Pros and cons of Ruger short strokes

[Tye Riverman, SASS #41433]

Howdy Cowboys,

 

Picked up a new set of Ruger Vaqueros and installed Montado hammers.  I have shot them in a match and my old hands really like the lowered hammers.  Plan to get action jobs soon and trying to decide whether to short stroke'em or not.  Been shooting a slicked up set of Rugers with the standard hammers, transfer bar delete and half cocks for some time.  Any thoughts on whether to get short strokes are not would be appreciated.  I briefly dry fired a pards set and think I like'em.  

 

Tye

[KingSnake]

I like Shotgun Boogie short strokes. 
 

[Boggus Deal #64218]

My first question is do you shoot gunfighter or duelist? Second is how big are your hands? Shooting two handed, I don’t like the lowered hammers. The lowered spur hits the web of my hand. Short stroke might help that. I’ve shot a pair of Wes Fargo short stroke Rugers for nearly 20 years. They have the Blackhawk hammer. I would not do it again.

[Yellowstone Vic SASS#32968]

Pretty much echo what Boggus and Kingsnake have to say. 
 

I do have short stroked single sixes for shooting duelist (smaller hands and shooting style definitely benefits from the SS). 
 

When I shoot two handed I run nicely smithed Old Model Vaqueros with Super Blackhawk hammers. No SS. 
 

YMMV

[Tye Riverman, SASS #41433]

My hands are meduim sized and I shoot two handed.  The lowered hammers come close, but do not hit the webb of my hand.  Any issues with the short stroked guns themselves?  Are they ruger tough with the short strokes?  

[SHOOTIN FOX]

Plus one on the Boogie kits. Short stroke with a hammer stop and very smooth and reliable.

[Bingo Montana]

3 hours ago, Tye Riverman, SASS #41433 said:

Howdy Cowboys,

 

Picked up a new set of Ruger Vaqueros and installed Montado hammers.  I have shot them in a match and my old hands really like the lowered hammers.  Plan to get action jobs soon and trying to decide whether to short stroke'em or not.  Been shooting a slicked up set of Rugers with the standard hammers, transfer bar delete and half cocks for some time.  Any thoughts on whether to get short strokes are not would be appreciated.  I briefly dry fired a pards set and think I like'em.  

 

Tye

Give my Shotgun Boogie NMV a try the next match we shoot together.  I believe that will make the decision for you. 

 

SBGW's action work, short stroke hammer and triggers, hammer strut stops, springs all make for a very nice competition revolver.  I highly recommend his work and SS parts.  Transfer bars are removed, and what I like about his hammers and triggers are they are machined, not welded up SBH hammers.  

 

 

[John Barleycorn, SASS #76982]

How fast are you? Are you within 1-2 seconds from where you would like to place in a 12 stage match. 
For me I’ll never be fast enough to spend that kind of money. 
Now for the top 1% that keep loosing buy tenths of seconds then short stoke revolvers my be the answer.

[El Chapo]

2 hours ago, John Barleycorn, SASS #76982 said:

How fast are you? Are you within 1-2 seconds from where you would like to place in a 12 stage match. 
For me I’ll never be fast enough to spend that kind of money. 
Now for the top 1% that keep loosing buy tenths of seconds then short stoke revolvers my be the answer.

 

Even just avoiding the go-around when your finger slips off the hammer is priceless to me.  The cost of gunsmithing is less than the cost of diesel, food, and camping for even a single trip for a major match and I expect them to last for decades.

[John Barleycorn, SASS #76982]

Half cock 

11 hours ago, El Chapo said:

 

Even just avoiding the go-around when your finger slips off the hammer is priceless to me.  The cost of gunsmithing is less than the cost of diesel, food, and camping for even a single trip for a major match and I expect them to last for decades.

Half cock definitely worth it if you tend to slip off the hammer. 

Edited January 28 by John Barleycorn, SASS #76982

[El Chapo]

5 minutes ago, John Barleycorn, SASS #76982 said:

Half cock 

Half cock definitely worth it if you tent to slip off the hammer. 

 

It happens to the best of us and if you get a set of Boogies it's already done, so you get the hammers, short strokes, that features, and the general slickness all at once.

 

I never even saw my Vaqueros before the work was done, they went straight to Boogie and then to an FFL for pickup.

 

The best part is that I didn't have to ship them at all, I ordered them one Friday, they arrived at Boogie on Monday, and were to my FFL by that Friday ready to go.

Edited January 28 by El Chapo

[Silver Creek Jack]

Love my shot stroked Vaqueros! And I highly recommend Marshall Shorty of Edmond Oklahoma for any gunsmith work for cowboy firearms!    SCJ

[Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903]

I have fairly large hands and shoot Bisley Vaqueros. They have Shotgun Boogie short strokes and they are amazing for an old, arthritic, duelist. 
 

