Returning to the Ranks of the RATS ....

[RattlesnakeJack]

Ladies and Gentlemen -

It is with pleasure that I announce my return to the RATS fold - have had Rugers in the past, but despite my size (6' 4") I have fairly blocky hands with shortish fingers (... peasant's hands, I always say ...    ) so I never quite could get used to the grip frame and "feel" of the New Model Blackhawk, or original-format Vaquero, I owned ... especially since I shoot Duelist.  So I let 'em go.  Since then, I've been shooting either a brace of Uberti 1875 Remington clones, or my alternative pistols a 5 1/2" Uberti Cattleman teamed up with a 4 3/4" Cimmaron Thunderer.  (All of these pistols were/are in .45 Colt, by the way.)  Well, as a Duelist, I never could quite come to like that Thunderer too much  - figure it likely has to do with the grip shape not allowing the revolver to roll back in the hand the way a SA revolver ouighta do ... 

Since the "New Vaquero" came out, however, I've been itchin' to get me one, to team up with my Cattleman.   When I was up in Calgary a bit over a week ago, I arranged to purchase a 5 1/2" "New Vaquero", though the necessary legalities prevented me from taking it with me.  Bob "Hoot" Gibson, delivered it to me on Sunday morning, midway through our local two-day autumn Shoot - (he couldn't get away to make it for Saturday, but is a shootin' fool like many of us, so he made the three hour drive - one way - to be there for the second day.)

I am pleased to report that my new revolver functioned more or less flawlessly, and I am happy with it.  I say "more or less" because I did experience one problem which one or two other users of the New Vaquero have reported to me - the base pin has a tendency to occasionally move forward under recoil - seems to be jumping the "locking groove" (or else the cross pin is moving under recoil, allowing the base pin to move forward) - thus causing cycling problems.  Do others have this difficulty?  (I do note that the spring on the cross pin seems mighty weak, and assume that this might be causing the problem - but if that is the case, it oughta be a fairly easy fix.)

[Silver Creek Slim]

Welcome back to the fold. 

Slim

[Tim Burrattler]

Glad you came back oh wonderous purveyor of my altered image

[RRio]

Welcome back to the fold.
I was in your situation, the Vaqueros were too big for my hands, to feel comfortable, so I shot with Ubertis and USFAs for many years. I always said that if Ruger would scale the Vaqueros down to the size of a Colt, that I would buy a pair. A pard let me try his RNVs at our Dec. match, and had my own pair before the end of Dec. I am very pleased with mine.

[22lr]

Jack...

I'm fairly new to this board, but I can't look at that picture below your name without thinking about Van Pelt (the hunter) from the movie Jumanji.

[RattlesnakeJack]

Ummmm .... shall I say: "Harrummph ... I resemble that remark!"   

[Tim Burrattler]

there there...I'm sure he meant that in a good way