Ruger Vaquerito Upgrades

I performed some upgrades to my .45 Vaquero and my .357 Bird's head Vaquero and now I am going to perform some similar upgrades to my .32 Single Six Vaquerito.

 Here is what the gun looked like when I got it:

This the .32 H&R Magnum Single Six Vaquerito (see my write up on Ruger's Vaquerito here). This gun was made in 2006. It has the color case finish with the birds head grip and a 4 5/8" barrel. What really makes the gun unique is that it uses the .22 Single Six frame, with a barrel & cylinder bored out to 32 caliber, the frame is a rounded with fixed sights, just like the Vaquero, only smaller.


My plans include:

• Nitre blue the trigger & hammer pins
• Add a dimple to the factory ejector rod button and nitre blue it.
• Perform an action job on the internals.

I had a friend of mine help me modify a couple of factory ejector rods by adding a dimple to the center, like the original Blackhawks came. I'll polish them and nitre blue them.

 For those that don't know, nitre bluing is a type of heat bluing, getting the metal to the right temp in which the metal turns an "electric" or "peacock" blue.

It is surprising difficult to capture the color with a camera, you need lots of natural light......keeping the camera in focus helps too....

Here is a good picture of the ejector.

I could not find the photos of the trigger/action job, I am sure I took them, but I must have forgotten to take them off my old phone.

It was the same as I did on my Vaquero

Interesting Firearm Photos #79

 

Bernice is ready to repel the illegal invaders.....

Why God, can't we own these?? Why?

"Hillary! we're coming in, if you don't want to get shot, keep your hands where we can see them......"

When this picture was taken, the 1911 pistol was new to the world of firearms.

So does Missy.....

Kruger, Luger, Ruger.....

Lewis Machine gun anti-aircraft team

Featured Gun: Ruger MkIV 22/45 LITE

There is no point in telling you the whole story of the Ruger pistol, I have already done that as have others.

Instead, I will just tell you how this gun is different from the previous generations and why you might want to consider buying one.

The 22/45 came along during the Mark II series, being introduced in 1992.

The new pistol featured a polymer grip frame that mimicked the grip of the M1911 pistol (thus the "45" in the name). The other major change was the moving the magazine release from the heal to the side of the grip frame.

A graphic from American Rifleman showing the differences in grip angles and sizes of the trigger guards.

In 2004 the MkIII series replaced the MkII and the 22/45 got another revision.

Then in 2012 Ruger introduced the 22/45 LITE edition, still in the MkIII series. The new LITE series came with an aluminum upper with a steel barrel and parts imbedded into the receiver. They also came with a threaded barrel for suppressor or muzzle break use.

The barrels had grills to reduce weight and came in a few different colors.

This new version also had replaceable, rubber grip panels that looked to be interchangeable with those of the 1911 pistol.

In 2016 Ruger introduced the Mark IV series. Gone were the stamped steel grip frames, replaced by cast stainless, cast aluminum or the polymer used in the 22/45.

The new Mark series had a much easier, push button take down procedure along with better slide release and an ambidextrous safety.

The new models come with various barrel cuts and sight options as well as a host of different colors.

These pistols with the 4.4" barrel weigh in at just 25 ounces, which beats previous 22/45 models that were 31-33 ounces. Compared to the Ruger Mk II bull barrel that weighs 46 ounces, you can see why they call this the "LITE".

I purchased my 22/45 LITE last year, it came with adjustable rear sight and a picatinny rail for mounting optics.

If for some reason you are looking for additional options on your 22/45 LITE, Ruger now has a Tactical model.

as well as a silencer shop exclusive, designed specifically for suppressor use. Both models come in black or Flat Dark Earth

Ruger's 22/45: A Blend Of Two Legendary Pistols | An Official Journal Of The NRA (americanrifleman.org)

Mark IV: The Ruger Evolution | An Official Journal Of The NRA (americanrifleman.org)

Ruger Standard - Wikipedia

Ruger® Mark IV™ 22/45™ Lite Rimfire Pistol Model 43927

Gun Works of Art: The Jade Vaquero

This fine specimen was introduced at the 2024 SHOT Show and put up for auction.

