44-40 accuracy

[cowboy66]

Any had accuracy issues with vaquero in 44-40?

[Rutin2tin]

Ruger generally mated a .429" (.44 mag) barrel on the Vaqueros, yet the cylinder throats measured .427" (correct for 44/40).
To correct the accuracy issues, Ruger would ream the cylinder throats to match the .429" barrel, and it was a free service.
After that, one could use bullets intended for the .44 special/.44 mag.

I have an older Vaquero in 44/40 caliber, and yes, accuracy does suffer, however, since it's not intended to be used for target accuracy, it's been left as is.
You may want to speak with the Ruger folks, and ask if they still offer the free chamber throat reaming job on older 44/40 Vaqueros.

FWIW: When I was employed, My plant/driver manager had a Ruger #1 rifle in 30-06 caliber, and the accuracy of his rifle was so bad, that it was difficult to hit a paper plate at 100 yards.
After slugging the barrel, it was discovered that Ruger installed a .311" bore barrel on a rifle that should have had a .308" bore barrel.

My guess?
Ruger barreled the rifle with whatever stock they had on the shelf at that time-frame. 

[hillbill]

ruger seems to have a problem getting their bore diameter and cylinder throat diameter correct for the cartridge.i know for sum reason they expect everybody to shoot their big bore revolvers with only jaketed bullets.if they are going to persist in doing that i think they should offer a cast bullet revolver in say 45 colt, 44 mag, 44-40 etc.whoever is in charge of cylinder throats should be fired!

[hillbill]

Ruger generally mated a .429" (.44 mag) barrel on the Vaqueros, yet the cylinder throats measured .427" (correct for 44/40).
To correct the accuracy issues, Ruger would ream the cylinder throats to match the .429" barrel, and it was a free service.
After that, one could use bullets intended for the .44 special/.44 mag.

I have an older Vaquero in 44/40 caliber, and yes, accuracy does suffer, however, since it's not intended to be used for target accuracy, it's been left as is.
You may want to speak with the Ruger folks, and ask if they still offer the free chamber throat reaming job on older 44/40 Vaqueros.

FWIW: When I was employed, My plant/driver manager had a Ruger #1 rifle in 30-06 caliber, and the accuracy of his rifle was so bad, that it was difficult to hit a paper plate at 100 yards.
After slugging the barrel, it was discovered that Ruger installed a .311" bore barrel on a rifle that should have had a .308" bore barrel.

My guess?
Ruger barreled the rifle with whatever stock they had on the shelf at that time-frame. 

im curious why they would of even had a .311 barrel that fit  a ruger no.1?wouldnt it of had to been a 303, 32-20 or 7.62x39?calibers im not aware they made in the no.1?

[Rutin2tin]

ruger seems to have a problem getting their bore diameter and cylinder throat diameter correct for the cartridge.i know for sum reason they expect everybody to shoot their big bore revolvers with only jaketed bullets.if they are going to persist in doing that i think they should offer a cast bullet revolver in say 45 colt, 44 mag, 44-40 etc.whoever is in charge of cylinder throats should be fired!

Agreed, Bro.
Basically, the Ruger 44/40 Vaquero is a 44 magnum gun, with a different cylinder; chambered & throated for the 44/40 cartridge.
It's too bad they didn't take the initiative and install the correct bore size barrel, which is .427".

Brownie points to Colt and S&W gun companies for their high quality 44/40 revolvers! 

[Rutin2tin]

Ruger generally mated a .429" (.44 mag) barrel on the Vaqueros, yet the cylinder throats measured .427" (correct for 44/40).
To correct the accuracy issues, Ruger would ream the cylinder throats to match the .429" barrel, and it was a free service.
After that, one could use bullets intended for the .44 special/.44 mag.

I have an older Vaquero in 44/40 caliber, and yes, accuracy does suffer, however, since it's not intended to be used for target accuracy, it's been left as is.
You may want to speak with the Ruger folks, and ask if they still offer the free chamber throat reaming job on older 44/40 Vaqueros.

FWIW: When I was employed, My plant/driver manager had a Ruger #1 rifle in 30-06 caliber, and the accuracy of his rifle was so bad, that it was difficult to hit a paper plate at 100 yards.
After slugging the barrel, it was discovered that Ruger installed a .311" bore barrel on a rifle that should have had a .308" bore barrel.

My guess?
Ruger barreled the rifle with whatever stock they had on the shelf at that time-frame. 

im curious why they would of even had a .311 barrel that fit  a ruger no.1?wouldnt it of had to been a 303, 32-20 or 7.62x39?calibers im not aware they made in the no.1?

