Two 45 ACP Revolvers... Which one would you pick?

I saw both of these at my local shop.  Found both of them very interesting for different reasons.  Both feel good in the hand (although very different).  One is single action, the other is double.  One is shiny stainless with beautiful laminate grips, the other is black with rubber grips and rails.  If you could/had to buy only one of them, which one would you get.

Holy Zeeples! The Montado Birdshead Shopkeeper wouldn't have left my hands until the credit card was smokin'. I assume it has the 45LC cylinder also? Just way too cool. But, that's the Cowboy shooter in me.

The one I saw was only chambered in 45 acp. If it was .45 colt, I would have bought it right away--a nice match with my stainless 92 in .45 colt.

Holy Frijoles! I'm with CF on this one. Even though I am primarily a double action shooter, that Birdshead Vaquero is on my "buy on sight" list, regardless of whether it's 45 ACP or 45 Colt. I've wanted one of those for a long time. When I get one, there is a very good chance that my primary CCW carry rig will change from S&W 65 and S&W 638, to Ruger Blackhawk and Ruger Birdshead Vaquero.

However, even if you don't have a deep hankering like me to become some Walter Mitty type, half-baked, 21st century version of a 19th century gunslinger, I would expect that the Vaquero is a lot more rare than the TR 325. If you sat on it for a year, I would expect to be able to sell it for more than you paid for it.

Cornmastah wrote:The one I saw was only chambered in 45 acp.  If it was .45 colt, I would have bought it right away--a nice match with my stainless 92 in .45 colt.

I'm not sure, but many of those Distributor Only 45s came with both the .45 ACP as will as the traditional .45LC cylinders. You might as the gun store or Ruger. What a sweet piece, but without the 45LC cylinder, I'm afraid I might have put it back. Then again, I'd have probably picked it back up again.  

[Edit:] I'd be running back to the gun pusher with Twenties in my teeth, praying somebody smarter than me hadn't picked it up! A little bit of intratubes research has indicated that it is a bit of a rare bird.

http://ruger.com/products/vaqueroDE/specSheets/5152.html
http://ruger.com/products/vaqueroDE/specSheets/5151.html
http://ruger.com/products/vaqueroDE/specSheets/5144.html

Interesting... maybe I will have to go pick it up today--or at least throw it on layaway.

Dang, Ruger must have just made a run of these. I saw this blued one in 45 Colt on Gunbroker:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=412019020

There are others on GB in 45 acp.

If I hadn't just spent a lot of money on gun related paraphanalia, and wasn't planning on spending a lot of money tomorrow on powder, I believe I would have to get this myself.

So I went down there to look at it again, and found out that they have the blued model in 45 colt (why, oh why, wasn't it in stainless...) as well as 3 of the stainless models in 45 acp. Now I don't know which one I should get... I would love the 45 colt model, but I really prefer stainless. Do I get the caliber I prefer, or the finish I prefer? Leaning towards the stainless in .45 acp.

Stainless.

I'm going to bet your money that you can get a .45LC cylinder for around $150 - $170. Two guns for one!

Don't know if it would need to be gunsmithed. And I'm not sure that you can pry a cylinder out of Ruger. But, if the gun store has multiple guns in .45 ACP, you might have time to call Ruger Monday, unless the blued model walks off...

Decisions, Decisions. Have you tried Gun Genie?

I would go with the multi-purpose Clint Smith's model.

Not a Vaquero, but I like it anyway. In .45 Colt.

LH - I'm with you. But only because I have a passle of SA's, don't particularly like the later Ruger SA's, and I don't really have much in the DA revolver arena (?like maybe 2).

I really have a problem with the Ruger new style loading gate-operated cylinder unlock. Makes me crazy. I have always counted, one, skip, four, then pull the hammer to full cock and you are ready, no scaring of the cylinder by the locking lug popping up, and on the empty cylinder. Don't really know what to do with myself with that stupid gate trick. And no good idea how to end up on the empty cylinder. I mean, it's almost as if Ruger intended you to scar the cylinder!

Devereaux wrote:Don't really know what to do with myself with that stupid gate trick

I hear Ya!

Went in to look at those revolvers again. Saw something else that caught my attention--a top break uberti schofield. Any of you have experience with these?

No, but I completely understand the desire to get a Schofield instead.

I can tell you the SASS experience.

There are a small but dedicated group that shoot Schofields and they seem to do nicely. The Uberti is the one to get, as the S&W is fraught with problems, not the least of which is that it is hard to open the cylinder and the latch tends to break. Go figure. It's also a LOT more expensive; it will have collecting value, but not shooting value.

I have thought about shooting a match with only one Schofield. So it would require that I reload on the clock, but it would be fun. I have no aspirations to be champion, or even top of the class, although I have managed to do well on a few occasions - probably mostly because there are darn few that shoot gunfighter. But this idea struck me as an interesting one, since the old cowboys really didn't have 2 guns to carry, so shooting one would be more in keeping with how it was.

If you get that Schofield, Corn, I will be envious!

It's been more than two weeks -- so whatcha get?

Corn! ?Did you get one. ?Which one.

Don't be sitting on the fence, boy. This is the age you acquire all those irons.

Heh, no slipping it past you guys... I ended up buying the birdshead ruger. I am going to send it to ruger to fit it with a 45 colt cylinder once I get some more gun funds saved up. I was going to post AFTER I had actually fired it, but when I went shooting yesterday, I realized my hornady hollow point loads will not fit. Bummer. I wish I had brought some of my 230 ball ammo.

I figured I could always get the Uberti at a later time since it isn't quite a limited production gun. I also figured that my smith r8 is similar enough to the 325 thunder ranch model that I can wait on that one too.

As a side note, I was able to test my sig p220 with the swr octane 45 and was pleasantly surprised how quiet it was.

Coolness!

But, why won't the Hornady hollow-points fit the Ruger? the Ruger's chambers are not SAAMI spec? Or is it a moon clip issue?

Congrats again.

I am not totally sure--I didn't look at it too closely. They are reloads that function in all my other .45 acp handguns made with hornady hollow point bullets. I will have to take a look at it again when I get a chance. I need to remove the cylinder so I can get a better look. No moon clips.

ARGH!!!!! I've been seeing those Ruger Birdsheads a lot in auctions lately, and just about had myself convinced that I shouldn't get one right now. This thread is not helping me avoid the temptation.

I keep thinking how a Birdshead would work well in a crossdraw with a Blackhawk in a strong side holster. Kinda like James Garner's rig in the "Maverick" movie that come out in the early 90's.

I might have to tell my family to forget the Florida vacation, Daddy's gotta get another revolver.

?You guys DID notice in CF's links that the dual cylinder weapon was a regular grip, not birdshead.

Yes, I noticed. I also have a plan B in case Ruger says no to the 45 colt cylinder--buy a stainless vaquero and swap the cylinders myself. I know there might be more to it than simply switching cylinders, but the gun shop guys let me test it out with some vaqueros at the shop and it locked up tight and seemed to function just fine.

Don't forget the .45 Colt headspaces on the rim. That means you need 0.004-.006" clearance between the rear of the cartridge case and the frame. Front end shake is still standard.

If you don't get the right headspace you will find that you can't shoot very many shots before the weapon seizes up, at least temporarily.

?Remember those two Navy .36's I converted to cartridge. I had ALL those problems.