NM Vaquero "free" free spin mod

[NARVOUS]

Why do you just load 5?

[Dirty Brass]

Why do you just load 5?

It was customery to leave the cylinder under the hammer empty back in the day to prevent accidental discharges while holstered or dropped. Not really necessary with the Rugers, but people are just being authentic, sorta....

[Buck Rawhide]

MG, When you get to the empty chamber what happens? Does the cylinder "lock" into place there? If it doesn't how do you keep it from spinning when holstering or drawing?

No.  You actually stop it on the empty chamber then once you close the loading gate, the cylinder is locked.  Then holster.

Take care,
Buck

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

It was customery to leave the cylinder under the hammer empty back in the day to prevent accidental discharges while holstered or dropped. Not really necessary with the Rugers, but people are just being authentic, sorta....

     The hammer over an empty chamber in the cylinder was a standard rule back in the day, I imagine they started doing this after accidents started happening when guns were dropped or fell out of a pards holster, My Granddad which was born in 1886 spoke often about the fact that any one with half a head always carried his side arm with the hammer down on an empty, he always brought this up when any one talked about the old six guns, he said they should of called them five shooters, but he also said that in the heat of a battle they would load six, but were always put away with the hammer down on an empty.


                 tEN wOLVES fIVE sHOOTER     

[Boothill Bob]

Howdy,

Pretty new to CAS and single action revolvers but not firearms in general.  Recently got my first pistol as I build toward my first match.  Have already put a couple hundred rounds through my 4 5/8" SS new model Vaquero.  I have been all over the forums looking for action mods, etc.
Just put a set of Wolff springs in it along with a full disassembly and cleanup.  I can see where the free spin mod is useful.  Looks like lots of guys will take the pawl/hand and stone or grind a flat on it to make a free spin pawl out of it.

After some research, I've found that the NM Vaquero already comes with a factory stock free spin pawl in it.  Meaning that the pawl is fully retracted away from the cylinder ratchets when the hammer is forward.  The clicks you hear are from the Reverse Indexing Pawl, which is a small spring loaded plunger located just below the base pin and next to the pawl window.  The brass setscrew that holds the plunger in is located under the firing pin behind the transfer bar.

I removed the setscrew with a 1/16" allen wrench during a full disassembly.  I bet you could remove it by cocking the hammer and playing with the trigger position, maybe.  Either way, put it all back together and when you open the loading gate, the cylinder is free to spin in either direction.  I saved the setscrew, spring, and plunger in the parts box in case I ever need to put it back in but I don't know when that would be....

Overall very happy with the mod and thought it would be worth sharing.  Saves a guy from grinding on his stock pawl or going out and spending $$ for an aftermarket pawl.

Take care,
Buck

Hi..
I did like u have wrote here, and it works on one of my guns but not on the ohter
I think that the pawl/hand is to long, I hear the klicking sound from it, and I cant back the cylinder,
What will I do, do I have to stone or grind it flat??

[Bitter Creek Jack]

Hi..
I did like u have wrote here, and it works on one of my guns but not on the ohter
I think that the pawl/hand is to long, I hear the klicking sound from it, and I cant back the cylinder,
What will I do, do I have to stone or grind it flat??

I had that happen when I switched out to Blackhawk hammers. 

One day when I had them both apart I switched hammers from one gun to the other, and that fixed the problem.  I guess the geometry was off a little different on one of them.

[saltbush from oz]

just did mine, how quick was that
thanks for the info 

[rebsr52339]

I have two old model Vaqueros. Do I need a gunsmith to do this mod or is there a thread on the RATS site that explains it?

[Bitter Creek Jack]

I have two old model Vaqueros. Do I need a gunsmith to do this mod or is there a thread on the RATS site that explains it?

I know this is a little late, but here it is.

http://marauder.homestead.com/files/FreeSpin.html

I have done one set by these instructions, and all went well.

[fourfingersofdeath]

I have seen about maybe 25% of the "New" Vaquero shooters come across the loading table with this mod done. 
Seems to work fine as far as I can see.  I don't shoot any "New" Vaqueros, so I ain't tried it.

For those of you who load 1, skip 1, load 4 (ala Colt) you really don't have to do that.   
You can actually spin the cylinder (in correct rotation) once loaded to see if you have a high primer. 
We always do it & no one has ever said a thing about it.   Just stop turning when you get the empty chamber under the hammer.

MG

I do the ol' load one, skip one, and I seem to be the only one on the parade ground in step, but I like doing it the old fashioned way and there is nothing like chucking those big ol' 45s into the cylinder. I check all my ammo before leaving for the rangeand high primers are one of the things I check.

[Sturm Rooster]

I have done this with all my NM Vaqueros .
All eight of them 

[Sleepy Floyd]

Just thought I would bring this back up to the top.  I just bought an new, NM Vaquero and I'll do this when I get home.

Mike

[Joespapa]

I'm going to have to try this.  I took 5 misses on a stage this weekend because of a high primer.  It was the last round loaded.  If I had a free-spin, I might have been able to back it up.  After that stage, I no longer did the load-one-skip-one-load-four method.  I just loaded 5 and kept moving the cylinder around until I got the empty lined up.  Being able to rotate backwards will make this easier.

That's why I always spin the cylinder at the loading table 

[Slo' Poke Pete]

Did my pair today, good mod.

Rob