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I am looking at buying a Ruger Vaquero.
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Stop right there!
Any further discussion needs to know
which Vaquero you are looking at.
Because there are two different "Vaqueros".
The Vaquero was made with the same size frame as the New Model Blackhawks (and Super Blackhawk). IT is a bigger, beefier gun than the Colt SAA and clones. It will handle Blackhawk "Ruger ONLY" loads in .45 Colt.
The New Vaquero (and it says "New Vaquero" on the frame) is the same size as the Colt SAA, and is NOT built to take the "Ruger ONLY" heavy .45 Colt loads! It has plenty of metal in it to handle full .357 Mag loads though.
So, knowing which gun you are looking at determines which options are eliminated, which is germane to which chambering is better for your intended use. Vaqueros have been out of production for some time, but there are lots out there still, some still new in the box.
A new production gun will be the New Vaquero.
If there is one thing I wish I could slap the guys at Ruger for, its the naming policy for these guns. Even though the guns say on them either "Vaquero" or "New Vaquero" is it very difficult in conversation to tell which one you are talking about.
To make matters even worse, some people refer to the original Vaquero as the "old model". And the term "old model" is used by collectors/shooters (not Ruger) to refer to all the Ruger SA's with the pre-1973 lockwork (no transfer bar). There are no Vaqueros (of any kind) with this lockwork.
SO, which one is the one you are looking at buying?