The gun is a standard 7.5" Vaquero in 45 Colt, handed over to the Ruger Custom Shop for custom engraving by Paul Lantuch of Baron Engraving and then adorned with 24K gold. The grips were carved from Siberian Jade.

The hand-crafted display case features Nubian goat skin leather.

The photography was by Hunter Elliot of Range Hot.com.

The gun sold for just over $20K on Jan 26th.

Proceeds from the sale are going to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody Wyoming.

Tincanbandit takes on the Milk Jug Challenge

 Anyone who has been in the gun hobby for any length of time knows how many facets there are to the hobby. 

Some people only like to hunt, some only like to target shoot, some only shoot pistol, others only shoot rifle at loooong distances. 

While I enjoy shooting at targets, especially reactive ones, I also revel in being able to hit one at a great distance. Before last month that distance was 100 yards give or take and the rifles were typically .22 rimfires.

Keep in mind I only own a few guns with scopes, most of my guns have open sights.

A friend of mine bought a Savage 110 BA rifle in 338 Lapua Magnum and had dreams of hitting targets beyond 1000 yards.

Another friend moved to Montana, bought himself a rifle for hunting and wanted to learn how to adjust his scope for longer shots.

One of them, or both of them, decided to attend a school for long range shooting. This particular one is run by the Long Range Shooters of Utah. After looking into it, they convinced me to attend along with them.

The school is held at the North Springs Shooting Range, a fantastic, world class facility outside of Price Utah (about 2-hour drive SE of Salt Lake City).

Here is the main building at North Springs.

Day one of the class was just that, a class, in a classroom with lots of PowerPoint slides.....don't worry though, the teacher, Bryce Bergen, is a great instructor, keeping everyone engaged....by the way there were 19 of us in the class.

Topics included scope construction, scope adjustment, definition of terms including mils and MOA, trajectory, bullet drop, bullet design, gun & barrel design, breathing, trigger control....basically everything you need to know to get into long range shooting.

At the end of day one we went to the 100-yard range and zeroed our scopes, that is Bryce in the center of the picture.

Now you may be wondering what I was going to shoot if I didn't own a rifle with a scope capable of hitting a target at 1000 yards. 

I rented one from Bryce. It was an Aero Precision Solus Sendero in 6.5 Creedmoor. The price was very affordable.

Here is the rifle, it was equipped with a Leupold Mark 5HD scope and a suppressor.

I was shooting ammo provided, and recommended by LRSU, Hornady 140 grain ELD Match, FYI ....ELD stands for "Extremely Low Drag"

Day two was all shooting, taking the things they taught us about trigger control, breathing, checking your level and a host of others and hitting targets beginning at 200 yards and moving up.

The targets in the picture look small, but they are not. I believe they said that the targets past 400 yards were 2 foot square.

Once everyone hit their target out to 1000 yards, it was time to hit the milk jug.

They weren't actual milk jugs, they were milk jug shaped steel targets 7.5" x 9" if I recall correctly, set at 1000 yards.

Even with the scopes magnification dialed all the way up, they were small dots on the horizon.

Thanks to the lessons learned in class and the expert tutelage from LRSU staff, all 19 of us hit the milk jug.....although some of us took longer than others :)

Here is our group, BJ, Bobby, Me and Danny with our trophies, a sticker really, but you can only get it by attending the class and hitting the milk jug at 1000 yards.

The class was a bit expensive and a pain for us to get to (we drove from western AZ), but well worth it. I recommend it for anyone who shoots long distance or who might want to shoot long distance.

A warning though, this could be addictive and very expensive.....

If you are interested in attending a class, you need to book in advance as they sell out quick and weather in the fall/winter will most definitely play a factor.

Links:

Long Range Shooters of Utah: Home of Long Range Shooters of Utah

North Springs Shooting Range: North Springs Shooting Range – Carbon County Utah

Aero Precision Solus: SOLUS Competition Rifle - 22" 6.5 Creedmoor, Sendero | Aero Precision (aeroprecisionusa.com)

Leupold Mark 5 HD: Mark 5HD Rifle Scope | Leupold

Hornady Ammo: ELD® Match (Extremely Low Drag Match) - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc