My Vaquero is a switch hitter now.

[gb6491]

Bawanna's recent quest for a barbecue gun inspired me to renew my search for a .45 ACP cylinder that would fit my Vaquero.
I had looked all over for one without success before and finally just stopped searching. The Colonel must be magic as I found one the first place I looked this time. I thought it might require some fitting, but with both cylinders in hand, I measure them to be the same length and both fit perfectly in the gun :)
My Vaquero in .45 Colt
https://i.postimg.cc/k5NL1G3M/vaq.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
With the .45 ACP cylinder
https://i.postimg.cc/W13F8FBj/45acpcylinde1000r.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
It's nice that the Vaquero is simply marked .45 CAL
https://i.postimg.cc/SRVMDWVL/45.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
Thanks for the inspiration Bawanna:yo:
Regards,
Greg

[Bawanna]

Love the engraving on the 45 Colt cylinder and it is really cool that it only says 45 Cal. A true switch hitter, not in any mano mano way ya understand.
Mine didn't get blessed in time, so tomorrow I'm off to the lake for a couple weeks without it, have to wait till I return to pick it up. Had hoped to give it a work out.
I got 7 other unfired guns I need to spend quality time with so guess I shouldn't power whine so much but I'm so good at it.
Our new legislation frankly ticks me off to no end and the shops aren't happy about it much either.

Find myself wondering if I could work those grips over to fit a birdshead?????

[Armybrat]

My oh my!
That is one handsome Ruger! Love those stags too. Patrick Grashorn?

[gb6491]

My oh my!
That is one handsome Ruger! Love those stags too. Patrick Grashorn?
Thanks! The grips are from the old Ajax Grips company that used to import stag from India.
Sadly they went out of business. The company using the name now seems to deal mostly in polymer and pearlite.
Regards,
Greg

[wyntrout]

Nice, Greg. It's great to have cartridge/caliber flexibility like that. :)

[Bawanna]

!!!! I got a set of them Ajax on my Super Blackhawk, when I get back I'll be looking at the possibility of reshaping those.
I'm not nuts about the feel of them on the Blackhawk. Kind of tough on the hand.

[340pd]

Timing dead on?

[gb6491]

Timing dead on?
I think so. I don't have a true .45 range rod, but using some round stock every thing seems in time and true.
Regards,
Greg

[Barth]

Great looking wheel gun.
I still want a birdshead grip model :cool:
But sadly my CZ Scorpion Micro and inbound can have my bank account in critical condition - LOL! :eek:
With my daughters wedding in August and Thanksgiving/Christmas on the way.
I'm tapped out till 2020.
Will have to live vicariously through you guys and girls the rest of the year...
I'm OK with that though.
It's been a good year :)

[getsome]

Ok, I'm taking up bets at 3 to 1 odds that before the end of October Barth will be posting a picture of a new birds head revolver......Any takers?

[Bawanna]

Im in for 10.

[BirdsThaWord]

Very nice! A few of my favorite things in that ash tray slinger...Shiny, stainless, bbqish, grips that set it off! Oh yeah, totally agree that her demure badging is :cool: too!

[Bawanna]

Finally got to pick up my BBQ gun about an hour ago. Didn't get blessed in time to take it on vacation and shoot it so will get it out over here someplace.

https://i.postimg.cc/9QwsT01f/DSCN7884.jpg (https://postimg.cc/75DBrxFv)

[BirdsThaWord]

Finally got to pick up my BBQ gun about an hour ago. Didn't get blessed in time to take it on vacation and shoot it so will get it out over here someplace.

https://i.postimg.cc/9QwsT01f/DSCN7884.jpg (https://postimg.cc/75DBrxFv)
She’s a beaut! I’m kinda wishing I got that silver/black color grips on my S&W. Looks slick on a shiny gun!

[Armybrat]

Oooooooohhhhhh! Sweet!
Yours makes bigger holes than mine!

[Bawanna]

This ones 45ACP. I might try to get a 45 Colt cylinder so I can have a switch hitter like Greg.
My son has my 45 Colt Vaquero, it's a blued model.

[Wlfman13]

I like it, Bawanna!

-Wlf

[gb6491]

Finally got to pick up my BBQ gun about an hour ago. Didn't get blessed in time to take it on vacation and shoot it so will get it out over here someplace.

https://i.postimg.cc/9QwsT01f/DSCN7884.jpg (https://postimg.cc/75DBrxFv)
Congrats Bawanna! When are we going to see the vacation photos?

Oooooooohhhhhh! Sweet!
Yours makes bigger holes than mine!
Oooooooohhhhhh! Sweet!...and no need to switch cylinders to swap calibers.:w00t:
Yep, yours makes bigger holes than mine!;)
https://i.postimg.cc/Kc6K1Lr2/bearcat800.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
Regards,
Greg

[Bawanna]

I'll post some vacation photo's soon. As I was fondling my new/used BBQ gun I noticed mine says 45acp on the side.

I surmise and haven't tried to confirm yet but your switch hitter that just says 45 caliber was born a convertible.

I saw while looking at grips that Ruger will not fit new cylinders to guns that were not originally a convertible.

Said some get through but as a rule they won't do it. It can be done obviously but the factory policy says they won't.

Cleaning a pile of guns today, I don't mind, it was an absolute blast (pun fully intended) to get them dirty.

