Fair price for old model Vaquero?

[helotaxi]

I found a pair of old model Vaqueros locally and was wondering what a fair price would be.

Gun #1 is a Vaquero Bisley 6.5" barrel (I think) .45 Colt Stainless finish with walnut grips.  It's used but "previously owned" is probably a better term.  I doubt that it's had 50 rounds through it.  $529 is the asking price.

Gun #2 is a Vaquero with bird's head grips.  4 5/8" barrel.  Stainless.  Also looks new.  Also .45 Colt.  Marked $499.

Are those prices fair?

I'm looking for a nice shooter to last a lifetime and I think the old style Vaquero is what I'm after in that regard.  I'd like to do some CAS type shooting as well as informal target practice and will probably pack the gun when hiking and hunting also.

[Lloyd Smale]

ruger never made them in 6.5 so its either a 5.5 or 7.5. i know the prices have slowly been going up on them but i think your prices are still on the high side. I would think that the vaquero could easily be found for around 450. The birdshead would be worth a tad more then the standard vaquero.

[helotaxi]

Isn't the fact that it's a Bisley model gonna make it more expensive?  Neither are a basic Vaquero.

[helotaxi]

Doing a bit more research...did the Bisley Vaquero actually sell for less than the regular Vaquero?

[Travis Morgan]

Good deals; the Birdshead should cost you a couple hundred more than they're asking; take it and run.

[BlkHawk73]

I found a pair of old model Vaqueros locally and was wondering what a fair price would be.

  Double check and see if they're indeed OM's (three screws) if so, they're two of two ever made. ALL Vaqueros are New Models. 

  That said, I'm thinking the Bisley model is a franken-Ruger someone changed bbls on.  Not a big deal but the price still seems high.  Those would be $75-100 less locally.  The birds head model, also seems high by the same amounts.  I'd certainly pass at those prices.

[Keith L]

His terminology may vary from yours, but I have one of the original Vaqueros and it is far different than those available today.  Mine is much larger and can take heavy loads.  The new ones are more like a SAA in size and capacity.

[Travis Morgan]

Well, they sure as hell never made one stamped "Old Model"!

You may as well lump that with the people crying about calling it the ".45 Long Colt" and Jeff Cooper having a hissy over calling a revolver a pistol; it's just semantics used to attempt to intimidate the new guys with your "superior" knowledge base on one subject.

[Bart Solo]

No, they didn't stamp them OM Vaquaro but if you look at the side of my New Model Vaquero's they are clearly marked NM.  Ruger hasn't done anybody any favors with their naming conventions.

[BlkHawk73]

Well, they sure as hell never made one stamped "Old Model"!

You may as well lump that with the people crying about calling it the ".45 Long Colt" and Jeff Cooper having a hissy over calling a revolver a pistol; it's just semantics used to attempt to intimidate the new guys with your "superior" knowledge base on one subject.

 Nope they didn't mark them "Old Model".  However, when they changed the action to the New Model design, they kept the names (Blackhawk, Super Blackhawk, Bearcat, Single Six) so to differentiate between the two action designs.  The manufacturer initiated this designation.  Years later, Ruger introduced the Vaquero, a New Model single action in design.  That model was removed from the catalog and replaced with the slightly smaller model designated, again by the manufacturer, as the New Vaquero.  Says so right on the cylinder frame "New Vaquero".  It too uses the New Model action design just as they all have since the change.    Hmmm, all these designations were given to their respectful models by the company that produced them.  So sorry but it's not as you say, "semantics used to attempt to intimidate the new guys".  It's simply properly name usage.  No different than someone simply deciding to call a person by a wrong name. 

  As for the whole 45 Long Colt thing...in ways it's wrong but it's become to mainstream with ammunition companies using that terminology it's become accepted throughout the industry.  There were 2 different cartidiges with this same designation.  One is as we have today known as the .45 LC.  The other was a shorter version of the other cartridge named the .45 Colt as it was known.    Can't have two different cartridges with the same name so one became the "long" Colt.   
  Not "superior knowledge" either.  It's again, simply knowning the proper terminology.  Some can take it as what it was intended originally, good humored and to let someone know thier terminology wasn't correct.  Some others...well, they simply are so sure that it's exactly, 100% as they say it is:

it's just semantics used to attempt to intimidate the new guys with your "superior" knowledge base on one subject.

 

[texagun]

I've seen this argument on other Ruger Forums and have never understood why some take it so seriously.  When someone says "I have an old model Vaquero," or "I have a new model Vaquero," I know exactly what they mean, although the terminology is not exactly correct.

[Travis Morgan]

Yup, regardless of what folks say, there are Two Vaqueros; mine are the old ones. For short, they're old model vaqueros. I used to be just a guy; I'm slowly turning into an old guy.