Colts are 2X the cost and have a lousy reputation of reliability.  Replica SAs (Uberti built and imported by Taylors, EMF, Navy Arms, Cimarron, etc) are a mixed bag of reliability, IMHO.  Some are better than others due to better quality control on the import, but I couldn't tell you which ones are better or not.  USFA I think makes theirs in the US by hand.  That makes me want to look at them more closely, since usually they have better fit/finish than the Italian imports and plus ya can't beat a built-in-America gun.  

So then there's Ruger.  They're an American company that's been around the block.  The action is solid and beefy and they are making three different styles: the Vaquero (full-sized), the new mid-frame Vaquero (mid-sized), and the smaller Vaquerito (small frame).  I personally own a few pairs of the Vaqueros because they hold up well and were affordable.  The Vaqueritos were a bit too small, plus ya can't get them in a large caliber like 38-40 or .357. 

My Ruger Mods

I shoot Vaqueros in 38spc and 38-40 (great cartridge for blackpowder).  What make my Vaqueros work for me is what I get done to them after they come out of the box.  I wind up spending another couple of hundred per gun, but then they are perfect (or close to perfect).  Here's what I wind up doing:

  • Eagle gunfighter grips.  Slims down the "plowhandles" to something manageable and gives a bit of contour above the thumb and index finger of the grip to keep the gun from rocking too much.
  • Colt-style crescent ejector rod.  Bigger, easier to use.
  • Sheriff's size Belt Mountain locking basepin.  I usually wind up putting one in after about a year or shooting or if I find that the basepin backs out more than once due to weak base pin springs.  One set of pistols I had needed it right away, worked flawlessly with them.
  • Open up the rear sight.
  • Free spin pawl.
  • Action job.  See description below.

Action Jobs

What's in an action job?  It depends on who's doing it and what you really want.  Most gunsmiths will smooth out the hammer pull and lighten up the spring, smooth up the trigger and verify the timing is correct.  You need at least that much to make a pistol feel fast. 

There are plenty of gunsmiths out there that will do the work.  AZ Thumber does a great job on Rugers & Colts of tuning up making them very smooth, I had him do my first pair that I owned.  They function  flawlessly.  Sheriff Bill Murphy did my second and third sets, but I asked him to do the short stroke fix on them, which eliminates almost a good inch of back travel on the hammer.  He does this by building a completely new pawl (piece that moves the cylinder inside the revolver).  The gun is smooth, provides a free-spin (cylinder spins both ways), and he also offers a half-cock version of it.  Works really well.  There's been quite a few shooters in the Arizona Territory asking for his action jobs, so be prepared for a couple weeks on the waiting list.

I'll have a picture of the difference between a short-stroke and non-short stroke gun here soon...

You can sink a lot of money into getting your irons tweaked to your liking.  However, if it makes your shooting smoother, more refined and gets you higher-placed awards, ya can't beat it.

 

 

Email me: glahti@gateslinger.com                                                                             Last edited: 11/11/2007