Ruger Vaquero "Montado"

It’s all about the lowered montado hammer.

It is a copy of a superblackhawk hammer with different hammer stippling.

2nd from left

Supposedly. Ruger makes the hammer but won’t sell them. Cowboy action shooters like them.https://ruger.com/news/2007-04-12f.html

I swapped out my vaquero hammer with a super Blackhawk hammer and like it. The stock hammer was way to high.

I have found that if you shoot one handed the Super Blackhawk hammer is quite an improvement.
If you shoot two handed and cock the hammer with the off hand thumb the factory hammer is actually better.
At least this has been my experience with the two different hammers.

Here’s a different profile pic of the two hammers.

Short stroked cimarron 1873 has very similar profile. Built for speed.

Howdy

The Montado was a New Vaquero revolver designed specifically for Mounted Cowboy Action Shooting. Unlike regular CAS, where we 'stand and deliver', mounted shooting involves firing two pistols from horseback.

In the Mounted events, the rider gallops at full speed and fires blanks at balloons. The blanks spit out enough particles that they will burst a balloon if shot within ten or fifteen feet. Typically the rider will shoot five balloons with one pistol, holster while turning to come back, draw a second pistol and shoot five more balloons.

The Montado was introduced in 2007. It was Stainless with a short, 3 3/4" barrel, to improve holstering while galloping. The hammer spur was lower than the high hammer spur of the original New Vaquero, to make it easier to cock one handed while holding the reins with the other hand. It was only available chambered for 45 Colt because that is the only cartridge allowed in Mounted Shooting. Originally, the Mondado had grooves on the front of the grip frame for a firmer hold on the pistol, but these were deemed to be an illegal grip enhancement by SASS.

I seem to recall Ruger did not catalog the Montado model for very long, perhaps there were not enough sales to continue producing it. There are after market hammers available that have the same general shape as the original Montado hammer.

I don't know one end of a horse from the other, but I did get to try Mounted shooting once. There was a Mounted event at a large State match. At one point the announcer asked if there were any volunteers who would like to try, and I got my hand up faster than anyone. I was handed a couple of revolvers loaded with blanks, and I rode in a two wheeled cart with a driver handling the reins. I remember him asking me if I had ever shot a single action revolver before. I just grinned. Somewhere I have a photo of me leaning way out of the cart to shoot a balloon, but I can't seem to find it.

Anyway, that is where the Montado hammers came from.

Montado being Spanish for "mounted", in keeping with the Vaquero's seemingly "Old Mexico" motif.

Here are some videos of Cowboy Action Mounted Shooting.

These guys shoot faster than I can just standing on the ground.

Catch the action with the rifles too.

I do notice that some of these competitors have both pistols next to each other on their belts. That is illegal in normal CAS, holsters have to be on either side of the belt buckle, but the rules are different for mounted shooting.

Don't forget, they are shooting single action revolvers and they have to cock the hammer for each shot.

Very cool, I'll have to keep an eye out for a used one. I noticed they don't seem to be stamped Montado, just New Vaquero, so I guess you have to really pay attention to the hammer to identify them.

Davidson’s gun genie says they have 45 of these in stock .

They sell these as sets also.

Well you can look at the Ruger website as well...

https://ruger.com/news/2007-04-12f.html

Ruger Introduces the New Ruger® Vaquero® Montado Single-Action Revolver
April 12, 2007
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR), is proud to introduce the new Ruger® Vaquero® Montado single-action revolver that meets the needs of cowboy mounted shooters.

"Since their introduction in late 2004, the Ruger New Vaquero single-action revolvers have continued to dominate in all aspects of cowboy action shooting," said Sturm, Ruger CEO, Mike Fifer. "That commitment continues with the new Ruger Vaquero Montado, designed especially for cowboy mounted shooters."

Constructed of corrosion-resistant stainless steel and built on the frame of the Ruger New Vaquero, the Vaquero Montado is chambered in .45 Colt. It features a shorter 3-3/4" barrel to reduce size and weight, and improve holstering at a full gallop. Additional features include a deeply checkered, low, wide hammer spur to ease one-handed cocking and grooves on the front of the grip frame to help the shooter keep a firm grip under competitive conditions.

The Vaquero Montado incorporates the New Vaquero's slimmer pre-1962 "XR-3"-style grip frame and a smaller cylinder frame with a unique reverse indexing pawl, which positively aligns the cylinder with the loading gate cutout for easy loading and unloading of cartridges. The Vaquero Montado also features the New Vaquero's hammer spring for the smoothest, easiest cocking ever. A beveled cylinder for easier holstering, checkered "hard rubber" grips, and a crescent-shaped ejector rod head are additional features designed to aid in the handling and shooting of the Vaquero Montado.

