Ruger Vaquero 45LC

[Charles2506]

What is the size of the barrel and what type of boolits do yall recomend. also What brand of molds do yall like and does MP make one that will work like the hollow point and solid point change. New to casting and what other equip might i need i have lee pro 4-20, lots of scrap lead, what is better pan lubing or tumble and what about sizing lee vs. lyman or do i need to size at all.

[Cherokee]

Welcome to the forum.

1. Ruger barrel probably is .451" so yuou would want to start with .452" boolits and see how they shoot. Cylinder throats might be .451. Only way to know is to "slug" the barrel and throats. There are stickey's on these subjects, use the search freature. Hopefully the throats will be larger than the barrel measurement, then you would size bullets for the throat size.
2. I like the round nose flat point design (RNFP) but many like the semi-wadcutter (SWC).
3. Don't know what MP is. If its a mould maker, I am not familiar with it.
4. Again use the search feature for new casters, lots of posts on that subject.
5. I have always used the Lyman or Star sizers. No experience with pan or tumble lubing.
6. You migh not need to size boolits, that will depend on what measurements you get in #1 above and what their size is from the mould.

I'm sure others will jump in with more and better advice. It might be helpful to indicate your location, there might be one of us close to you that could give face to face help.

[geargnasher]

What is the size of the barrel and what type of boolits do yall recomend. also What brand of molds do yall like and does MP make one that will work like the hollow point and solid point change. New to casting and what other equip might i need i have lee pro 4-20, lots of scrap lead, what is better pan lubing or tumble and what about sizing lee vs. lyman or do i need to size at all.

Hi and welcome!

You ask two questions that are entirly impossible for any of us to answer over the internet.

First, all guns are different. You need to "slug" your bore to discover what size YOUR gun's groove dimensions are. Once you know that, you can usually do pretty well to size your boolits about one thousandth larger than the groove dimension of the barrel.

Second, and more importantly, you need to determine the diameter of all six cylinder throats, and determine if you have any "thread choke" where the barrel is screwed into the frame. The cylinder throats need to be the same as or a thousandth or two larger than the groove diameter, preferably larger, or the gun will lead the bore.

Third, only your gun will tell you what boolits it likes best, it will speak to you through the universal language of the target. That being said, for my first try I'd HIGHLY recommend the Lee 452-255-RF, I have a whole fleet of .45 Colt guns of all varieties and they all seem to really like that boolit if loaded so the case mouth roll-crimps into the top lube groove. Ignore the crimp groove and don't fill it with lube. This will just about max out an SAA cylinder, I don't know if you have the "new" small-frame Vaquero or full-sized version, but crimping in the top lube groove will fit either gun.

Last, back to the thread choke thing, Rugers are famous for this and it causes lots of problems. Some have it, some don't. You will need to slug it all the way through with a SOFT lead slug, then slug it to within about an inch of the frame from the muzzle end and drive it back out with short pieces of brass rod inserted through the cylinder opening in the frame and stacked one after another 'till you get the slug back out the muzzle. Compare the measurements of the two, and if the one that wasn't pushed through the frame area is larger than the one pushed all the way through, then you have thread choke and might need to address that if you have leading issues. But shoot it first and see either way.

There are some "sticky" threads here in the classics/stickies section that you might want to read, one of them is titled something about "revolver accuracy" and covers this all pretty well. Do a forum search for "barrel+slug" and see what that gets you for procedures.

Gears

[runfiverun]

most of all the o/m vaqueros i have ever dealt with liked .453 boolits.
but they also had long chambers.

[Wolfer]

I have a RNV that I dearly love. A good way to slug your barrel and cyl is with some 454 round balls for a cap and ball revolver. If you don't have access to any PM me and I'll send you some.
When I first got mine accuracy was pretty good with the lee 452-255 RF and 8 grs unique for around 950 fps. Leading was pretty bad and I'd have to clean it every 50 Rounds or so. My alloy was 3 parts lead to 1 part wheel weights. I've since changed to 2 to 1 with a bhn of 9.
I shot some commercial SWC with bhn of 16 but they leaded bad. I finally lapped my thread restriction out and polished the bore. Now I have no leading at all with my alloy. Often going 500 rounds between cleanings. Doesn't need it then, I just feel guilty.
My gun has all correct measurements, 4515 grove, 452 cyl, my molds all drop at 452.
Once I lapped my barrel I had to up my powder charge to 8.8 grs to get back to my target velocity.
I guess the smoother bore built less pressure?
I started with tumble lubeing these bullets as cast with no problems as far shooting goes but the lube would build up in my seating die and would have to keep adjusting it. Looking back I think I was putting too heavy a coat on them. I use LLA on my cast rifle boolits very thin with no problems.
I use this gun primarily for deer hunting hence the reason for the higher than normal velocity
I have several molds for this gun but the 255 RF is the most accurate by a very close margin.
I didn't like the way it performed on deer so have switched to the Lyman 452-424 that I had Eric hollow point 1 cav in. Had to go to 10 grs with the HP to get it to shoot to the front sight.
I've used clays for lighter loads, tightgroup for intermediate loads, unique for my heavy loads and haven't really found a load that wouldn't shoot. I didn't have very good luck with Blue dot or 2400
( I didn't want to shoot that heavy a load )

