[Ten Man]

Howdy!

I'm a new member to Ruger Forum, but not new to Gun Forums or Ruger Firearms.

To my knowledge, there has not been a "convertible" 45ACP Cylinder for the Ruger Vaquero in 45 Colt.

Is that true, or did I miss it when it was being made?

 

[guncheese]

im pretty sure these RUGER BLACKHAWK FLATTOP 45 ACP | 45 COLT
are new vaquero size frames (but there not really vaqueros)
so there ya have it
and they make them in .357/9mm as well
and stainless

and of course there are these
http://ruger.com/products/vaqueroDE/specSheets/5144.html
http://ruger.com/products/vaqueroDE/specSheets/5141.html

 

[Ten Man]

and of course there are these
Ruger Vaquero® Distributor Exclusives Single-Action Revolver Model 5144
Ruger Vaquero® Distributor Exclusives Single-Action Revolver Model 5141

Thanks.

Close, but no cigar. Those are the New Vaquero.

I have two stainless Vaqueros in 45 Colt.

 

[Gary A]

There were indeed runs of Vaquero .45 convertibles on the large frame, blued and stainless and Davidson's has offered the New Vaquero as a .45 convertible in stainless and, I'm pretty certain in blued at one time. Currently, only the stainless version is offered. A week or so ago they showed no inventory of 5 1/2 inch guns but a fair supply of 4 5/8 inch guns were listed. I have two stainless 4 5/8 inch guns and they are superb.

 

[Varminterror]

Ruger did make a large frame convertible 45acp/colt: KBNV-45X, aka Model #0519

 

[bwinters]

I had a large frame convertible. I sold it for another ruger. Good hunting.

 

[Ten Man]

There were indeed runs of Vaquero .45 convertibles on the large frame, blued and stainless ........

EXCELLENT!

Thanks for the info. It seems I DID miss them when they had them available.

That means I MAY have a chance of getting my Vaqueros retrofitted with the .45ACP cylinders, in addition to the .45 Colt cylinders.

I will contact Ruger and see if they can help me get a pair of the original .45ACP cylinders fitted to my current Vaqueros.

 

[Varminterror]

EXCELLENT!

Thanks for the info. It seems I DID miss them when they had them available.

That means I MAY have a chance of getting my Vaqueros retrofitted with the .45ACP cylinders, in addition to the .45 Colt cylinders.

I will contact Ruger and see if they can help me get a pair of the original .45ACP cylinders fitted to my current Vaqueros.

Nope. They only fit acp cylinders to models with serial numbers that were shipped as convertibles. You can occasionally get lucky and talk them into it, or you can occasionally claim a lost cylinder and beg them to change it to acp instead, but by and large, it doesn't work most of the time. Ain't cheap either.

There are 45acp cylinders on the used market to be had, or .357mag cylinders you could ream to 45acp if you're impatient.

 

[guncheese]

Close, but no cigar.

ooopppss
i thought you were asking about New Vaqueros
sometimes my reading/comprehension skills are a bit wonkey

 

[Iowegan]

Ten Man, Indeed Ruger did make the older heavy frame Vaquero in a 45 ACP/ 45 Colt convertible. I was fortunate to find one. These were a "Special Edition" ... 500 were made for Davidson's (large distributor) back in 2002.

Here's my KBNV-455X-C ... still LNIB:

As Varminterror noted ... Ruger's policy is to fit 45 ACP replacement cylinders only in guns that were already configured as a convertible.

 

[sfc rick]

My 1999 production Special Edition Vaquero convertible that I found a few months ago for $600. .45LC/.45acp

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Since there were, in fact, some converts made, it will do no harm to call Ruger and see if they will fit an ACP cylinder to your gun.

Hey . . . ya never know til ya try.

 

[Iowegan]

Ale-8(1), You're right ... it doesn't hurt to ask. Based on my conversation with a Ruger manager a few year back .... guns manufactured by Ruger are databased by catalog number, which is shared with BATFE. If a gun is modified (ie accessory cylinder, different barrel length, or grip frame fitted) it becomes a different model, which requires changing Ruger's internal records and notifying BATFE (by letter) of the change. If that different model already exists, then it's not quite as involved. If the model doesn't exist, likely Ruger will NOT create a new catalog number just to satisfy the situation .... much easier to just say no. As it was explained to me .... it takes way longer to do the paper work than to fit a cylinder.

