[rclark]

Well, Brian Peace's son downed a large Black Bear (hunting) with a .45 Colt revolver (documented in a Handloader magazine). The revolver was the 'medium frame' flattop (same as the New Vaquero).... Not the large frame. I load mine with the Linebaugh HS-6 load (Tier 2) which works in both my medium and large frame revolvers. That's my 'carry' round for the woods. I kind of let 'other' real-world experiences be my guide when selecting a woods defense revolver as my experence is limited. Max Prasac books are a good reference of 'real' hunter experiences too. Seyfried, Linebaugh, and others.... Read up.

That said, I reload, so can taylor my loads. Since you don't you have choices of wimpy (usually) factory .45 Colt loads, or Ruger Only Loads (Buffalo Bore) which are only safe in the large frame revolvers. Might want to look around for a large frame original Vaquero or BH.

 

[rclark]

Yes that has been my finding too that the vaquero won't hold up to heavy rounds, but my understanding was that the New Vaquero also can't handle .357 either, maybe that was just the Birds Head models idk.

I just want to make clear that the New Vaquero .357 will handle ANY and ALL .357 SAAMI loads you put in it. Remember this was over built even back in '55 when the medium frame was introduced, and the New Vaquero is on the same frame. Look at the mass of steel around those 6 holes... Then compare to the .44Mag which runs at the same pressure ... See what I mean? And materials are probably better today than even then.... No that's a o' wives tale about the New Vaquero can't handle .357 loads.... The ONLY thing you MIGHT run into is loads with lots of mass in front of the case which may extend a bit beyond the cylinder and ty it up. Other than that you will have no worries about what you put in your .357 ( birds head or not... frame/cylinder is the same).

I'll pack my .45s. But that's just me.