.303" British barrel stock is normally bored at .311" so my guess is someone grabbed a wrong piece of barrel stock, possibly by mistake, and built a barrel.
It's pretty tough to discern between the two (308" & 311") using only the naked eye.

fyi: Some re-loading manuals promote the use of .308" plinker style bullets in .303 British practice loads, though no specific accuracy is guaranteed.

[hillbill]

Ruger generally mated a .429" (.44 mag) barrel on the Vaqueros, yet the cylinder throats measured .427" (correct for 44/40).
To correct the accuracy issues, Ruger would ream the cylinder throats to match the .429" barrel, and it was a free service.
After that, one could use bullets intended for the .44 special/.44 mag.

I have an older Vaquero in 44/40 caliber, and yes, accuracy does suffer, however, since it's not intended to be used for target accuracy, it's been left as is.
You may want to speak with the Ruger folks, and ask if they still offer the free chamber throat reaming job on older 44/40 Vaqueros.

FWIW: When I was employed, My plant/driver manager had a Ruger #1 rifle in 30-06 caliber, and the accuracy of his rifle was so bad, that it was difficult to hit a paper plate at 100 yards.
After slugging the barrel, it was discovered that Ruger installed a .311" bore barrel on a rifle that should have had a .308" bore barrel.

My guess?
Ruger barreled the rifle with whatever stock they had on the shelf at that time-frame. 

im curious why they would of even had a .311 barrel that fit  a ruger no.1?wouldnt it of had to been a 303, 32-20 or 7.62x39?calibers im not aware they made in the no.1?

.303" British barrel stock is normally bored at .311" so my guess is someone grabbed a wrong piece of barrel stock, possibly by mistake, and built a barrel.
It's pretty tough to discern between the two (308" & 311") using only the naked eye.

fyi: Some re-loading manuals promote the use of .308" plinker style bullets in .303 British practice loads, though no specific accuracy is guaranteed.

so they did make a no 1 in 303?if they didnt, they need to check with their barrel guys?if not what was it even doin in the rack?

[Rutin2tin]

Ruger generally mated a .429" (.44 mag) barrel on the Vaqueros, yet the cylinder throats measured .427" (correct for 44/40).
To correct the accuracy issues, Ruger would ream the cylinder throats to match the .429" barrel, and it was a free service.
After that, one could use bullets intended for the .44 special/.44 mag.

I have an older Vaquero in 44/40 caliber, and yes, accuracy does suffer, however, since it's not intended to be used for target accuracy, it's been left as is.
You may want to speak with the Ruger folks, and ask if they still offer the free chamber throat reaming job on older 44/40 Vaqueros.

FWIW: When I was employed, My plant/driver manager had a Ruger #1 rifle in 30-06 caliber, and the accuracy of his rifle was so bad, that it was difficult to hit a paper plate at 100 yards.
After slugging the barrel, it was discovered that Ruger installed a .311" bore barrel on a rifle that should have had a .308" bore barrel.

My guess?
Ruger barreled the rifle with whatever stock they had on the shelf at that time-frame. 

im curious why they would of even had a .311 barrel that fit  a ruger no.1?wouldnt it of had to been a 303, 32-20 or 7.62x39?calibers im not aware they made in the no.1?

.303" British barrel stock is normally bored at .311" so my guess is someone grabbed a wrong piece of barrel stock, possibly by mistake, and built a barrel.
It's pretty tough to discern between the two (308" & 311") using only the naked eye.

fyi: Some re-loading manuals promote the use of .308" plinker style bullets in .303 British practice loads, though no specific accuracy is guaranteed.

so they did make a no 1 in 303?if they didnt, they need to check with their barrel guys?if not what was it even doin in the rack?

Not sure if they ever built a .303 British caliber Number1, however, barrel stock is like pieces of pipe bundled on the shelf, and someone may have picked the wrong piece of pipe to create a Ruger number 1 barrel or barrels.
Thinking about it, I wonder if someone ordered, then cancelled a custom Number1 in .303" and the blank was then re-chambered and used in a production rifle?
Boggles the mind. 

[Bitterroot Bob]

Howdy,
About twelve years ago I traded around and acquired a pair of Vaquero's chambered in .44-40. They turned out to be two of the lousiest firearms I've ever owned and I was lucky to get rid of them without losing all of my shirt. Ruger answered CAS consumer demand by using off-the-shelf .429" groove barrels and boring .44-40 cylinders. My first .44-40 arm was a Marlin 1894S with a .429" Micro-groove barrel that drove tacks with .428" lead bullets, so I wasn't concerned with the Ruger barrel being too big. The trouble was that Ruger's chamber reamer left a throat of .425". Both revolvers were not accurate enough to hit 18" plates at fifteen yards. Ruger offered to re-throat the cylinders, but UPS was on strike at the time and the customer service dept told me to hold on for awhile. I didn't.
My match rifle was an Uberti 1873 that would only chamber about half of my .430" .44-40 handloads, so I wasn't interested in loading special ammo for the Rugers. I ended up with a pair of EMF Hartfords in .44-40 and never looked back.
Steer clear of Ruger .44-40's.
Bitterroot Bob

[Rutin2tin]

And the plot thickens.............

