NGD - 2004 Vaquero

[arcticruger]

Spent the weekend at the gun show. Came home with a couple newer Rugers. One of them was a 2004 Vaquero 44 magnum with box and paper work. As it was on consignment, the dealer couldn’t tell me if it has been shot or not. Looks new though.

I don’t know anything about the Vaquero pistols, but at $519.95 out the door, I couldn’t pass it up.

[flattop44]

That's a great looking Vaquero and a heck of a deal. Good score for you.
Bill

[RugerfanAustria]

A great revolver at a really good price, congratulations.

[chet15]

An interesting story about that model.
In 1993/1994 just after the Vaquero was introduced, Ruger shortly thereafter started making the series in .44-40.
Then a couple big collectors started seeing a handful of Vaquero's with 4-5/8" barrels and in .44 Mag., both in the stainless version as well as the CCH model. Both were uncataloged!!!
Turns out that as Ruger produced the short barrel in .44-40, when they ran out of .44-40 cylinders they just installed a .44 Mag. and shipped the gun out, evidently not knowing the BNV-474 and KBNV-474 weren't cataloged.
Soon collectors started catching wind of these two models and prices reached the $1K to $1,200 level.
Distributors were starting to get questions from collectors about whether they had any of the short barrels in and eventually the distributors just started asking for production runs. By the time the Vaquero was discontinued, the BNV-474 and KBNV-474 were among the most popular models.
Not sure why Ruger didn't come out with a 4-5/8 version to start with anyway.
Chet15

[arcticruger]

An interesting story about that model.
In 1993/1994 just after the Vaquero was introduced, Ruger shortly thereafter started making the series in .44-40.
Then a couple big collectors started seeing a handful of Vaquero's with 4-5/8" barrels and in .44 Mag., both in the stainless version as well as the CCH model. Both were uncataloged!!!
Turns out that as Ruger produced the short barrel in .44-40, when they ran out of .44-40 cylinders they just installed a .44 Mag. and shipped the gun out, evidently not knowing the BNV-474 and KBNV-474 weren't cataloged.
Soon collectors started catching wind of these two models and prices reached the $1K to $1,200 level.
Distributors were starting to get questions from collectors about whether they had any of the short barrels in and eventually the distributors just started asking for production runs. By the time the Vaquero was discontinued, the BNV-474 and KBNV-474 were among the most popular models.
Not sure why Ruger didn't come out with a 4-5/8 version to start with anyway.
Chet15

Very interesting, thanks for the info! Good stuff.
Never really cared for the Vaquero, but now want to find out everything about them. Funny how that works.