Handlebar Doc Ruger Vaqueros from Taylors

Camille Eonich · June 25, 2006, 09:51:22 AM

I won a pair of Handlebar Doc Ruger Vaqueros while at Mule Camp. I shot them for the first time yesterday. I'm one who generally buys a gun and sends it straight to the smith before even shooting it. You don't have to do that with these guns. Here's the description from Taylors.

QuoteLike "Handlebar Doc," the New Vaquero has excelled in the Cowboy Action Shooting world and has earned a reputation for rugged reliability because of its strength and mechanical superiority. The New Vaquero incorporates the slimmer pre-1962 "XR-3" style grip frame and a smaller cylinder frame with a unique reverse indexing pawl, which positively aligns the cylinder with the loading gate cutout for easy loading and unloading of cartridges. It also features a re-contoured hammer and new hammer spring; a "Custom Shop Action" for the smoothest, easiest cocking ever; a beveled cylinder for easier holstering; checkered "hard rubber" grips; a crescent-shaped ejector rod head; and opened "squared" rear sight notch

http://www.taylorsfirearms.com/products/cfHandlebarDoc.tpl

For suggested retail of $675 you can't go wrong with these pistols. Buying a set of New Rugers and having all of this done will cost you more than that AND you will have to wait to get them back from the smith. These guns are competitive right out of the box.

I also won a Handlebar Doc rig from Kirkpatricks. It's great looking, great wearing and very well designed. I only have one problem with it and that's that the dye bleeds onto your clothes when you get hot. I'm going to have them make me a new belt cut with a curve and line it. We'll see how that goes.

Galloway · June 25, 2006, 09:42:58 PM

Theres nothing Handlebar Doc about them, they're simply new vaqueros with his name on them. For those who dont know all those features listed are stock on the New Vaqueros. Its the same story with the Blackhawk its just a 50th aniversary. Both are exellent guns but unless your a big HD fan why not put your own initials on one?

Camille Eonich · June 26, 2006, 11:57:05 AM

Galloway the "Handlebar Doc" part about them is that they include the action job, the free spin pawls, the opened rear sight and the crescent shaped ejector.

The new rugers straight out of the box need major action jobs to be competitive or even fun to shoot. Most of them have timing issues. As I said before the Handlebar Doc rugers are fantastic as they come to you.

All of the features on the Handlebar Doc rugers are NOT stock on the new vaqueros.

Forgot..link to pictures.

http://www.kimandbarrymckenzie.com/HD_Pistols/index.htm

LazyK Pejay · June 26, 2006, 03:16:18 PM

Congrats on your great wins, they look really nice. I won a Big Mac at McDonalds once ;-(

LazyK Pejay

sweettooth · June 26, 2006, 04:44:18 PM

couldnt have happened to a better person . You keep giving to the newbis on this board happy you did some getting.

Camille Eonich · June 26, 2006, 06:58:33 PM

Quote from: LazyK Pejay on June 26, 2006, 03:16:18 PM
Congrats on your great wins, they look really nice. I won a Big Mac at McDonalds once ;-(

LazyK Pejay

Lazy K, the only thing that I ever won before this was a Giligan's Island scratch and sniff T-Shirt.

Thank you sweettooth. That's a very sweet thing for you to say.

sweettooth · June 28, 2006, 02:39:48 PM

The reason I am hanging on to my old model vaqueros is that they will shoot just about any load someone could come up with.
Like a hot magnum. Do you think the new vaqueros have the same ability or is it strictly a coyboy gun ? Or maybe a little stonger than the Italians ?
Just your personal opinion is good enough .

Camille Eonich · June 28, 2006, 03:01:11 PM

The new rugers still have a lot of metal in them. They probably wouldn't take quite as hot a load as the old models would but they should handle anything from the factory.

Arcey · June 28, 2006, 05:34:58 PM

Anything can be blown to hell with an overloaded cartridge. Old or new, doesn't matter.

I'd believe old vs. new would be much like a N frame Smith vs. a K frame Smith in .357 Magnum. They'll both handle tested loads but the K is going to loosen up a lot sooner than the N.

Four-Eyed Buck · June 28, 2006, 09:15:30 PM

The new ones are for no more than the SAAMI spec. .45 Colt loads in the .45's. Don't have one of the .357's to know about them.
I do know that not too long after they came out, someone did blow one up using a hot load. This news was posted on a site other than a CAS site at that time.........Buck

$:-\$

Camille Eonich · June 30, 2006, 07:44:19 AM

Saw an older ad in a magazine for the New Ruger and it does say that they come with the "reverse index" cylinder, beveled cylinder and the crescent shaped ejector rod. Rugers sight doesn't say anything about any of that and I haven't liked the way that any of them felt good enough to inspect the "features" until I got my hands on the Handlebar Doc ones.

By the way the Hamdlebar Docs do still come with the lightened springs and the opened rear site as well as some smoothing and fitting. These guns don't feel anything like the New Rugers do straight from the box.

sweettooth · July 07, 2006, 06:03:50 PM

Hey Ms .Camille are you shooting your new handlebar docs in maches. whats the match report.
Are they now your main pistols ? The reason I'm asking is I have an itch for some new pistols, will sell my ruger o.m. and a marlin cbc I never use. But since my main match guns are opentops I like to keep something that has sights on the cart as a backup.
So my main question is are you as an experienced shooter now using these.

Camille Eonich · July 07, 2006, 07:32:10 PM

sweettooth, I've used them in two matches and I LOVE them! I'm not shooting this weekend but next weekend I'm shooting two days and then off for the New England Regional. I'll be using the Handlebar Doc Rugers there too, I'm that confident in them.

It's nice to have something that is usable straight from the distributor. I'm one of those of never even shoot my guns before sending them to the smith. I won't have to do a thing to these.

Oh, and if you want to check out something a little less expensive than the Handlebar Docs then have a look at the Island Girl pistols that Taylor's is selling. I have had my hands on a pair of those straight from Taylor's and they are sweet too.

The general idea is that you get a glare with nickel pistols and that makes them hard to shoot. That is true BUT if you dull out the hammer channel and polish up the front site then you can acquire the front site as easily as you can on a blued gun. I had that done to my AWAs and it made all the difference in the world. The Island Girls come like that.

sweettooth · July 07, 2006, 08:31:53 PM

Cant have a shiney gun. But I will be looking at the new vaqueros, dependible with good sights , is what I need for back up guns.
Not sure about the handlebar docs , I would have to see how much a dealer would come off msrp. As I said I have to sell my rugers
first. But thanks for the update. Keep us posted

Camille Eonich · July 07, 2006, 09:11:36 PM

The only pair of New Rugers that I felt straight out of the box felt as though they had sand in them. They were stiff all over and just felt bad. I was not at all impressed. I have had my hands on New Rugers that have been to good smiths and they were sweet.

My experience.

Dakota Dan from OZ · July 08, 2006, 10:24:34 PM

Camille Nice pair of Rugers.

I was given one for my Sixth birthday last year by the dealers I do some work for and I bought the second one,I have shot them straight out the box since August last,took them to the US with me put TenX ammo through them with not a problem.Had some engraving by Aspen Filly done to them at the Revenge of Montezum shoot. They are great, fun to shoot

DD