I do need to shoot my Garand more often, forgot how to take that thing apart, I got it but I was rusty at it. What kind of man don't know how to take his Garand apart???? Hmmmm??

[gb6491]

Darn boss, you made me go look at my "New Vaquero" as I thought maybe the markings were different because the one I got the cylinder for is an older model "Vaquero".
However, my New Vaquero is also just marked .45 Cal. Now I'm guessing it's because both are .45 Colt guns.
Regards,
Greg

[Bawanna]

I'll have to look at my Vaquero that my son got. I don't recall what it says on it.
I know it was the last one to hit Washington the last time they stopped making them so I'm not sure its old or New Vaquero.

[Bawanna]

Thought we had a BBQ gun thread going but can't find it so I'll tag onto the switch hitter.
Had a fine 3 day weekend, a little damp and got to spend time in my room and my garage, it was a great weekend, worked on some SP101 grip inserts and some other grip stuff.
Tonight as the last hurrah before back to the sweat shop tomorrow I finished slimming down some "real Stag" grips that were on my 42 Colt. They were quite ugly, like varnished and also quite thick and certainly the old Colt deserved better. I'd cleaned the outside up pretty well, and they didn't look too bad but still very thick, and I much prefer thin on a 1911.
So I've been working on slimming them down from the back since they couldn't really be slimmed from the top without getting smaller.

I finally got them quite acceptable, good enough that I hung them on my CBob everyday carry. Not the greatest looking piece of stag but at least they are real.
https://i.postimg.cc/SRVRdzcX/DSCN7892.jpg (https://postimg.cc/tnZ9CJSy)
I'm not sure why this side is so out of focus, I already put everything away, I'll have to try again another time.
https://i.postimg.cc/Fzh10xk5/DSCN7891.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Fdn943xD)

I got an email Thursday that my hopefully real looking fake stag for my Vaquero are shipping soon, ahead of schedule by a couple weeks if it happens. Fingers crossed that they look good enough for the best BBQ.

[gb6491]

Nice work thinning those down and bobbing them Bawanna! They go well with the CBob:cool:

[Bawanna]

Well after a rather lousy day at work especially following a great weekend covered with sawdust I got home to find my Stag Grips from Altamont delivered a couple weeks earlier, they even sent an email a few days ago saying they would ship soon.
I'm very pleased with them, they fit pretty well, better than the factory. They are slightly thicker, a little more hand filling but not bad.
The best part is even though they are fake they look durn close to the real thing, probably best I've seen. I'm tickled.
Photo evidence.
https://i.postimg.cc/KjNTPmSc/DSCN7893.jpg (https://postimg.cc/gLxrdF21)
https://i.postimg.cc/nVYqbGj8/DSCN7894.jpg (https://postimg.cc/dD3hGdjn)
https://i.postimg.cc/yY1cV3cD/DSCN7895.jpg (https://postimg.cc/7bRf96B4)

Here's a better picture of the CBob with the "real stag". Wish the other side was closer to this, but it works.
https://i.postimg.cc/MK9RXZmd/DSCN7896.jpg (https://postimg.cc/RNnqDB8H)

And a shot of the happy couple. Now I just need a BBQ and a really sweet leather set up and I'm good to go.
https://i.postimg.cc/gjdRLn7B/DSCN7897.jpg (https://postimg.cc/XGHXT74w)

[gb6491]

The Altamont grips do look pretty good on your Vaquero:cool: It's also a plus that you won't have to worry about them shrinking or cracking.

[Bawanna]

Good point, they are pretty robust and heavy but they won't swell and shrink. Hopefully not brittle, I don't drop my guns too often so shouldn't be an issue.

If I get caught by desperados and have to drop my guns, I'll look for a soft place to toss em.

[Ken L]

Both look really nice. I'm a fan, and that stag on the Cbob looks pretty awesome. Maybe now a little tasteful engraving to complete the BBQ guns?

[Bawanna]

Wish I had a brother in law or knew somebody I had some dirt on so I could get some engraving. I'd love to engrave both of these and maybe a couple others. I love engraving but it has to be scary. Seems like it would be awful easy to mess up and unlike my grips you can't toss em in the fireplace and start over again.

[Armybrat]

I wonder if those birdshead stags would fit a Single Seven?

[Bawanna]

I don't know anyone local with one I could try them on. I just spent about an hour fine tuning them, they felt a little thick to my hand so I worked from the inside and slimmed them down probably about a 1/16" giver or take, the color is all through and pretty soft so sanding and filing was pretty easy.
I also took down the high spots so they fit the frame a bit better. I make work the butt down even more and taper it a bit, that would help slim a bit also and I think look better too.

I'm really liking these things, apparently fitting the stainless models is kind of hit or miss with several makers and these were just a tiny bit large so I can get a perfect fit and not have to work on the frame itself.

[Armybrat]

Good to know. Thanks, and enjoy yours.

[Bawanna]

Maybe you can find somebody down there with a Vaquero and try their grips, gotta be tons of Vaquero's in Texas Right?
Or I can send down my original set and see if they fit. I don't see Altamont listing the Single 7, fact is I gotta look for it as it's kind of gray for me as well.

[Armybrat]

I think the Single Six plowgrip frames are possibly the same size as those on the Blackhawks & New Vaqueros. If so, the it should be the same for the birdsheads.
Will ask on one of the Ruger forums.