I really appreciate and enjoy the Old Vaquero, and with one exception (that being the click when the cylinder aligns with the loading gate), prefer it over the New Vaquero. I like the weight of the Old Vaquero, which gives stability, and the grip frame just fits my larger than normal hands. And, I have a bunch of Old Vaqueros to play with. My main match guns are a pair of blue/case 7 1/2" .44 Mags with genuine stag grips, I shoot them with a Marlin 1894 in that caliber. If I am not shooting those Vaqueros, and especially if I am shooting BP, I go to a pair of polished SS 5 1/2" Vaqueros in .45 Colt to go with a Marlin Cowboy in the same chambering. I hate to prosper on the misfortune of others, but a friend went through a terribly messy divorce and before heading off to live in Canada, offered me his pair of blue/case 7 1/2" .44 WCF and a 30" bbl Pedersoli Winchester '73 Sporting rifle in the same caliber. The .44 WCF Vaqueros are very accurate, and with a tang sight and globe front, the '73 Winchester is a snipers rifle.
I gave him $100 more than he was asking, and promised to not resell them to anyone, but will sell them back to him for what I paid. Also, when the end of the Vaquero was near, I bought a pair of the short bbl blue/case Birdshead Vaqueros in .45 Colt with black micarta grips and a pair of SS 5 1/2" .44 Magnum Bisley Vaqueros; all four are unfired and sitting in the safe for a time when the Old Vaquero may have better resale value. At the same time I poicked up a true wierd bird; a 5 1/2" SS New Model Blackhawk (marked as such on the frame) with a Bisley grip frame and a Bisley roll marked .45 Colt cylinder, and a second fluted cylinder chambered for .45 ACP. My dealer thought it might be one of a lot of custom guns that Ruger periodically make for major distributors in the mid-west. Have any of you seen a similar Ruger?
Adios amigos,
Deputy Beauregard Hooligan