Ruger Vaquero Auction Finds, Schmidt-Rubin 7.5×55 Swiss & May Cowboy Action Guns

Estimated reading time: 4 min

Six and a Half Years on the Air

[00:02]

The show opened with a quick look back at how far the Gunslinger Syndicated Radio Network has come. Six and a half years ago it launched as a single hour on a Saturday evening in California, pre-taped for the first couple of months because the original station was not confident enough in a live firearms show to let it run unfiltered. The crew had to drive into Los Angeles every Thursday afternoon, fight the 10 freeway at rush hour through the Washington and 405 interchange, and tape the segment in a window the station grudgingly provided. From that inauspicious start it has grown to a multi-state syndicated broadcast reaching San Diego, Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and San Francisco, plus YouTube, Facebook, Rumble, and X.

Robert from Florida: Vaqueros, Vegas, and Cowboy Action

[01:24]

Robert, the show’s most geographically far-ranging regular caller, checked in from Florida. He holds the record for the most distant phone call in the show’s history, having called in previously from Thailand and Mexico among other locations. This week he reported picking up a pair of Ruger Vaqueros at a recent Gunslinger Auctions sale, barely pausing to look at them before putting them in the safe and heading to the airport. The Ruger Vaquero is a single-action revolver built on a transfer-bar design that makes it one of the more durable and shootable cowboy action platforms available. The crew’s assessment: you can put a thousand rounds through one, put it away, and it will be ready next time without complaint.

Robert also gave an enthusiastic recommendation for the Las Vegas Antique Arms Show, calling it a once-in-a-lifetime experience worth making the trip for. He expressed interest in attending a cowboy action shooting match and noted that the May 30 auction has cowboy action guns on the way, including several SKB side-by-side shotguns. SKBs are well-regarded in the cowboy shooting community for their durability and period-appropriate appearance. The crew confirmed that multiple examples are in the upcoming catalog, available to follow at HiBid or Proxibid when it goes live around April 30.

Robert also mentioned picking up a Browning over-under at a previous auction and has been competing with it in sporting clays. The conversation wound down with Robert cheerfully admitting that calling in costs him money every time because he ends up buying something.

Should You Sell a Schmidt-Rubin in 7.5×55 Swiss?

[06:26]

An online viewer named Melissa asked whether she should sell her Schmidt-Rubin Swiss Army rifle. The crew identified it as a straight-pull bolt-action chambered in 7.5×55 Swiss (GP11), a cartridge that occupies an interesting position in the collector and long-range shooting world. It is a capable round, accurate at distance, and historically significant as the standard Swiss service cartridge for much of the twentieth century. The problem is availability: factory 7.5×55 Swiss ammunition is increasingly hard to come by at standard retailers, and the shooters who run these rifles most happily tend to be handloaders who can keep the brass alive and tune loads to the platform.

The practical answer the crew offered was straightforward: if you plan to shoot it, keep it. The Schmidt-Rubin has a following among long-range and Wild Bunch competitors who appreciate the straight-pull action’s speed and the cartridge’s inherent accuracy. If it is sitting in a safe collecting dust with no shooting plans attached to it, consigning it through Gunslinger Auctions puts it in front of buyers who will actually use it, and lets the auction process set a fair market price. Either way, a Schmidt-Rubin in good condition is worth more than most people expect.

The Atkins Diet, Cherry Coke Withdrawals, and the 91 Freeway

[07:23]

One of the hosts reported starting a strict Atkins diet on Monday, down three and a half pounds in the first week. He had done it before, dropping 55 pounds five years ago and keeping it off for a couple of years before putting 20 back on following a surgery. Twenty pounds back is the personal line in the sand, and crossing it sent him back to the protocol. The dietary math is working. The withdrawal symptoms are not pleasant. Cherry Coke is the specific casualty, and the first few days of cutting it produced the kind of fatigue and mental fog that made a 90-minute commute covering 30 miles on the 91 freeway feel approximately twice as long as it actually was. Meat, salads, and vegetables are carrying the load. Soda, sweets, and ice cream are not. The segment closed with the hosts teasing each other about root beer and pie while the diet holds.