Author Topic: Regulating My Vaquero (Read 1541 times)

oo_buck · « **on:** June 28, 2007, 08:41:40 AM »

Okay, here goes.....

My .44 mag Vaquero hits left of my poa. I don't want to send it back to ruger or anyone else for that matter.......

Kind of upsets me that it should cost me money to fix ruger's problem.... even if it is only the shipping cost...

I understand that tightening the barrell slightly will move the front sight, therefore hopefully correcting the problem, BUT

Will this not cause a problem with my ejector rod housing? Seems to me that it would move my screw and most likely misalign the hole......

Should I just eat the cost, and let ruger fix it, or try this myself?

buck

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #1 on:** June 28, 2007, 10:12:39 AM »

to do it you will need a barrel vise and if its just a one shot thing its probably cheaper to have a gunsmith do it. It doesnt take but a touch and it shouldnt effect your ejector rod housing alignment as theres enough slop in it to line it up.

2 dogs · « **Reply #2 on:** June 28, 2007, 10:40:51 AM »

These sorts of things are not always a factory problem. How one holds the gun and how it recoils in their hands has alot to do with it. You might be able to carefully bend the blade a tiny bit. Other than that I personally prefer to have a dovetail front sight installed in my sixguns.

Luckyducker · « **Reply #3 on:** June 28, 2007, 12:10:43 PM »

Sometimes a different load/ammo can bring them to hit to POA. I have read about guys in CAS with Colt SAA's that would use an arbor press to tweak the barrel a little to regulate them.

fowler · « **Reply #4 on:** June 28, 2007, 05:13:41 PM »

The amount of barrel turning to adjust the sight is really tiny, I mean a 1/10th of 1 degree of rotation will move point of aim a lot more than you might think. Hamilton Bowen has a article from Guns magazine on do it your self barrel turning http://www.bowenclassicarms.com/GunsMag0706.pdf. It didn't work for me as my barrel was too tight to tighten more (when I failed, a paid gunsmith couldn't move it with a barrel vice ether). So a dovetailed front sight was the answer, it was not very much money if you find a qualified gunsmith to do it.

oo_buck · « **Reply #5 on:** June 29, 2007, 03:07:32 AM »

Sorry for not being clearer....

I have already tried as many factory loads as I can find.... All with similar results.

It could be my hold on the gun, but everyone who I've had try it for themselves had no luck either.

Seems to me that it is not rocket science, I just need the tools.......Anyone have a barrel vice to loan me?

?

Thanks guys.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #6 on:** June 30, 2007, 12:13:48 AM »

There was some good advise given here. What you also have to keep in mind is that just switch loads will change the right and left shooting of your gun. Before you move or change anything on that gun as far as turning barrels or filing sights make sure your locked into a load you want to use for the rest of your life. I dont know how many times ive regulated the sights on a vaquero and found another load later that shot better or did something i wanted the gun to do and didnt have enough sight to do it. The best answer by far is the dovetailed sight. You can have clements do it for about a 100 bucks and even if it didnt do anything else its well worth it for the better sight picture your going to get with the better blade on the sight. If its a gun your going to keep forever its well worth the investment. Id even consider if i did another buying an extras sight when i did it so a guy could switch from a light load to a heavy. You not going to want to do this weekly as youd loosen up the dovetail or at least the dovetailed part of the sight but if a year down the road you wanted to change your load youd have another fitted sight to do it with. I think he charges about another 50 bucks to do it. If you play around with long distance shooting a gold bar or two on the sight blade is slick as snot and looks pretty custom as well. I allways said that a good shooting ruger only really needs two things. Better sights and an action job. If your going to go through the expense of shipping it for the sight upgrade have him do an action job at the same time. Between the two id about be your accuracy is cut in half.

