Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Ruger Bearcat

Alway liked the looks of em, ordered one couple days ago. Original model, anyone use one? Figger it would be a good grouse/fishin/light sidearm.

I’ve got a stainless from when they only made them with fixed sights. Those sights sucked badly but I otherwise really liked the gun. I sent it off to David Clements for adjustable sight conversion and a trigger job. Now I really, really like it. It’s accurate and handy.

I’ve got a stainless adj sight model and it’s a sweet shooter but so is a S&W 63 3” 22. Both are good grouse and rabbit guns.

Just put an older one on layaway. With box, shipper and everything front the factory. PLUS the magnum cylinder, both look unfired. Cant wait.

Have owned several Bearcats in the past.

My latest purchase was a Ruger Wrangler birds head, with a 3-3/4" barrel.

I'm liking this little revolver better than my old Bear cats!

It's about the same size, but the Birds head grip fits my hand better.

Virgil B.

I always liked their looks, too. Always intended to get one, going back to the 1980s, but have yet to do so. They seem like really cool little revolvers.

i still have mine from 1973 in its box with its papers , my problem with a bear cat pistol yes its a very nice handgun but my hands are to big for that dandy little pistol.

Hickok45 has Chewbacca hands, and he seems to think the grips are workable due to the extended length of pull afforded by the Remington frame pattern.

I love single actions. Cool look, old-timey feel. But, that said, for a functional .22lr firearm for actual use in the field...

Smith Model 63

Judman: Like Pete53 above the nifty little Ruger Bearcats are just way to small for me.
I have bought and sold a bunch of them over the last 5 decades and have made a bunch of profit off of them.
People like them and they always bring MUCH attention at gunshows and gunshops.
I hope you enjoy that nifty and popular little pistol.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Watch out for the "Shopkeeper." Short barrel with a short ejection rod. It won't push the empty shell clear of the cylinder.

I've owned 2 Bearcats. The first (through my hands) was a stainless standard model. It didn't shoot to point of aim, off about 2:00 as I recall, and without tools to rotate the barrel there wasn't much I could do with it. Tried a couple dozen kinds of ammo (back in the day when that was an over the counter one trip to the gun store option), got nowhere, so I sold it. The second was an old model, unconverted, made in 1963 if I remember right. It had a fair bit of holster wear but had apparently been fired very little. Not sure about that combination, maybe someone's kit gun they didn't plink with, maybe a trapline gun. It was not very accurate even for what it was and it had the same not-to-point-of-aim issue as well. I sold it, too.

I don't think I'd buy a Bearcat that didn't have adjustable sights. That's just me, my priorities. I need the bullets to go where the sights point just as much as I need them to land close together. Bearcats so far have neither crossed the t-s nor dotted the i-s. The idea is good, delivery not so good. IMHO.

I had a stainless version that shot excellent groups but not close to point of aim so I sold it. I got a good deal on a blue one and sent it off to Andy Horvath to have S&W J Frame sights fitted. It should be back pretty soon. If it works out it will replace my model 34 that went down the road.

They were cute little noise makers back when I bought one in the late ‘60’s. I really wanted a Single Six, but only had the $39.95 for a new Bearcat. No adjustable sights on that one and I couldn’t hit anything with that little Ruger. I sold it to a kid in the dorm for $35.00 and thought that I got a good deal. In retrospect, I wish that I would have had the bucks to buy a drawer full of them given what I’ve seen those original Bearcats selling for.

I remember as a kid when they first came out and how much I wanted to have and own one. It was not to be at that time, so later when I could buy one I did so about 20 years ago and found a great holster for it.

After taking about 4-5 different types of ammo out to see what it could do it was very disappointing. At 15 yards I had groups that were a minute of foot, with groups sizes running from 1-1.5 feet!! It was disappointing to see how lousy it groups but still the look and memories of my youth have kept me from selling it. It resides in the back of the safe and probably will stay there.

As another has mentioned, a Ruger Wrangler Bird Head has replaced it with much much better accuracy and become a much used shooter.

I’ve been looking for a good leather cross draw holster. What do you guys use to carry yours?

Thought I'd like a Shopkeeper for a small walk-about pistol, but not at the prices they're now commanding. For that money I'll go with a S&W 63 with adjustable sights

I think they are pretty neat pieces. Mine shoots pretty darn well.

VaTraveler;

I have a Barranti leather cross draw holster for the shop keeper Bearcat I used to own.

I wet molded it to fit the 3-3/4" BirdsHead Wrangler I now own. GREAT holster!

Virgil B.