Ruger New Vaquero .357
I got a hankerin' for this piece long after I had been shootin' my various .45 Colt revolvers. I had started out with my Beretta Stampede, and it was a great pistol, but as I soon found out, it's finish was very susceptible to the ravages of the trail. My two Italian .45's were nice pieces too, but neither of them had a modern transfer bar safety, so if I was going to haul them around the woods, I'd need to keep the chamber under the hammer empty for safeties sake. I hate the idea of a six-shooter only being a five-shooter...
One day I sat at work thinking about what I really needed in a trail gun. It should be stainless, and would idealy have some form of transfer bar safety. It should also be reliable, accurate and "handy". I concluded that the 7.5" barrels, while neat, weren't as "handy" as the 5.5" barrels. I used to lug around a stainless 7.5" Interarms Virginian Dragoon in .44 Magnum, and that was an excellent pistol, but in the end it was just too damned big. I further decided I had enough .45's, and would get another .357 Magnum this time.
I looked at the various manufacturers, and dismissed them all for one reason or another, until only the Ruger was left. I have had a chip on my shoulder against Ruger's ever since Wild Bill decided not to sell high capacity Mini-14 magazines to civilians 20 years ago. I heard they had rescinded that policy, and so, I bought one of their products.
It seems a fine pistol, and I think it is going to fit the specifications I called out nicely. It is quite accurate, and the ability to shoot .38 Spl. cartridges through it is nice given the current "hard to find" ammo shortages.
I was leery at first, as it lacks the great click-click-click-click of the original when drawing the hammer back, but this pistol makes up for it in many other, more important ways.
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