Randy

[Happy]

I have a pair of Jimmy Spurs Vaqueros I've been shooting for a little over 10 years now.  Transfer bar gone, half cock feature added but NOT short stroked.  They are absolutely my favorites.  I just acquired a pair of SBGW Short Stroke Vaqueros and they perform fantastic.  For ME it's the familiarity that makes me lean towards my Spurs set.  Starting fresh, I'd think the short strokers would be just as much fun.  I'll shoot em just to change things up a bit and have a backup pair should the need arise.

 

Hand flexibility, shooting style, and what you're chasin would definitely set the stage for a decision. 

 

I have shot Gunfighter since my second match, and started shooting Black Powder a couple of years ago, just to make it fun with the spotters.  

 

Good Luck and Great Shootin!!!

[Sheriff Dill]

My son started shooting a set of Uberti Running Irons with factory SS from Taylor. He liked them. We then got him a set of NMV from Jimmy Spurs that are not SS. He likes shooting his Rugers that aren’t SS over the Ubertis that are. Maybe if he decides to shoot gun fighter he will get them SS. Not sure how much would help him shooting two handed. But hey he’s ALOT faster than me anyways lol. 

[Slow Poke]

I shoot duelist style as a classic cowboy and I love lowered hammers and short stroked pistol actions. 

I used Marshall shorty in Oklahoma and they are absolutely fantastic guns now!!! I highly recommend him, great man to deal with!!

[Sarge]

I shoot Gunfighter with a set of OMVs.  Mine are short stroked by Three Cut.  I love them.  I think it's a matter of personal preference.  Some people love them, some people hate them.  Looks like you've started doing your homework.  See if you can borrow a set and shoot and entire match with them.

[Snakebite Dust SASS 75484]

5 hours ago, Silver Creek Jack said:

Love my shot stroked Vaqueros! And I highly recommend Marshall Shorty of Edmond Oklahoma for any gunsmith work for cowboy firearms!    SCJ

Do you have contact info for Marshall Shorty please?

Thanks

[Silver Creek Jack]

2 hours ago, Snakebite Dust SASS 75484 said:

Do you have contact info for Marshall Shorty please?

Thanks

PM headed your way!

[TN Mongo, SASS #61450]

Let me preface my comments by saying that all my Rugers and my main match Piettas have lowered hammers and are short stroked. I shot gunfighter for years and duelist before that. To me both modifications helped me tremendously. Recently however, I've been shooting Elder Statesman two handed. I normally slip hammer everything except a difficult target like a Texas star. My back-up Piettas have lowered hammers, but are not short-stroked. I shot the non-short-stroked pistols in a match recently and I didn't notice any difference from the identical pistols with the short-stroke.

 

If you slip hammer regularly, you might not gain any advantage having the pistols short-stroked.  

Edited January 28 by TN Mongo, SASS #61450

[Tye Riverman, SASS #41433]

20 hours ago, John Barleycorn, SASS #76982 said:

How fast are you? Are you within 1-2 seconds from where you would like to place in a 12 stage match. 
For me I’ll never be fast enough to spend that kind of money. 
Now for the top 1% that keep loosing buy tenths of seconds then short stoke revolvers my be the answer.

Gonna get action jobs regardless, only a couple of hundred extra for the short strokes.  Not 2 seconds, but certainly 5 or 10.  Just started slip hammering and gained a bit and recently retired so gonna try to practice a bit.  Every littile bit helps and I tend to be a Ricky Bobby sort of cowboy.  Life is too short for cheap wiskey.  

 

Tye

[Tye Riverman, SASS #41433]

20 hours ago, Bingo Montana said:

Give my Shotgun Boogie NMV a try the next match we shoot together.  I believe that will make the decision for you. 

 

SBGW's action work, short stroke hammer and triggers, hammer strut stops, springs all make for a very nice competition revolver.  I highly recommend his work and SS parts.  Transfer bars are removed, and what I like about his hammers and triggers are they are machined, not welded up SBH hammers.  

 

 

Thanks Bingo, I played with BS's and Ripsaw's at our last match and liked the feel of them.  Just looking for a bit more input before I pull the trigger.  I found a couple of folks that are saying no real advantage and stick with an action job cause it is smoother and the short stroke did not offer an advantage for a 2 handed shooter.

 

Tye    

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

1 hour ago, Tye Riverman, SASS #41433 said:

I played with BS's and Ripsaw's at our last match and liked the feel of them.

 

1 hour ago, Tye Riverman, SASS #41433 said:

I found a couple of folks that are saying no real advantage

Does not matter what anybody else thinks.  The only thing that matters is what you think.  I can find a couple of people that think Biden was the greatest President we have ever had.

[Tye Riverman, SASS #41433]

1 hour ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

 

Does not matter what anybody else thinks.  The only thing that matters is what you think.  I can find a couple of people that think Biden was the greatest President we have ever had.

Thanks for all the replies.

Tye

[Doc Eagle]

I’m so used to shooting SA guns the way they were designed in the 1800s that modifying any of my guns would totally and thoroughly screw me up.

 

That being said this modification would be very useful for shooters (especially new shooters) that have issues with follow through shooting SAs because of the long lock time of SA revolvers.