Power Custom Hammer/Trigger for OM Vaguero

[Pappy Myles]

Howdy,

I've got a pair of OM Vaquero's in 45 colt that I have had work done on them.   They shoot really well and very nice too.  I probably shouldn't fix whats not broke, but has anyone installed or had installed the power custome hammers/triggers for Rugar vaquero's?  Is it worth the extra bucks to get the half cock and the cylenders to line up for loading?

[Coffinmaker]

Depends.  I'v done the work for several customers.  I don't personally shoot Rugers.  Those I have done the work for like the results.  The other plus, is if you short stroke the hammer, the half cock usually catches everything so you don't have to go all the way around to find that "last" round.  I say usually because if the Ruger is running light springs and you run the gun fast, it will still go by.

Coffinmaker

[Pappy Myles]

Well, I got my power custom hammer and trigger kit.   Took me about two hours for installation.   

Really it should have taken about 30 minutes but it was the 1st time my OM Vaquero had been detailed stripped.    Man those things get dirty.    I gotta put in a plug for a video I ordered.  Larry Crows on dissembly maintenance and reassembly.  Very well done.  Lots of good points.   Kinda like "Vequaro's for Dummies 101".  I learned a lot from it.

But overall, the instructions that came with the kit are really good.  Also tells you how to trouble shoot things like timing, etc

The main spring is a bitch! I put in the 18lb spring.  Have a very nice trigger pull about 2 1/2 lbs.  very smooth as the trigger and hammer come pre honed.  The only issue I had was the free spin paw. I did have to do some honing and filing on my free spin paw to get the timing right.  I was smart enough to get the transfer bar that power custom modifies.    All in all, its pretty much drop in parts.

So now I have the half cock and it opens up just like a colt.  And I have put in one of the new colt like cylinder pens.  I have a small set of ajax grips on it.

Now I gotta take it to a match!!!!!!!!

[Pappy Myles]

Got my 2nd kit in this week, and after cleaning up the Vaquero, it dropped right in with no muss and no fuss.   I have a replacement  cylender pen based on Colts.   I had to cut the spring down a couple of coils to get it to work like it was susposed to as the spring would bind and not let the full extraction happen.   It took me about 2 days of honing with 600 grit sandpaper to get the pen to fit.

[Branding Iron Bill]

Got my 2nd kit in this week, and after cleaning up the Vaquero, it dropped right in with no muss and no fuss.   I have a replacement  cylender pen based on Colts.   I had to cut the spring down a couple of coils to get it to work like it was susposed to as the spring would bind and not let the full extraction happen.   It took me about 2 days of honing with 600 grit sandpaper to get the pen to fit.

Pappy

In one of your earlier posts you mentioned a gunsmith Ben Horton of single action services located in the Houston area.  Is he still in business?  If so, do you have an email or regular address, or phone number to put me in contact with him. 

I have an early vaguero 44-40 cylinder that I need to have reamed out.  That may be the same fella I met a few years back at the Houston gun show who had a table set up advertising his services.  Seems like his specialty was converting 3 screw blackhawks into vaqueros.  Just can't remember his name.

TIA
Patrick D.

[Pappy Myles]

So I took them to a match on 11/22.

Had a ball with them.

NO   they didnt shoot any more accurately,  ( Al Horton of houston did the alignment and honed out the champers, so they are accurate enough)

BUT, I did notice the extra click, and did have one that the hammer slipped to half cock and didnt have to do the click, click, click, bang thing.

And the halfcock unloading routiene really helped in speed at the unloading table.

Pict to follow

[Deadeye Dick]

Branding Iron Bill,
Try hoopermfg.com for your cylinder reaming. Talked with him today about reaming out the cylinder in my OM Ruger 44-40. He charges $10.00 a hole. FCK put me onto him. Looks like he knows what he's doing.
Deadeye Dick

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

The other advantage you will realize at the loading table with your half cock hammers is that you will no longer experience the frustration of having the cylinder rotate just a little bit too far while loading or unloading a chamber. Blackhawks and 'original model' Vaqueros had this tendency, the hand would pop to the next ratchet tooth on the cylinder if you rotated it a tad too far, making it impossible to service that chamber unless you went all the way around again.

In fact, that is the real reason I installed half cock hammers in 3 of my Vaqueros several years ago. With the hammer set at half cock, the cylinder indexes perfectly to the loading gate for all chambers. No more going around again to load or unload a chamber. I did not install the free spin pawls in my guns, I was not interested in that, only in indexing the chambers to the loading gate. All three of my installations were complete drop ins, with no fitting required, except one where I had to take a couple of swipes of a file off the hand to get the gun to lock up properly. I di not alter my transfer bars at all, they are stock.

The Power Custom half cock hammer and trigger are machined to closer tolerances than stock Ruger parts, that's why I had to take a file to the hand on one revolver. The Power Custom stuff did not have the same built in slop as the stock Ruger parts. And the trigger pull is better with the Power Custom stuff, the sear and full cock notch are better fitted. With lightened springs and Power Custom parts all my Rugers have trigger pulls of about 2 1/2 pounds.

Since installing the half cock stuff in my Rugers I have been lucky enough to acquire Colts, but having the half cock hammers in my Rugers means that when I shoot them I use the exact same technique as I do with a Colt. Hammer to half cock, open the gate, load one, skip one, load four, close the gate, bring the hammer to full cock and lower it on the empty chamber.

[Pappy Myles]

After shoot my OM Vaqueros, now almost 4 years with the power custom hammers, I had one og the hammers jam on me.  When I took it apart, appearently the hammer plunger and spring have become fouled. As such, I've had to detail dissemple the hammer and clean it out.  I noticed the plunger has a small bend in it. I contacted Power Custom ad they told me to send it to them.  I did, and before I knew it, a new one was on my door step.  Great Turnaround and service!!!!!!!   But heres the think.  The one I got back is for a New model.  I contacted power custom and was told the old model hammers are out of production and the new models will fit.  OK so I put the new model in and guess what.   Not a drop in situation.  The new model ones, the spur, is heaver (though I do like it) than the old model, but throws me off just a bit when I thumb it.  That and the back end where the main spring strut enters is about 1/8 inch larger than the old model.  So when you tighten the grip frame to the reciever, it binds on the hammer and you cant cock it.  Not sure if I want to take some material off the back of the hammer to make it fit. Because to make it match the original, I'd have to get another new model one and work it.

Loops like I just mught stick to a pair of black hawk hammers I've ordered.  I do like the half cock on the power custom's as when your shooting and slip hammer one by accident, you can recover quickly...........