Ruger Vaquero Buyers, Gun Rights History & Identifying Choke on a Western Field .410

Estimated reading time: 4 min

Robert from Tampa: Two Ruger Vaqueros and a Good Reason to Buy

[00:45]

Robert had been holding on the line for 37 minutes and was not shy about it, though he made clear the show was the reason he stayed. He called in from Tampa, Florida, a regular listener who has tuned in from Thailand and back. His topic was straightforward: on Valentine’s Day he had called the shop and, with help from one of the crew, walked away with two Ruger Vaqueros. He drove down, picked them up, and by his own account has barely touched them since. They went straight into the safe.

That is not an unusual story for a gun bought on the strength of a recommendation from someone whose opinion you trust. The crew had talked up the Vaquero on a previous show, Robert heard it, called, and made the move. The guns are there when he is ready. He also mentioned seeing several standout pieces from a past Gunslinger Auctions event in Las Vegas, including a John Wayne piece and a Colt with notable Mexican railroad provenance, both of which he described as genuinely impressive in person. The crew noted that the May auction is shaping up to be equally strong, with the catalog available on HiBid and Proxibid as the date approaches.

Robert also echoed the point that had come up earlier in the show about advertising and visibility: you need to worry when people stop talking about you. The moment the conversation stops, you have already lost ground. It is the same principle the crew had applied to the SASS situation, and it holds just as well for any business or organization trying to hold an audience.

Dave from Whittier: Stay in the Fight

[05:38]

Dave from Whittier spent a moment on Norco before getting to his main point. He noted that Sixth Street in Norco is believed to be one of the only streets in the country where the centerline lane dividers run red, white, and blue rather than the standard yellow or white, a detail the crew confirmed with some enthusiasm. Norco has long carried the “Horsetown USA” designation and the equestrian culture that goes with it.

Dave’s main point was about staying engaged in the gun rights fight. He referenced the nationwide push to pass sweeping gun control legislation in early 2013 and the organized resistance that helped stop it. His message was direct: that kind of fight does not end. Bills keep coming. The people who care have to keep showing up, keep tracking legislation, and treat it as an ongoing commitment rather than a single battle. He pointed to news about Canada’s pistol restrictions as a reminder that what happens elsewhere is not as far away as it might seem. Organizations like the California Rifle and Pistol Association exist specifically to carry that load at the state level, and staying connected to them is one of the most practical things a California gun owner can do.

Ed from Riverside: Identifying Choke on an Unmarked Western Field .410

[08:28]

Ed from Riverside had a practical question. He owns a Western Field bolt-action .410 shotgun with a tube magazine under the barrel, accepting both 2-3/4 and 3-inch shells. Nowhere on the gun is a choke designation marked. He had already done the right thing: pulled out a micrometer and measured the bore diameter at the muzzle himself. His reading came in around .477 inches, and he was wondering what that indicated.

The crew’s read was that a single-barrel bolt-action .410 of that era almost certainly left the factory with a full choke. That configuration was standard for that type of gun. Without a marked choke and without a proper gauge to drop in and confirm, the crew’s recommendation was to bring it by the Gunslinger shop in Orange, where they have a gauge that will give a definitive answer quickly. Ed confirmed he would do exactly that.

The practical concern behind Ed’s question is a real one: shooting slugs through a full-choke barrel is not something you want to do by accident. For a .410 the risk may be lower than with a larger gauge, but the principle holds. When choke designation is unknown, verify before you run anything through it that the barrel was not designed to handle. If you have a similar question about a shotgun in your collection, the same offer stands: bring it in to Gunslinger Auctions in Orange and the crew will sort it out.