[cowboy66]

Thanks guys that gives me a lot to ponder.

[flexjr]

I don't know when your manager got his 30'06 but ruger makes a 7.62x39 no 1 now and has for quite some time. and i have handled a 303 british no 1 in the last year. i think it was a limited run gun.

[hillbill]

I don't know when your manager got his 30'06 but ruger makes a 7.62x39 no 1 now and has for quite some time. and i have handled a 303 british no 1 in the last year. i think it was a limited run gun.

well heck if that was the prob with the number 1 in 06, id just get a neck expander in 311, install it in my 06 dies and see what happens shooting 311 bullets?

[greenrivers]

This is not a new issue for Ruger. I have an old 3 screw SBH in .44 mag. that I bought back in the seventies. It has never done well on paper so it spent most of it's time in the safe. I recently decided to buy a set of pin gauges and measure the thing. The cylinder throats are perfect at .431, but the bore is .433. Kinda makes you wonder what the h.... they were thinking about quality control even back then. Ruger's design and construction make for a very nice revolver that one would expect to find finishing hand work on because of price. But the bore, chambers, throats, alignment, etc. should be a quality control issue that has had a long history. Fortunatley customer service seems to be good.

[cowboy66]

Does anyone make a .427" barrel that could be switched out.

[greenrivers]

I am not sure of being able to find a completed barrel ready to install. So far the only contacts have been suppliers selling blanks in the white that would have to be machined. I did call customer service and was told that information regarding spec. tolerances was not available, and after stating that a seventy dollar shipping charge to find out was ridiculous, they recommended a letter to their engineering dept.. I just received their return answer. Send it back for an evaluation. Now that still does not answer the question, nor does it ensure that the barrel will be changed.

[cowboy66]

I sent Ruger an e-mail last week, and so far haven't heard back from them except to say they got my e-mail and would be in touch in 3 business days. Today is number 5.

[cowboy66]

Got a reply from Ruger today. They do not offer that service, however they want me tosend the gun to them for evaluation. I think that since it is not a target pistol and is only used at short range I'll just live with it like it is.

[flatgate]

If I had a .44-40 with undersized throats I'd either purchase a reamer or mail the cylinder to someone who has a reamer.


We're talking about a job that takes but a few minutes.  A quick polish job with a flex hone and off to the shooting range with .44 mag. sized bullets in the .44-40 cases.


JMHO,


flatgate

[eastbank]

years ago i bought a brand new ruger#1 in 3006, it was chambered in 300 winchester magnum. i wondered how they proof fired it. they did take it back and send a new one. eastbank.

[bubba15301]

bought one when they first came out . it had a.424 throat sent it back and Ruger reamed it out to .428  . cylinder throats and barrel match.

[inthebeech]

So even if you spend the money to have the throats opened up to a bit larger than the 44 barrel, do you then need custom dies so your sizer does not reduce the case necks so much that you have problems seating the (now) .429-.430 bullets (assuming you shoot the only bullet that a 44-40 should see which is cast lead)?  The upside I guess is that all of your 44 moulds can now be used.
That is a shame.

[tlmkr38]

Only problem I've had with mine is the dang bullets keep hitting the target. I think I got one of the odd ones that shoots good groups but I'm not complaining. After reading this thread I measured mine and the throat is .427 and not made for the .430 bullets.

 The problem I have with mine is that with my reloads I use .427 bullets, full length resize the cases and Have a hard time gettting them all to chamber. Factory loads do just fine but not all of mine do. It's not headstamp specific or chamber specific.. I can after loading them take the deprimer out of my sizing die and run them through again and have no problems.

 And Ideas?

[hillbill]

Only problem I've had with mine is the dang bullets keep hitting the target. I think I got one of the odd ones that shoots good groups but I'm not complaining. After reading this thread I measured mine and the throat is .427 and not made for the .430 bullets.

 The problem I have with mine is that with my reloads I use .427 bullets, full length resize the cases and Have a hard time gettting them all to chamber. Factory loads do just fine but not all of mine do. It's not headstamp specific or chamber specific.. I can after loading them take the deprimer out of my sizing die and run them through again and have no problems.

 And Ideas?

ive had problems like that, ussually was a adjustment in the sizeing die that fixed it. but could be sumpin else.