Ruger Bearcat

[TailGator]

Bearcat small.jpg

I have wanted a Bearcat for a long time, and haven't seen one on a shelf in years, so as I retirement present for myself I went looking, found one on an auction site, and made a successful bid.

I know there is nothing practical about it, but I wanted it, so there!

Price was neither a bargain nor exorbitant. When it arrived at my local FFL I was very pleased, both with the like-new condition and the tight, nicely crafted piece.

I'm not sure this little revolver was ever fired. Besides being pristinely clean, it had no hint of a turn line, and on its first trip to the range I found some chambers uncomfortably tight, and they loosened enough to be easier to load and extract with eight or so cylinders being fired.

I had read some reports of poor sight alignment with the fixed-sight model, but took a chance. The picture shows the first six shots, and even though the range was just fifteen feet, I think it's clear that sight alignment is not a problem on this example.

My wife and I both enjoyed it, and that is its sole purpose, so good buy.

[micromontenegro]

Congrats. The world needs more small revolvers

[44 AMP]

that would be one of the "new" ones, I think.

[gwpercle]

That's Awesome ... Nice little shooter you got there !

I believe that ... " I wanted it " ... is an excellent reason for your Retirement Gift ...

I used that same excuse for my Retirement Gift ... a Ruger Wrangler ...

Wanted a 4 5/8" barreled Single Action my whole life ... I Love it ...

Keep On Keeping On ...
Gary

[TailGator]

44 Amp: Quite correct, "New", meaning, I believe, that it incorporates a transfer bar. It was made in 2014, which also fits.

[44 AMP]

Yes, to me, its one of the "new ones".

Dad got Mom a Super Bearcat in the early 70s. IIRC he paid $57 and got them to throw in a left handed holster. (Mom was left handed).

Old style Colt lockwork (no transfer bar, empty chamber under the hammer for safe carry) steel grip frame, not alloy (that was the "Super" part) fixed sights,

Mom was a small lady, 4'10" (and a half, damnit!) wore a size 3.5 ring, and weighed just a bit over 100lbs. The Bearcat was perfect for her. She got quite good with it, too. Good enough to be affectionately nicknamed Annie Oakley by friends and family.

Grip was too small for me at age 15, but I did get to shoot it quite a bit. Fine little pistol. Accurate if the ammo you had shot to the sights. IF it didn't, you got different ammo.

None of the originals were stainless, all had the old model lockwork, (as far as I know) when Ruger reintroduced production, the guns had transfer bars (new model lockwork) and stainless was an option.

Great little gun, and this reminds me that since my brother kept Mom's pistol after Mom and Dad passed, I need to get one, for my grandaughter...

[44caliberkid]

My wife has a Bearcat. She loves it. I occasionally ask if I can sell it, No!

[DaleA]

If you're in the market and aren't as lucky as lucky as TailGator I'd suggest the Ruger Super Wrangler. IMhO it's far superior to the Heritage offering or even the older Ruger Wrangler. The Super Wrangler comes with adjustable sights and both a .22LR and .22WMR cylinder.

P.S.
TailGator---VERY nice find!

[Aguila Blanca]

Question: THe general styling of how the grips meet the frame in the Bearcat appears to have been copied after the 19th century Remington revolvers rather than Colts. Is the Bearcat lockwork copied from Colt's revolvers, or was the lockwork also copied from Remington?

Bearcat: https://ruger.com/productImages/0912/detail/1.jpg

Remington 1858: https://external-content.duckduckgo....aec&ipo=images

[TailGator]

AB, I don't have the expertise to answer your question directly, but Ruger documents refer to it as being "based on older Remington single-actions of the 1800's," so I suspect that the answer is that the lockwork more closely resembled Remington than Colt.

http://www.ruger.com/products/newBearcat/index.html

[bamaranger]

I stumbled up on an early Bearcat about 15 yrs ago. Mine needed a cylinder base pin, but eBay solved that. It has not been back to Ruger for an "upgrade" and I don't intend to send it. Does not shoot exactly to point of aim, but close enough at 15 yds to roll coke cans if you hold on the right edge. Grip is small, sights tiny, but the Bearcat's are delightful little SA revolvers in appearance and workmanship.

I can't say about the lockwork, but I believe the appearance resembles the Remington revolvers externally. The geometry of the frame, the scallop where the grip meets the frame, the early pistols had the brass inset at the trigger guard, .....all they need would be a flange or plunger under the barrel. The flange would be a nifty custom touch should someone undertake the project.

I pocket carried mine in my big GI wool pants when bowhunting for whitetails for a number of years, intended more as a signaling device than anything else. More recently, I have given some thought to toting it while trout fishing in E. Tennessee for that reason and more. It should fit in an inner pocket of my fishing vest with no problem. They are slim, light revolvers.

[s3779m]

That is one really good looking pistol!!, shoots great!!, AND your wife likes it!!. I'd say you hit the trifecta.

[JERRYS.]

Nice!!
I wanted one bad but because of it's relative impractical use for me I talked myself in to a wrangler bird's head.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I reamed mine out to fire 22mag. I've seen 32 mag conversions as well.

They are nice little revolvers.

[bamaranger]

Dimension wise, are the Wrangler and the Bearcat the same size?

[Jim Watson]

I think the Wrangler is about the same size as a Single Six, just cheaper made.

[stinkeypete]

The Bearcat is much smaller than the Wrangler. It's like a little jewel.

I made custom black micarta grips for mine, and a matching Kabar folding knife with the same panels. They are lovely little swiss bank vauilts.

Wranglers? Nice for the price.

[Bob Wright]

Bob Wright

[Jim Watson]

You could get up a nice little collection of Bearcat variants.
Original aluminum, later steel. "Brass" (anodized aluminum) trigger guard, black.
Is that two guns, three, or four?

[TailGator]

There is a "shopkeeper" version, too, with a birdshead grip and a shorter barrel.
Three inch, if I remember correctly.

Yeah, that would be a fun collecting target. Might have to start hiding them from my wife at some point, though.

(I bought a memory supplement, but I forgot where I put it.)

[Jim Watson]

Yes, there are several current variants, but I was thinking of the early guns without transfer bars.
Trivia: Ruger developed the transfer bar in the Bearcat but it was the last to get one in production.

[Armybrat]

Gifted my Shopkeeper to my youngest grandson last year for his 13th birthday

[tinhorn]

Oh, man, you got a stainless one to boot! My wife's stainless one sports pearl grips. Beautiful combination.

After trying out a Single Six and a Wrangler, my wife decided that the Bearcat was perfect. The Single Six and Wrangler are the same large frame size, and the Bearcat is noticeably smaller. She loves it, and is a regular deadeye. I like it, too, and found a Super that—I swear—was never taken out of its box for the last half century. I couldn't bear to shoot it so I bought another one that had been properly beat up and scarred.

I love Bearcats. And I found that they're the same size as an 1849 Colt Pocket Model. A Wells Fargo version fits right into my Bearcat holster.

[44 AMP]

I got a chance to examine one of the current production guns the other day, and was slightly surprised, It has a transfer bar, but does not have the other features of the Ruger "new model" lockwork.

Other than the transfer bar, the operation of the action is straight Colt pattern. The hammer has to be on half cock to free the cylinder for loading and unloading.

[bamaranger]

Regards collecting, I think the crown jewel of a Bearcat collection would be the early Super Bearcats. Not sure of all the facts, but a small number were supposedly set up with .22WMR cylinders......I dunno if there was a second cylinder in .22 lr or not.