[Dale53]

charles2506;
I have a Ruger Bisley Vaquero and a SS Bisley .45 Colt/.45 ACP Convertible.

In the Vaquero, I have shot mostly the Lyman 452644. I have excellent results with that bullet cast 30/1 lead/tin with black powder. When using smokeless I prefer my normal alloy of WW's+2% tin.

My favorite bullet with my Convertible in the .45 Colt is the Mihec Clone of the RCBS 45-270-SAA in both hollow point and solid point. It weighs 285 grs solid point and about 270 in H.P.

I have not got around to shooting the Mihec bullet in my Vaquero, as yet so, I can't report whether it shoots to the sights or not. The Lyman bullet is "right on" at 25 yards with both black powder and equivalent in smokeless. If we ever get some decent shooting weather I'll eventually get around to trying it.

I had to ream my cylinders for best results with cast bullets. They are now at .4525" and I size my bullets to .452". The Lee sizer works quite well. I would suggest getting cast bullets with normal lube grooves and if money is tight, just pan lube, then size with the Lee sizer. That will give you excellent results.

I have a Star, an RCBS, and a Lyman sizer. I keep my Lyman full of black powder lube (Emmert's home mix) but run my smokeless pistol bullets through the Star. All work as advertised. The Star, of course, is much faster than the other two lube sizers.

Dale53

[contender1]

As you can see there are variations. You will have to experiment to find out what YOUR Vaquero likes. That's half the fun of casting, loading & shooting!

[sundog]

The only Ruger Vaquero 45 Colt that I had personal dealings with shot like **** until I reamed the cylinder throats to .4525. Both the Lee 452-200-RF and 452-255-RF shoot pretty good in it for cowboys shoots.

[prs]

SunDog's experience is similar to mine. Ruger really put some small throats in some of the old larger Vaquero models. My two Bisleys and plow handled units oncluded. I had to ream th throats before getting boolits to print on a pie pan sized target at 25 yards. The original throats were smaller than the barrel diameter! Ya gotta slug it! After reaming, all three are very nice shooters indeed. I shoot .454 boolits through .453 throats and down the barrels at .4515. I shoot mostly frontier cartridge and prefer my own PRS boolits for that, but Lyman 454190 is hard to beat for either real gunpowder or modern fodder. If you also shoot the ammo in a rifle, DO get a PRS mould or one of the new similar variations.

prs

[sundog]

Yeah, boy! Almost forgot about the 454190. That is a good shooter, too. Buckshot did me a HP conversion on a SC I picked up here on the board, and it's a first class dandy.

[x101airborne]

For starting out, I would go with the lee 255 rf. Without a doubt. It is easy for a first time caster to use and make really good boolits. It is cheap for starting out with, and for a reason, it is a lot of peoples favorite. The design is just really well done. It flies well, kills well, is very accurate and very forgiving in most revolvers. Semi-wadcutters also fill a niche, but you have to watch band fill out, nose fill out, then there is no gurantee that your gun will appreciate all your hard work.

Also try blue dot for powder. It is my fav in my 3 45 colts.

[Wolfer]

PRS. Are you the original pigeon roost slim?
Please correct me if I'm wrong because I'm wrong a lot! I believe Ruger stopped gang drilling their cylinders when they retooled for the new vaquero. Hence the newer ones are a lot more uniform.
Insteresting read is Marshall Stanton's article ( Ruger- Americas best do it yourself project ) it's at Beartooth bullets in tech notes

[prs]

PRS. Are you the original pigeon roost slim?
Please correct me if I'm wrong because I'm wrong a lot! I believe Ruger stopped gang drilling their cylinders when they retooled for the new vaquero. Hence the newer ones are a lot more uniform.
Insteresting read is Marshall Stanton's article ( Ruger- Americas best do it yourself project ) it's at Beartooth bullets in tech notes

Guilty! The original and one and only.

prs