Bird's Head Vaquero 45ACP

[Matt O]

I'm a complete neophyte when it comes to revolvers, but for some reason the bird's head vaquero (http://www.ruger.com/products/vaqueroDE/specSheets/5152.html) caught my eye. I grew up addicted to Louis L'Amour novels and have always wanted a single action revolver. I believe I remember Nyeti had a custom bisquero done similar to this at one point if I remember correctly from another thread.

Does anyone have experience with this particular model? Any preferences on stainless vs blued other than aesthetics? The traditional side of me would prefer the 45 colt, but I already reload 45acp so that seems like the more logical choice. Would one of these fit nicely in a carhartt vest pocket for outdoor work or carry?

[Dagga Boy]

I have a few older ones in .45 Colt. I love them. You would need a big pocket for one. They make a good belt gun. I have a custom Gordon Davis AIWB I have actually used a lot as well as a Hill People gear chest rig.

[Matt O]

Thanks for the response! Any issues with 45 acp in revolvers? Does 45 colt offer any advantages or is one more efficient than the other given the short barrel?

[Malamute]

Thanks for the response! Any issues with 45 acp in revolvers? Does 45 colt offer any advantages or is one more efficient than the other given the short barrel?


I have an ACP cylinder for one of my Rugers. It tends to get sticky in seating the rounds when it starts getting dirty (which can be just several cylinders full of lead bullet reloads, and maybe twice that of factory FMJ loads) and drags the shell heads against the back of the frame. Manually turning the cylinder several times helps somewhat. I finally decided the ACP cylinder was more practical for finding ammo when travelling than anything I wanted to use much. Others say they have no problem with them. Thats been my experience though. I mostly load all my ammo, so I only shoot 45 Colts in them, with much less drama and annoyance. The ACP cylinder stays in my travel gear.

FWIW, I've found the birds head grips are harder to shoot one handed. The heel of the hand uses the flair at the bottom of the grip to index the gun back into position when cocking one handed, the birdshead removes that part.

[jetfire]

Thanks for the response! Any issues with 45 acp in revolvers? Does 45 colt offer any advantages or is one more efficient than the other given the short barrel?

The only issue you might run into with .45 ACP in a revolver depends on how Ruger cuts the rifling. tl;dr, .45 Colt bullets are slightly wider than .45 ACP bullets (.454 vs .451) so SOMETIMES you get minor accuracy issues with .45 ACP out of guns originally designed for .45 Colt. But since you reload you can just use different bullets until you find one that shoots right.

[Malamute]

The modern iterations of 45 Colt are basically close enough, within a thou at most. One of the most accurate Rugers I've had only had an ACP cylinder. It was an old model (pre-1974). I never shot it much and didnt keep it long. It was quite accurate though.

I believe .454 bores went out after WWII. Most modern 45 Colts are .451-.452.

[Matt O]

I have an ACP cylinder for one of my Rugers. It tends to get sticky in seating the rounds when it starts getting dirty (which can be just several cylinders full of lead bullet reloads, and maybe twice that of factory FMJ loads) and drags the shell heads against the back of the frame.

FWIW, I've found the birds head grips are harder to shoot one handed. The heel of the hand uses the flair at the bottom of the grip to index the gun back into position when cocking one handed, the birdshead removes that part.

Hmm, that's very good to know. I've never even shot a single action revolver before so this is all pretty new to me. Is the bird's head grip more of a pocket/concealed carry aspect, similar to a round butt on a 1911 (though obviously a bit more drastic)? Should I be looking at bisley grip models instead?

[serialsolver]

In the past I was a big fan of birds head Ruger sa's. I dropped the bh grip for the lighter alloy grip frame. The bh sa Ruger fits fine in the inside pocket of a carhart chore coat, just heavy. I built a bh blackhawk in 45 colt/45 acp and have not had any issues with ammo. It is currently in the feed truck loaded with hot (Ruger only) 45 acp loads cause I'm low on 45 colt loads. They are a fine rugged outdoor revolver. Here's a picture of my bh Rugers, 2 45's and a 357.
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee179/serialsolver/PPP2014.jpg (http://s233.photobucket.com/user/serialsolver/media/PPP2014.jpg.html)



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[Malamute]

Hmm, that's very good to know. I've never even shot a single action revolver before so this is all pretty new to me. Is the bird's head grip more of a pocket/concealed carry aspect, similar to a round butt on a 1911 (though obviously a bit more drastic)? Should I be looking at bisley grip models instead?

Thats something you have to decide. The different grip shapes in single actions tends to be personal preference. Ive owned a few Bisley gripped Rugers, and tried real hard to like them, but they never felt good to me. Seems most of the world likes them, they just dont work for me. The plain standard grip feels best, even though my hand hangs over the bottom edge a little, with the Cassull grip next. I'm working on a Super Blackhawk grip frame to duplicate the shape of the Cassull grip, but otherwise am happy with the regular grips.