HHI-7420 · « **Reply #7 on:** July 01, 2007, 10:39:39 AM »

oobuck, 2dogs may have hit on it and it would cost 0$. How you hold the gun. I shoot left with every(12) pistol I have. They can't all be off the same. It's the way I pull the trigger. But they all have adjustable sights(thank God). Pat

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #8 on:** July 02, 2007, 12:00:48 AM »

Pat a little advice from someone you can probably outshoot. If your hitting left or low with about all of your guns its usually caused by improper trigger control. Im guilty of it too. I didnt it for years till my friend educated me. He told me if a gun is hitting left all the time due to improper trigger work you will never shoot up to your ability because if your trigger finger is pulling the gun to the left it will never do it the exact same everytime. To shoot your best your trigger HAS GOT to come STRAIGHT BACK. I still find myself doing it and i shoot over a thousand rounds a month. After a session with a hard recoiling gun or even under the pressure of a timed shoot like a ppc shoot i tend to start wandering to the left. I picked up my ppc gun the other day. I havent shot much competition this year because of my back problems and have practice not once. The gun was shooting about 2 inches to the left. I know it was right last year and i didnt change anything. What caused it. Ive been pounding the big guns lately and my trigger control is suffereing. What a guy needs to do and I plan on starting again this week. Is take semi auto 22 out and shoot a few bricks through it consentrating more on perfect trigger control then where the bullets are hitting on the target. Some guys think that once you learn trigger control you have it down. Its not that case for me. I have to stuggle with it forever. Im not a naturally good shooter like some guys and have to work at it constantly. That brings us to the problem of ajusting a vaquero. Most changes are permenant and a guy goes and files on a sight and finds a year from now after hes shot it a bunch and his form gets better that its shooiting to a differnt spot again. Now your into changing sights which is expensive. Thats why i usually tell someone with a new vaquero. Especialy someone who doesnt shoot weekly to not get excited about where it hits. Shoot a couple thousand rounds out of it using kentucky windage to hit if you have to until you get used to it. Another thing to keep in mind is if you dont have a nice clean crisp 3 lb trigger you are never going to have proper trigger control off hand anyway. SO dont shoot your gun for a year file the sights and decide to get a triggger job done. It will definaltely change your point of aim off hand. Somehow find the money to get the trigger right to start with. Im anal about my triggers. I fortunate in have a best freind that doesn some of the best trigger work in the county and does mine for free. He spends a couple days on them not a couple hours and if a guy had to pay for it it would probably cost 500 bucks to have him do one. He will actually take one of my sas that hes allready done when he does a new one and not only match the pull but lately hes even into match the feel and even the feel of the way they cock. He just did my two 4 inch 500 linebaughs and if you blindfolded me i couldnt tell you which one i was shooting. To me buying a new sixgun and not getting the trigger done imediately is like buying a new truck without tires. ITS A MUST DO if you want to shoot accurately. Sorry to be a jerk but if you are pulling a 6 lb trigger and claiming to me you are a good shot im going to have to call you a lier!! So buck up for a 100 bucks and have a smith like clements or bowen do a half way good trigger job on it. It will be the best 100 bucks youve ever spent on a gun and then shoot at least a 500 rounds out of it. It will proably take that many rounds to find out what loads it likes anyway and while your doing that it doesnt matter where it hits. THEN AND ONLY THEN start filing on sights.

Graybeard · « **Reply #9 on:** July 02, 2007, 05:39:07 AM »

ALL the single action fixed sight guns I've owned and shot have hit well to the left of point of aim. It matters not if I shoot them one handed with my right hand, one handed with my left hand or two handed. The POI regardless of shooting method is within an inch or so of the same place when using the same load and for dang sure I CAN'T be messing up exactly the same way right handed, left handed and two handed all.

I think the manufacturers need to get their act together and realize that all or darn near all their single action fixed sight guns are hitting left for the entire world and do something about it. I've sure never heard anyone complain about one hitting to the right.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #10 on:** July 02, 2007, 08:38:05 AM »

bill youd be boned if they did hit to the right as you cant loosen a barrel. Maybe theres a little barrel tilt put in them on purpose to allow you so latitude to tighten the barrel and adj for you style of shooting. Its surely no big deal to bump a barrel a tad. It just takes about 10 minutes and a barrel vise.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #11 on:** July 02, 2007, 09:57:57 AM »