For more information on the new Ruger Vaquero Montado, a Davidson's Exclusive, visit www.galleryofguns.com or www.ruger.com. For more information on the extensive line of other Ruger products and services, visit www.ruger.com.

Didn't I already say all that?

Don't you believe me?

I was there.

Driftwood Johnson said:

Here are some videos of Cowboy Action Mounted Shooting.

These guys shoot faster than I can just standing on the ground.

Catch the action with the rifles too.

I do notice that some of these competitors have both pistols next to each other on their belts. That is illegal in normal CAS, holsters have to be on either side of the belt buckle, but the rules are different for mounted shooting.

Don't forget, they are shooting single action revolvers and they have to cock the hammer for each shot.

Click to expand...

Man, that looks like a lot of fun!

Fleetwood,

My post is a link to the Ruger website. It casts no shade on your excellent posts. Your posts actually tell and show more about the purpose of the gun than the Ruger website. You also explain cowboy action mounted shooting some.

Ruger's site tells a bit more on the specific features of the Montado in 2007. It also shows Ruger's explanation and description of the gun.

tipoc

tipoc said:

Well you can look at the Ruger website as well...

https://ruger.com/news/2007-04-12f.html

Ruger Introduces the New Ruger® Vaquero® Montado Single-Action Revolver
April 12, 2007
View attachment 910500Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR), is proud to introduce the new Ruger® Vaquero® Montado single-action revolver that meets the needs of cowboy mounted shooters.

"Since their introduction in late 2004, the Ruger New Vaquero single-action revolvers have continued to dominate in all aspects of cowboy action shooting," said Sturm, Ruger CEO, Mike Fifer. "That commitment continues with the new Ruger Vaquero Montado, designed especially for cowboy mounted shooters."

Constructed of corrosion-resistant stainless steel and built on the frame of the Ruger New Vaquero, the Vaquero Montado is chambered in .45 Colt. It features a shorter 3-3/4" barrel to reduce size and weight, and improve holstering at a full gallop. Additional features include a deeply checkered, low, wide hammer spur to ease one-handed cocking and grooves on the front of the grip frame to help the shooter keep a firm grip under competitive conditions.

The Vaquero Montado incorporates the New Vaquero's slimmer pre-1962 "XR-3"-style grip frame and a smaller cylinder frame with a unique reverse indexing pawl, which positively aligns the cylinder with the loading gate cutout for easy loading and unloading of cartridges. The Vaquero Montado also features the New Vaquero's hammer spring for the smoothest, easiest cocking ever. A beveled cylinder for easier holstering, checkered "hard rubber" grips, and a crescent-shaped ejector rod head are additional features designed to aid in the handling and shooting of the Vaquero Montado.

For more information on the new Ruger Vaquero Montado, a Davidson's Exclusive, visit www.galleryofguns.com or www.ruger.com. For more information on the extensive line of other Ruger products and services, visit www.ruger.com.

Click to expand...

I wish all of their blackhawks and super blackhawks had the special indexing feature. If I'm understanding it, it means that the pawl clicks when a cylinder is aligned with the loading gate. Don't know how many times I've accidentally turned the cylinder too far waiting for the click... I'm sure they have their reasons though and it's a minor thing I've gotten used to.

Olon said:

I wish all of their blackhawks and super blackhawks had the special indexing feature. If I'm understanding it, it means that the pawl clicks when a cylinder is aligned with the loading gate. Don't know how many times I've accidentally turned the cylinder too far waiting for the click... I'm sure they have their reasons though and it's a minor thing I've gotten used to.

Click to expand...

New Vaqueros have a small spring plunger set in the frame at just the right position so that when the loading gate is open and the cylinder can spin freely, the cylinder ratchet teeth will click on the plunger. This keeps the chambers lined up with the loading gate for loading and unloading. To rotate the cylinder for the next chamber, spinning the cylinder one direction by hand (I forget which direction) the ratchet teeth will depress the plunger, and it wll pop up again to catch the next tooth. I thought this was pretty cool when I first saw it, because I too used to get frazzled every time my Blackhawk or 'original model' Vaquero cylinders rotated just a tad too far, and I could not load or unload that chamber without going all the way around again.






Which is exactly why I installed Powder Custom Half Cock hammers on my 'original model' Vaqueros.

The Powder Custom Half Cock Hammers have a half cock position on them. The hammer goes to half cock just like a Colt, with the chamber lining up perfectly with the loading gate. No more cursing over having to go around again. No, they are not cheap, but it was worth it to me.

Here is one of my 'original model' Vaqueros with the hammer set at half cock. The chamber is perfectly lined up for loading and unloading.





http://powercustom.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=12