Stuck with a Vaquero for a week

[Rex G]

I ended up having to rush out in an airplane yesterday afternoon didn't have enough daylight to swing by the house and get a flat gun so the ranch truck Vaquero in 45LC had to come.

I don't even have a holster for it. Flip the gate open and stuff it IWB!

Anyone else carry a single action?

Well, it was a few hours, not a week, but once upon a time, when my duty P229 and usual secondary, an SP101, were stripped and soaking, after a range session, I suddenly realized it was time to leave for a meeting with a colleague at a steakhouse. Rather than open the safe, to get anything else, I flipped open the loading gate of a 5.5” USFA Single Action, and wore it AIWB. Well, to make a long story short, we VERY nearly drew, on two, uh, utes, who thought it would be humorous to scare a couple of gringos. (We didn’t scare; we assumed a tactically superior position.)

I was not supposed to be armed, in public, on or off the clock, with anything with which I had not fired a qual, and we could not qual with any revolver that was not DA, with a barrel up to 4”. So, I was violating PD policy, though was legal. Did I feel outgunned? Nope; I had been shooting SA sixguns quite a bit, during that time frame.

Now retired, I can carry what I want, and just might tote an SA sixgun, if/when it suits me. My wife has more or less claimed my Ruger Bisley, and my soaked and rusted Colt SAA was somehow lost during clean-up after a flood, so it would be one of my USFA Single Actions. USFA is the upstart company that scared Colt into improving the actions and fitting of the SAA.

This discussion reminds me that I should start shopping for a replacement Colt!

[Lester Polfus]

Well, it was a few hours, not a week, but once upon a time, when my duty P229 and usual secondary, an SP101, were stripped and soaking, after a range session, I suddenly realized it was time to leave for a meeting with a colleague at a steakhouse. Rather than open the safe, to get anything else, I flipped open the loading gate of a 5.5” USFA Single Action, and wore it AIWB. Well, to make a long story short, we VERY nearly drew, on two, uh, utes, who thought it would be humorous to scare a couple of gringos. (We didn’t scare; we assumed a tactically superior position.)

I was not supposed to be armed, in public, on or off the clock, with anything with which I had not fired a qual, and we could not qual with any revolver that was not DA, with a barrel up to 4”. So, I was violating PD policy, though was legal. Did I feel outgunned? Nope; I had been shooting SA sixguns quite a bit, during that time frame.

Now retired, I can carry what I want, and just might tote an SA sixgun, if/when it suits me. My wife has more or less claimed my Ruger Bisley, and my soaked and rusted Colt SAA was somehow lost during clean-up after a flood, so it would be one of my USFA Single Actions. USFA is the upstart company that scared Colt into improving the actions and fitting of the SAA.

This discussion reminds me that I should start shopping for a replacement Colt!

I'm glad you didn't have to ventilate the two utes, but if you had you would have been a LEGEND for getting into a shooting with a SA.

[RevolverRob]

Glad you could at least be armed.

But I think you should probably acquire a proper IWB shuck for your ranch gun. That way, next time it gets pressed into service, you can have it all under control.

Barranti has your back - https://barrantileather.com/shop?ols...classic&page=2

[03RN]

https://www.dillonprecision.com/mern..._22_23865.html

[Gun Mutt]

I'm glad you didn't have to ventilate the two utes, but if you had you would have been a LEGEND for getting into a shooting with a SA.

Speaking of SA legends, I seem to remember Bob Munden using a SA.45 when coming to the aid of an LEO engaged in a fight for his pistol, though no shots were fired. Damned if my google-fu can prove this memory accurate.

[valian]

I ended up having to rush out in an airplane yesterday afternoon didn't have enough daylight to swing by the house and get a flat gun so the ranch truck Vaquero in 45LC had to come.

I don't even have a holster for it. Flip the gate open and stuff it IWB!

Anyone else carry a single action?

I wouldn't feel it's the end of the world. I have relied on Ruger SAs numerous times in my life.

A certain memory of a night spent in a Colorado cabin with a borrowed Single Six 22 mag. on my chest while I slept and some dirt bag drunk/druggie parked in a Chevy Blazer about 75 yards away on NF land who had already approached the cabin when my wife went out but turned back when confronted by me, comes to mind, among many others.

Having shot a lot of CAS matches with SA Rugers I feel pretty confident with them though I rarely carry one outside of the woods and fields around home.

Have a good week with the Vaquero

[Coal Train]

It's a shame we're all civilized now and it's no longer acceptable to carry big iron around in a nice gun belt.

[RevolverRob]

It's a shame we're all civilized now and it's no longer acceptable to carry big iron around in a nice gun belt.

Needs more revolver info - who made it, who done it, and what caliber?

[Dave T]

Needs more revolver info - who made it, who done it, and what caliber?

Hammer carried a 45 Colt so that would be a good guess for caliber, and that sure ain't no Ruger (lol). I have a hard time believing someone would spend the coin to engrave, then nickel plate, then have custom burl wood, one piece stocks made for an Italian stallion. That leaves us with a Colt or the previously mentioned USFA. A late production USFA made of all USA sourced parts is as good as Colt ever was (1st Generation) and better than any Colt since. Just sayin'! (smile)

Dave

[Coal Train]

Hammer carried a 45 Colt so that would be a good guess for caliber, and that sure ain't no Ruger (lol). I have a hard time believing someone would spend the coin to engrave, then nickel plate, then have custom burl wood, one piece stocks made for an Italian stallion. That leaves us with a Colt or the previously mentioned USFA. A late production USFA made of all USA sourced parts is as good as Colt ever was (1st Generation) and better than any Colt since. Just sayin'! (smile)

Dave

The revolver pictured above is a Standard Manufacturing C-Coverage engraved nickel plated single action with one piece walnut stocks in Yawheh’s own caliber.

As best as I can find, Captain Hamer’s Old Lucky Colt was a 4.75” C-coverage engraved nickel plated revolver in God’s caliber. In the beginning he started with pearl stocks but switched to the “plastic” stocks near the end of his career.

I hate to admit it but my Standards are much nicer and more accurate than any of my current or previous Colts. I would also rate them a notch above the USFA’s I have had experience with but that is admittedly a much smaller sample size. You really can’t go wrong with any of them (or Rugers) in my opinion.