Ruger Talo new vaquero .44 magnum

[9ballbilly]

Not only beautiful, but apparently first year of production. Life is good!

[44 AMP]

Please show us the other side, so we can read the name.

[9ballbilly]

Here is the other side. Sorry, still figuring out how to share pics (don't know how to remove the attached images).
As far as I can tell these were made for Talo from 2016-2019, but that may not be correct.

Here is a link to the spec sheet: https://www.ruger.com/products/vaque...ets/10596.html

[44 AMP]

Thanks for the pic of the other side. I asked because I wanted to see what Ruger put there. I have had Vaqueros, and New Vaqeros and many people confuse the two because the names are so similar.

Looks nice, and its a bit of a shock to me, I was under the impression that the New Vaqueros were not built to handle .44 Magnum.

I would recommend, if you are going to shoot it, that you shoot only .44 Special or very light loaded .44 Magnum, for "safety".

Not the safety of the gun, if Ruger says it takes .44 Mag, it will, but for the safety of your HAND!!!

Those birdshead grips are neat looking,. old west period style, but are not good at handling anything heavier than black powder level loads. With full house .44 Mag, they WILL HURT!!! ALOT!!

You might find them unpleasant to use with lesser loads, as well. Friend of mine found a gun very much like the one you have, though it was not a NEW VAQUERO. .44 Mag, and he asked me for some ammo. I gave him a box of 240SWC loaded to a bit over 1000fps. He complained bitterly how much the gun hurt to shoot, and stated emphatically he was NEVER going to put any full house factory ammo in it!!

You might have a different reaction, but I expect not a lot, if any. The New Vaquero is not a heavy gun. The short barrel makes it even lighter, and the tiny birdshead grips give you very little to hang on to. I'd bet serious money full power .44 Mag in that gun will HURT!! Might even be physically damaging, I would not recommend it.

Probably be a sweet shooter at cowboy action level loads. But for full power stuff,?... no...just no!

[44 AMP]

OK, I did some checking, and "the word" (since I didn't ask Ruger directly) is that the Talo .44 Mag is built on the "old" (Larger) Vaquero frame size, not the current smaller NEW VAQUERO frame, which is Colt sized.

An easy way to tell would be to compare the Talo gun side by side with a
New Vaquero in .45 colt. The difference in frame size (if there is one, and I hear there is) would be obvious.

Ruger has apparently marked it "NEW VAQUERO" because they made it, and they can. This adds a new layer of potential confusion to Vaqueros, but Ruger can name what they make anything they want to...

Apparently Talo ordered enough guns Ruger was willing to make them to order. I doubt you will see Ruger offer the gun as a regular model, but one never knows, these days.

I had a 7.5" stainless .44 Mag Vaquero (the large frame original Vaquero), liked it well enough, but swapped it off for a Super Blackhawk because I wanted adjustable sights. I love Ruger SAs but I'm not an "old west look" purist about SA revolvers.

[9ballbilly]

Thanks for the info. I was planning on shooting/ carrying mostly .44 spl. in it.
Probably will try magnums to see what it's like, but here in Florida it doesn't seem likely I'll need full-house .44 magnum loads when I'm out fishing or wandering around outdoors. Now that I think of it, I'll probably have more use for CCI shotshells.

Realistically it probably won't see more than occasional use anyway. My SP101 .357 has become my "go to" handgun over the last couple years.

[rclark]

Yep, all .44 Magnum Ruger manufactured Single Actions are on the large frame. That is a rule of thumb that hasn't changed since '56 . No matter how it is marked or what the sights are . I suspect the 'New Vaquero' .44 Magnum does have the reverse indexing pawl which makes it a 'New' Vaquero in the eyes of Ruger. You also note it only has a two digit prefix serial number as well.

Ruger does have a way of making it a bit confusing sometimes! Take my .44 Magnum 50th Anniversary flattop. On the large frame of course, but the .357, .44 Special, and .45 Colt flattops are on the medium frame. BUT, the serial # is 3 digit prefix on the .44 Mag flattop which normally is on the medium frame flattops and New Vaqueros as a tell-tell sign. So ... Ruger does do some strange things

[Armybrat]

That is a super cool .44!

I have a New Vaquro Talo .357 “Fast Draw” short spur.
Didn’t care much for the grips, so put some Altamonts on it.
I don’t know how to post a full size photo, so these links will have to do:

[rclark]

My shorty is the .44 Special Sheriff.

[Armybrat]

A .44 Special Vaquero is a scarce one, and hard to find these days, I’ll bet.

