Tuning Ruger Vaquero

[Scrappy]

Let me start off by saying I'm NEW (just got my SASS# last week) been wanting to get into cowboy shooting for years but just finally did it! I'm not totally verse on all the terms so please forgive my ignorance.

 

I just got my new pistols, and my first match was snowed out!  Since I have 3+ months before the next season I want to tune them, is this something a mechanically incline person can OR should do?  I'm wanting to lighten the hammer pull back and maybe the stroke of the hammer, I shot a friends' and liked it but can't get into a gunsmith for months, so I want to try it myself.

 

Part Information on what and where to get them would be great.

If this is NOT something i should attempt myself, names of a good gunsmiths in the Denver CO area would be great!

 

 

 

 

[Phantom, SASS #54973]

16 minutes ago, Scrappy said:

Let me start off by saying I'm NEW (just got my SASS# last week) been wanting to get into cowboy shooting for years but just finally did it! I'm not totally verse on all the terms so please forgive my ignorance.

 

I just got my new pistols, and my first match was snowed out!  Since I have 3+ months before the next season I want to tune them, is this something a mechanically incline person can OR should do?  I'm wanting to lighten the hammer pull back and maybe the stroke of the hammer, I shot a friends' and liked it but can't get into a gunsmith for months, so I want to try it myself.

 

Part Information on what and where to get them would be great.

If this is NOT something i should attempt myself, names of a good gunsmiths in the Denver CO area would be great!

 

 

 

 

Wolff spring kit and go!

 

You really need to check out a few of the other clubs. Briggsdale, Wildcat Ridge, Pawnee...these are the experienced clubs and they shoot year round.

 

Phantom

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

19 minutes ago, Scrappy said:

Let me start off by saying I'm NEW (just got my SASS# last week) been wanting to get into cowboy shooting for years but just finally did it! I'm not totally verse on all the terms so please forgive my ignorance.

 

I just got my new pistols, and my first match was snowed out!  Since I have 3+ months before the next season I want to tune them, is this something a mechanically incline person can OR should do?  I'm wanting to lighten the hammer pull back and maybe the stroke of the hammer, I shot a friends' and liked it but can't get into a gunsmith for months, so I want to try it myself.

 

Part Information on what and where to get them would be great.

If this is NOT something i should attempt myself, names of a good gunsmiths in the Denver CO area would be great!

 

 

 

 

Well first off let me give you a big Western Slope howdy! Older (bigger) Vaquero’s or more colt size new Vaquero’s! Good choice both. If they were mine first thing I would do is shoot a match somewhere and see what kinds of things can be done to them  by trying out different cowboys guns. Most of the time a simple main spring change to a lighter spring is sufficient. Gunsprings.com look in the ruger section. A tube of Flitz polish and a soft pad with a Dremel (polishing the wear marks) will make a great difference. That’s it, don’t remove any metal, don’t attempt to change angles, just use them and practice, practice, practice!

 

Regards

    

Gateway Kid

BTW go out of your way to meet Phantom, great shooter and outstanding man. Will give it to you straight every time. 

 

[Phantom, SASS #54973]

6 minutes ago, Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life said:

Well first off let me give you a big Western Slope howdy! Older (bigger) Vaquero’s or more colt size new Vaquero’s! Good choice both. If they were mine first thing I would do is shoot a match somewhere and see what kinds of things can be done to them  by trying out different cowboys guns. Most of the time a simple main spring change to a lighter spring is sufficient. Gunsprings.com look in the ruger section. A tube of Flitz polish and a soft pad with a Dremel (polishing the wear marks) will make a great difference. That’s it, don’t remove any metal, don’t attempt to change angles, just use them and practice, practice, practice!

 

Regards

    

Gateway Kid

BTW go out of your way to meet Phantom, great shooter and outstanding man. Will give it to you straight every time. 

 

And listen to Gateway Kid...he knows a thing or two...or three...or four...

 

[Scrappy]

1 hour ago, Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life said:

Well first off let me give you a big Western Slope howdy! Older (bigger) Vaquero’s or more colt size new Vaquero’s! Good choice both. If they were mine first thing I would do is shoot a match somewhere and see what kinds of things can be done to them  by trying out different cowboys guns. Most of the time a simple main spring change to a lighter spring is sufficient. Gunsprings.com look in the ruger section. A tube of Flitz polish and a soft pad with a Dremel (polishing the wear marks) will make a great difference. That’s it, don’t remove any metal, don’t attempt to change angles, just use them and practice, practice, practice!

 

Regards

    

Gateway Kid

BTW go out of your way to meet Phantom, great shooter and outstanding man. Will give it to you straight every time. 

 

ordered springs 

as far as the polish recommendation, where will the "wear marks" be? any pics would be great...i will start looking for videos.

Thanks for your help

[Mister Badly]

The sides of the hammer and frame where they may be rubbing against each other. 

[Captain Bill Burt]

Phantom and Gateway Kid covered it well. Of the guns used in CAS the pistols need the least done to them to be match ready. Yeah a Jimmy Spurs set of pistols are very sweet, my wife and I both have a pair, but a set of Wolf springs and a little polishing and you’ll have match ready guns.

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

go on and change springs

 

then shoot them a couple of hundred times--two things will happen

you will be able to see where the rubbing occurs and

you'll be smoothing out the mating surfaces--the Dremel will do the smoothing quicker but just shooting them will help, too

 

If you were a mite closer, TRR shoots year round--course we have our Texas summers to deal with but . . . 

 

if you're ever in the Houston area stop by--we'll loan you gear and guns

[Eyesa Horg]

Welcome aboard Scrappy to the best game and folks goin! Hang on for the addiction! It's pretty much the most fun you can have with your pants on. 