I must be a lucky sob too because ive probably owned 10-15 different vaqueros and a number of other single actions of different makes and ive had to turn the barrel on only three of mine and one for a buddy. I have more problem with getting the right for elevation then i ever do with windage. Now ive yet to see a windage drift ajustable 1911 that was right out of the box.

fowler · « **Reply #12 on:** July 02, 2007, 12:00:36 PM »

Lloyd,

I had the unfortunate experience of a barrel that shot 8" left at 50 yards with every load I tried that was so tight a gunsmith with a good barrel vice could not tighten it anymore! The choke under the threads on the Bisley Vaquero is about .0015+ but still shoot reasonably well (getting fire lapped thoroughly very soon). After repeated attempts to move the sight I set it to Dustin Linebaugh and had him cut the front sight off and install a drift adjustable sight like the one on your 500 Linebaugh. Ruger made sure it would not come loose that is for sure! The gun should be back this week! I am more excited for this gun than any in a long time.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #13 on:** July 02, 2007, 01:53:13 PM »

ruger ought to fit drift sights to all of here single actions it would probably pay them in the long run as im sure many are returned.

2 dogs · « **Reply #14 on:** July 03, 2007, 04:21:33 AM »

I almost hate to tell you this, but you can try to "bend" the front sight a bit. Careful, you may break it off. The way I have seen it done it to take the front sight and put it in a smooth jaw vice and gently turn the sixgun. Remember, a little is alot!

K.K · « **Reply #15 on:** July 06, 2007, 06:26:20 AM »

I sent mine to Ruger and they turned the barrel, replaced the hammer,and base pin, all for free! Check it out. Ruger is very good for service.

wickerbill · « **Reply #16 on:** July 06, 2007, 04:52:04 PM »

Before you try and turn your barrel or bend the sight, shoot three or four hundred rounds. Try shooting the the gun left handed. If it follows the pattern I've found, it will probably shoot to the right. Then try benching the gun and see what happens. concentrate on pulling the trigger straight back. Chances are, all you need is a good trigger job. Most of the time you don't need to turn the barrel. The problem is that you are probably pushing the gun in that direction because of a heavy trigger.
Bill

EdK · « **Reply #17 on:** July 07, 2007, 02:23:06 AM »

Quote from: fowler on June 28, 2007, 05:13:41 PM

Hamilton Bowen has a article from Guns magazine on do it your self barrel turning...

Fowler - thanks for the link. I've been wanting to try this myself, saw the Brownells vise, etc. The article is reasonably written but what I appreciated the most were the words from Bowen himself that if approached with a reasonable degree of care you can do this yourself as good as or better than anyone else.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #18 on:** July 08, 2007, 10:52:00 AM »

a barrel vise is a handy thing to have on the bench. I even use mine to hold the gun when im working on it or in the rare instance that i actually clean a barrel.

44 Man · « **Reply #19 on:** July 08, 2007, 01:32:12 PM »

When I frist started shooting single actions, they ALL shot high and left but it was my hold! I was not getting my wrist in line with the bore and was holding the gun off-center one handed. Then I started shooting two handed and that went away. So I worked on my one-handed hold until the guns shot where they should. I have only had three guns that needed attention since that time. An old engraved Dakota, a nickled Colt SAA .44 spl, and my 5 1/2" Ruger 'new' Vaquero. The Dakota we turned the barrel and fixed the problem. With the Colt, everyone was afraid that the nickle finish would mark in the vise so I just whacked the front sight against the bench bending it slightly left and bringing it dead on. If you looked really close at the Colt you could see the front sight was slightly left but only a total perfectionist would have objected. The Ruger I should have turned but I got the hots for a 4 5/8" barrel and traded it off before I fixed it. Just to illustrate the options and a reminder to check your grip. 44 Man

HHI-7420 · « **Reply #20 on:** July 09, 2007, 04:20:14 PM »

Lloyd S., I took care of the problem with hitting to the left(many deer ago). I was just using that as an example. I too don't clean bbls.. Learned to shoot with a Stevens favorite(#P-2) when I was a kid and didn't clean the bbl. until I was 63! Open sights-1-1/2" @ 50yds. today. Pat