[rclark]

Yes I am sure they are scarce. I'd really like to see a .44 Special New Vaquero run with 5 1/2" barrels. Only Ruger left that I would probably pick up for my collection.

[9ballbilly]

I Emailed Ruger customer service and the model I have (10596) is still, "On their production schedule.".

I think that means if Talo requests it, they (Ruger) will do another production run of them. Don't have a clue what that would take.

My impression is that there weren't a lot of them made, so maybe mine is something of a rare gun?

Of course, I could be completely wrong about that.

[DaleA]

Ruger has apparently marked it "NEW VAQUERO" because they made it, and they can. This adds a new layer of potential confusion to Vaqueros, but Ruger can name what they make anything they want to...

Emphasis is mine and I surely do agree with it. I am a Ruger fan and will continue to be one but for goodness sake, isn't there ENOUGH confusion in the gun world?

On the positive side though, if I commit their latest idiosyncrasy to memory I might someday drop this arcane tidbit of gun lore into a conversation and be regarded as quite the gun expert. The problem is I'm getting older and repeating myself and forgetting things and repeating myself.

[Recycled bullet]

I love the short handle and the chrome finish it looks like a shooter!

[44 AMP]

the short handle and the chrome finish it looks like a shooter!

With light loads, it would be, with full house .44 Magnum loads, I doubt you will find it pleasant. I've shot a very similar gun and it certainly wasn't fun with full house loads.

[Recycled bullet]

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

With light loads, it would be, with full house .44 Magnum loads, I doubt you will find it pleasant. I've shot a very similar gun and it certainly wasn't fun with full house loads.

How many ounces does a snubby 44 gun like that weigh?

[Armybrat]

My 5.5” Super Blackhawk was a handful to shoot more than a dozen rounds, so one of my sons owns it now.

[jackmoser65]

The gun is a mystery. Nobody knows why they put New Vaquero on a large frame gun. Or why TALO ordered them with checkered grips. It's a brutal little blaster to shoot with full house loads.

[Aguila Blanca]

TALO orders guns made to their specifications. If Ruger put checkered grips on it, it's almost certainly because that's what the customer ordered.

[44 AMP]

They had to use the large (old frame size) in order to make it a .44 Mag, which is what TALO ordered. As to why they wrote "NEW VAQUERO" on it, I have no idea if that was what Talo ordered, or if they just decided to do it, possibly because it was a "new" Vaquero variant.

My understanding is everything about the gun, caliber, barrel, grips etc was what Talo said they wanted and would buy "X" number of them. No idea what that number was, but obviously it was enough for Ruger to decide to make them.

POSSIBLY Talo offered the money up front, I have no idea, but if they did, it was a smart move.

[rclark]

. As to why they wrote "NEW VAQUERO" on it...

Again, I'd assume it has the reverse indexing pawl which would put it in the New Vaquero class. Otherwise there is no reason for the New Vaquero name. Just 'Vaquero' would do as it would a run-of-the-mill original Vaquero with short barrel and a birds head grip.

[Laz]

I’ve always been under the impression that confusion comes from focusing solely on the word “New’. I believe the best and most sure method of differentiating the large from the smaller frame is the serial number prefix - two digits for large frame and three for the smaller frame.

[44 AMP]

I’ve always been under the impression that confusion comes from focusing solely on the word “New’.

Possibly. Focusing on any ONE part of a name can cause confusion. And, that can apply to serial numbers, as well.

I have Blackhawks with two digit serial number prefixes AND the word "New" on them. (New Model Blackhawk)

Also had Vaqueros that just said Ruger Vaquero, and one that said Ruger NEW VAQUERO.

Doesn't seem to matter what "rule" you come up with, or what pattern SEEMS to be consistent, sooner or later they will make an exception, either as a limited run, or as new production...

[rclark]

I believe the best and most sure method of differentiating the large from the smaller frame is the serial number prefix - two digits for large frame and three for the smaller frame.

Close.... But my 50th Anniversary .44 Magnum is a flattop (large frame) with a xxx-yyyyy serial number. Only exception I know of . So yeah, always an exception to the 'rule'. But otherwise, three digit is a good indication of medium frame revolver

[ballardw]

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

Doesn't seem to matter what "rule" you come up with, or what pattern SEEMS to be consistent, sooner or later they will make an exception, either as a limited run, or as new production...

Isn't part of that what drives, or at least makes interesting, the collectors markets? Especially for those that want to have one of every "X" variant?