The spring kit will make a noticeable difference. Ruger has a decent video on their web site to help with disassembly/ reassembly. Also Google slicking up a Ruger Vaquero, I found one a few years ago and it was pretty easy to follow.

 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

OP, if you have the new model Rugers, you'll have a 17lb hammer spring.

If you go to 'lite' on the hammer spring. It won't fire reliability. 

 

[Pb Mark]

I did not like my NMV's until I put Super Blackhawk hammers in them.  The hammers, a lighter trigger return spring, lighter loading gate spring, heavier cylinder pin spring plus going over all of the parts with a wet stone while they were out (removing any burrs the stones felt) did it for me.  Hammer shape depends on hand size and your likes.  Finding SBH hammers can be difficult at times but got lucky when Midway happened to have them in stock.  I did not change the hammer spring weight because the faster they fall, the better for me at least and also use small rifle primers in my 38 reloads without ever a problem.  

[DeaconKC]

Welcome to the place!

[Dred Bob]

As another new shooter here is my experience this year.   I saw my first match April of this year and decided this was something I wanted to do.  I spent the next 4 months going to various matches / shoots, talking to people, checking out their equipment, getting advice, and watching for deals on equipment so that I could maybe shoot a match this year.  I decided what I wanted to shoot and bought a pair of nice .45 (orig) Vaqueros on Gunbroker from a gentleman that happened to be a SASS shooter (Barleycorn).  I ended up getting a rifle and cart from him as well once we chatted.  I had also bought a pair of the cheapest retail Uberti 1873 Cattleman in .38 just so that I could see how a lighter round felt at some point.  Along the way I acquired a pair of matching Taylor tuned short stroked .38's from another shooter but one of them was having light primer strikes so I sent it back to Taylor to be repaired.  

 

I shot my first match in August with .45 Colt and the Vaquero's with some action work (maybe just wolf springs, nothing over the top).  I shot the Vaqueros for the next few matches and then during the last 3 stages of our last match of the year I decided to bring out the stock .38 Uberti's figuring they would add a few seconds to my time over my really nice Vaquero's.  I was floored when I shot those stages with the cheapest stock Uberti and didn't experience a single miss and knocked 5-8 seconds off of my raw stage times (now in the 30's instead of mid 40's).  Not my expectation.  The stages were not any easier and may even have been more complex.   I didn't get a chance to shoot the action tuned / stroked Taylors this year so I'm not sure what that will do.

 

I heard this a lot from guys at the matches.  As a new shooter just start shooting and don't get hung up on the equipment and "best of".  We have so much stuff to learn that what makes us a better shooter or improves our times may not be what we think.   Concentrate on just doing the stage, hitting the target, no procedurals, using what you have, being consistent.   Once you get the hang of it then part of the fun is figuring out what will improve your times.  Don't deny yourself the fun of improving later.   Learn from what you have and we'll have a plenty of time to talk to people and try equipment and see what changes actually make us better.  Apparently for me it's a pair of stiff .38 Uberti 1873's and not the modified Vaquero's.   I may try the Taylors at some point next year but I think I mostly just want to focus on basics and shooting and not worrying about the equipment mods.  Besides, no matter what I do I'm not going to be beating these guys shooting 10's and 20's every stage for a long long while.  Just have fun and make the hunt for better equipment times part of the future challenge.  Better may only be *different* and not actually better for you.  You won't know if you don't work your way up.

[Trailrider #896]

18 hours ago, Scrappy said:

If this is NOT something i should attempt myself, names of a good gunsmiths in the Denver CO area would be great!

 

We used to have several outstanding gunsmiths in the Denver area. Unfortunately, one died and another lit a shuck somewhere!  Since you are going to shoot with the Sand Creek Raiders, when the weather gets good, maybe we'll meet out there. Haven't done any shooting since before the pandemic and between weather and other obligations, just haven't been able to get to a shoot. (I think they just cancelled one.   Get in touch with the SCR on their website, and ask if they have gunsmith recommendations. I'd also go to the Colorado Gun Collectors web site, and ask the same!

Have a Very Happy Holiday Season!

Your obt. servant,

Trailrider

[Marauder SASS #13056]

http://www.curtrich.com/ruger.html

 

Not sure the link still works.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

1 hour ago, Marauder SASS #13056 said:

http://www.curtrich.com/ruger.html

 

Not sure the link still works.

It don't 

[Marauder SASS #13056]

http://marauder.homestead.com/irons.html

 

I updated the links as I could.  Did not find Cap't Baylor's older stuff.  Likely replaced by his new book.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

4 hours ago, Marauder SASS #13056 said:

http://marauder.homestead.com/irons.html

 

I updated the links as I could.  Did not find Cap't Baylor's older stuff.  Likely replaced by his new book.

That worked! 

[watab kid]

all three of mine worked smoothly right out of the box , ive simply shot them for years and i think they might be a little smoother yet now , ive never seen the need to do anything and a couple friends that work as GS and armorers said they wouldnt mess with them , 

[The Rainmaker, SASS #11631]

Lots of good info here; I don't think I'd go tearin' into honin' and stonin' unless I had some experience with that; start with springs.

Power Custom is a great source for parts and info on what you need. Ask for Ron, he's the best!

Welcome to CAS; if it hasn't yet, it'll bite ya... hold on to your wallet... 

[Dantankerous]

Rugers with spring kits have served me quite well. I shot stock Rugers for 3 years or so (two handed) before I went duelist then Ruger Bisleys made more sense. Got the PC halfcocks in those and have perfectly happy with non-superslick Rugers.

 

You'll find your perfect set up. Might take awhile but the journey is fun.