No doubt ... Ruger has violated their own policy and fitted accessory cylinders before, however it is very unlikely unless you have connections within Ruger management that are willing to spend the time doing the paperwork .

 

[Ten Man]

Well, it won't hurt to ask. The worst they can do is say "No."

I have always found Ruger Customer Service to be VERY helpful.

Getting two new cylinders to fit the out-of-production guns is probably going to be as easy as finding hen's teeth, but I figure that if it's only a matter of money, then why not try?

The only other alternatives are to find used ones for sale (obese probability), or just live with them as they were made.

I can always shoot .45ACP from another hand gun. It's just nice not to chase brass, or mess with "moon clips" like the S&W 625. (I sold my S&W 625, because of the PITA of "moon clips.")

 

[GeoJammy]

Ten Man - I have a Vaquero .45LC in polished stainless - and I've wanted a .45ACP cylinder for years. I found a .45/.45 New Model Blackhawk convertible here locally. I checked and sure enough the ACP cylinder fit very well. The B/C gap is a tiny bit big - and it aligns (guesstimating) a couple of thousandths to one side on each chamber (I used new un-primed ACP brass in the cylinder and shined a small light down the barrel to check each chamber - one edge of the new brass was partially obscured by a tiny bit on each chamber). A couple of thousandth's one way or the other is well within Ruger's tolerances from what I have seen! Ford's has agreed to re-finish it in polished chrome for $70. It probably won't match perfectly - but it is the closest I could get.

I paid $400 for the Blackhawk convertible - scavenged the ACP cylinder from it then sold the (now) LC-only Blackhawk for $350. ACP cylinders are hit or miss on Fleabay - and you always run the (probably small) chance of it not fitting correctly. I'm certainly not an expert - but the real experts here on RF have observed that the cylinder's tend to fit pretty well when you attempt a swap-in like I did - especially with a .22 Single-Six.

The only sad thing is I regret selling the BH for $350 - a .45/45 at one of the bigger LGS's is stickered at $669!!

Edited to add: Although I get strange looks at the LGS - I take six new un-primed nickel-plated .38 cases with me when I go to buy a .357 - most recent was a 3-inch GP-100. It lined up close enough for Gov't work - the cylinder was consistently off to one side by less than the Blackhawk mentioned above. For any who might mock this technique - remember that the human eye (even my crummy vision) has a remarkable ability to detect out-of-concentric circles. So, even if a cylinder lines up off by just a little bit - it's easy to detect with nickeled brass and a good light...

 

[dakota1911]

The two older Vaqueros on the left are 45LC/45ACP convertibles as is the Blackhawk on the right. I did put some black perl grips from the old Ajax Co. on the polished SS Vaquero. Call Ruger but if the gun did not start out as a convertible then they will not make you a second cylinder. If you lost one cylinder then they will is what I have heard.

 

[Tommyomiller]

There were indeed runs of Vaquero .45 convertibles on the large frame, blued and stainless and Davidson's has offered the New Vaquero as a .45 convertible in stainless and, I'm pretty certain in blued at one time. Currently, only the stainless version is offered. A week or so ago they showed no inventory of 5 1/2 inch guns but a fair supply of 4 5/8 inch guns were listed. I have two stainless 4 5/8 inch guns and they are superb.

I'm new to this forum and am interested in the model 5144 are there any available anywhere?

 

[Gary A]

Right now Davidson's is showing zero inventory of model 5144. I'm sure there are new ones out there in the marketplace but couldn't tell you how to find one for sure. I think there will be another run of them.

 

[Gary A]

Davidsons is showing zero inventory for model 5144, 4.62" barrel and also zero 5141s, 5.5" barrel. I'm sure they will return. There is a 5.5" listed on gunbroker.com, new.

Sorry for the double post.