Ruger Vaquero Hunting Loads---

[Prince555]

A friend of mine bought a new Ruger Vaquero .45 L. Colt about 5-6 months ago.
I haven't seen it yet and he said he didn't notice if it had a warning label or
where it was located.
The only ammo he has is some cowboy ammo & it is low powered.
He's wanting it to hunt with and I was wondering what would make a good
load for a Lee .452-255gr- RF mold casting with W. Weights and something
that would shoot to point of aim at about 25-35 yards? His gun doesn't
have adjustable sights.
I don't think it will stand as hot of a load as my Ruger Blackhawk.


Thanks

[Archer]

I've been using 6.3 grs. of Tightgroup with
that boolit in my Uberti 45LC. Mine doesn't
have adjustable sights either, and doesn't
hit to point of aim at 25 yards yet. I'm still
fooling around with it to get it to. So far,
it will put 5 shots into a 6 inch circle, but
I'm trying to get it to better then that.
I've went from 6grs. up to 6.4grs one
grain at a time, and 6.3 is the best so far.
I haven't tried other powders yet, so that
may improve it, or make it worse. Don't know
until I try it.

[txbirdman]

If the revolver is the "New Vaquero" then it won't handle the Blackhawk loads. If it's the "Original Vaquero" then it will handle anything the Blackhawk will. I have the "Original" in .45 Colt 4 5/8 barrel and it does well with that Lee bullet over 9 gr. of Unique. I had to widen the rear sight channel to get it to shoot to the POA and file down the front sight a little but now it does just fine. I used sight black to fill the recess behind the rear sight (mine's stainless) and used lime green fingernail polish on the back of the front. If I recall correctly I believe I clocked it at 900 fps approx.

[Rocky Raab]

Yup. Any decent 255 SWC or that Lee RF bullet at 900 fps or so is a "modan" load: It's "mo dan you needs fo a deah."

Actually, it's just about right. My Blackhawk shoots that bullet at that speed and hits a couple inches high at 25 yards, and just about dead on again at 100. I wouldn't have a single concern about using it on a deer out to that range.

[Whit Spurzon]

I've not shot anything bigger than a Grouse with my RNV in 45 colt but using that same bullet I get excellent results with SR4756 at the max published levels. I gets right at 900 fps and shoots point of aim out to 50 yards. At 100 yards it prints about 12" low.

http://www.myhostedpics.com/images/Pathfinder/25yd255andrbgroups.jpg
a cylinders worth at 25 yards, offhand

For hunting I'd lean toward the Keith Style.

[madsenshooter]

I've read the the new Vaqueros have a smaller frame than the old ones, something demanded by the CAS shooters and responded to by Ruger. Probably still plenty strong, but not a magnum, especially not in 45 cal. I once found the limit of a Bisley in 45LC with Blue Dot (nevermind how much) and 325gr bullets. The cylinder and frame was plenty strong for .45 Win Mag loads, but the barrel thickness in 45 caliber wasn't. The barrel swelled just forward of the frame, just a slight frosting of the blue. After that, gas leakage destroyed any accuracy.

[tek4260]

I have a Ruger New Vaquero(small frame) and mine shoots to POA with 11.0 grains of HS-6 and a 260 gr Keith Boolit. This is plenty stout for hunting.

[geargnasher]

My New Vaquero 7-1/2" shoots terribly low with 250 grain Lee, 454190, and 452664, so I load 305 grainers instead. My Uberti Cimarron Bisely absolutely loves 9.5 grains of HS6 with standard primers and any boolit about 12-14 bhn and 250 grains. Dead on POI. Both guns are picky about boolit weight and velocity as far as poi goes (most SAA-style pistols seem to be in my hands at least) so you may have to experiment to get good poi with your friend's gun.

Titegroup (5.3 grains just like someone else said, IME no more, no less) with 255 grain WW shoots 4-1/2" lower at 25 yards than 9.5-10 grains of HS6. A 305 grain boolit with 8.5 grains of HS6 shoots 3" high at 25 yards and a 340 grain with 8.0 grains shoots 6" high at 25. There is a lot that can be done with powders alone to make a 250 grain boolit hit where you
want it with those fixed sights.

Gear

Hope this helps

[RMc]

This article by Brian Pearce cites .45 Colt data for 14,000 psi, 20,000 psi and 32,000 psi. The 20,000 psi loads are for the New Vaquero.

http://www.riflemagazine.com/magazine/PDF/HL%20246partial.pdf