Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Ruger Bearcat

I just returned from the local gun show with a Ruger Bearcat all Stainless.
I had a surplus rifle and am happy with the swap.
I've already ordered the Wolff hammer spring kit and an appropriate holster.
I've never owned this model before so I'm curious what your impressions are of the Bearcat.
Thankfully I have an assortment of ammo in hand!

I just got one of the ShopKeeper models with the 3" barrel and birdshead grip. I LOVE this little gun!(thanks Deflave!)

There's a great test fire report on Gunblasts, testing several different brands of ammo.

Got my first BearCat in 1962, and owned several over the years. My Shopkeeper is my all-time favorite.

I pulled the trigger spring and cut several coils off. Sure helped it!

Virgil B.

very neat little guns. trigger pull and action out of the box are nothing short of terrible, at least in my example. Mine is gonna have to be sent off for an action job before I get much use out of it.

they sure do handle well, and carry easy.

Thanks Gents!
I let Dad have a look and almost had to get rough to get it back.
If the hammer spring helps as much as it usually does I'll give it to Dad for fathers day.

I'll be looking at the Gunblast report here shortly, Thanks.

colodog,

Keep in mind that changing the hammer spring for a lighter one will give lighter hits on the primer, Sometimes to the point of not igniting relilably.

The kit usually has three springs in it. Just try the lightest and work your way up untill you get relilable ignition.

Had this problem on a Single-Six, that was cut back WAY too much.

The Trigger spring, however can be shortened or replaced with a lighter one with no problems.

Virgil B.

also, replacing the hammer or trigger spring will not help with the excessive travel that these things have in the trigger. If you send it off to someone like Clements, however, you will get a very crisp, functional piece back. Of course ... you gotta pay to play ...

Mine required extensive sight (front and back) modification to get POA and POI to coincide. I like it better now and carry it a lot on the 4 wheeler--- but it's no S&W 34.

They are soda can plinking guns and not much use for anything else, and yes i have owned a couple over the years and didn't keep them long. If you get one that will shot to point of aim , keep it , because most don't group worth a crap and not even close to where the sight are on target

Surprised to read this.
With my NM Bearcat, I can ping shotgun shells all over the place waiting for rifles to cool sitting at the range. Forty yards is not out of the question, twenty is definitely hit more than miss.

Old model and a new model. Reliable, accurate and light as a feather.
Wonder why Ruger keeps making them if they don't group worth a crap...

I've had a couple Old Models, aluminum and steel frames. They're regulated for standard velocity .22lr, as are the new ones, as far as I know. Shooting the high/hyper velocity ammo so common these days requires adjusting your sight picture. All in all they're pretty good little plinkers and kit guns if you're so inclined. I'm waiting to see a Shopkeeper firsthand, may need one.

Got one when they first came out and have carried one since, when I can carry. Only time I ever needed to defend myself with a handgun, I had my Old Model Bearcat. Seems the guys involved decided they DIDN'T want a couple of Stingers somewhere behind their belt buckles....

The Old Model is hard for me to shoot precisely because it is very light; my current carry, stainless New Bearcat, is more manageable. It did require a little filing on the front sight to zero, but many stock SAs do. Why expect anything else of a Bearcat (pick on someone your own size!!!!).

"It's no S&W 34" all right. But have you ever had ejection problems with a Bearcat? I've sure had plenty with S&W J-frame .22s, including several 34s, a 35, a 43, and a 651!

Ruger Bearcat Enthusiasts: My local pawn/sport shop has a MINT condition Ruger Bearcat in on consignment.
It is the gold inlaid and gold triggered 50th Anniversay Model with special fancy grips.
It comes with the original custom Ruger logo carrying case (nifty gun rug!).
It appears to me to be unfired and beautiful.
They only made 2,539 of these back in 2,008 to celebrate the Bearcats 50th Anniversary.
I own a bunch of Ruger Rifles and a few pistols but would not consider myself a Ruger Collector at all so I can not comment on the pistols intrinsic or collectors value. Other than to say it is priced BELOW the Blue Book evaluation (two year old Blue Book of mine shows $695.00) and the asking price is $600.00!
I am not sure what the latest Blue Book evaluates this pistol at now.
If anyone is interested the phone number for this shop is 406-683-9844.
Happy Bearcatting everyone.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Mesa: I have never fired either of the two Bearcats I have owned in the past so can't comment on their reliability in ejecting but I have many decades of experience with several Model 34's (both blued and nickel plated) along with several Model 63's and a Model 651 and I have not suffered any ejection problems with them to date.
Any idea as to what you think is creating your problem?
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

What I THINK is the problem is that unburned grains of powder get between the ejector "star" and the cylinder and bind the "star" against the frame. This happens when I shoot a couple of boxes without cleaning, even with the bigger K-frame guns.

The only "cure" I've found is to carry a sawed-off soft toothbrush with me to the range and brush out behind the "star" after every three or so cylinders full are shot. That pretty well solves the problem. Otherwise, depending on how hot the ammo is that I'm shooting (sometimes on how CHEAP!), the cylinder gets hard to open and/or the star doesn't want to pop out, even if I bang it with the heel of my hand.

Problem varies with two variables:gets worse with hotter ammo, shorter barrel. It is worst with cheap, hot ammo in a short barrel. Got rid of a 2" 34 because it wouldn't reliably eject after more than two cylinders. My 4" 651-1 will go about 18 rounds with the .22WRM it likes best and then starts to get sticky. (Not a problem except at the range where I shoot more ammo).

Conversely, my 8 3/8" M48-1 will shoot a box or so of .22WRM before it gets sticky.

I've had this problem for years with many S&W .22s; J AND K frames. Any thoughts appreciated.

(I sometimes carry that 651 instead of the Bearcat when I suspect I might need a little more range/horsepower. As you can tell, I'm not much of a "hand cannon" guy!).

Mine is blue steel, maybe ten years old. I bought it from an old gentleman trying to trade it in on a 30-30 w/o success at a gun show. I made me, he, and the rifle seller happy by offering cash for the like NIB jewel.

I may have got lucky, but a little work with a hone solved the trigger problems.
Went out to visit Dad. He wanted to go to the farm. Took the Bearcat. A jackrabbit ran across in front of us and stopped just across a terrace far enough on the downside that only the head and ears were visible, at about 35 yards. I killed the engine, took dead aim, and shot. DRT. I started the truck and we continued.

Dad ( who was never one to lavish too much praise-it might give us a big head) had some comment that disparaged my shooting skills. He may have been partially correct, because that was my first shot with the little revolver. In the long run, it is accurate and shoots to point of aim at moderate distances. I like it! Jack

Mesa: Thank you for your expalantion - I think maybe the reason I have not suffered such indiginities as you have is because I am to cheap to shoot that much at a sitting!
I have posted before my thoughts on the "horsepower" of my "J" frame "snake guns".
Over the years I have often shot rattlesnakes (with shot cartridges) from my Model 63's (22 L.R.) as many as 5 or 6 times to kill them. Normal is 4 or 5 shots.
With my Model 651 (22 Magnum) a normal killing fusilade consists of 2 or 3 rounds.
These observations/experiences were at very close range by the way.
I was wishin just this past Friday I had not been so lazy, as myself and two friends hiked far into Montanas back country to fish an alpine lake for Grayling Trout.
Exhausted upon arrival at the lake we encountered a 300 pound Black Bear (the largest I have ever seen in Montana!).
And I was un-armed except for my Leatherman Tool!
Luckily my friend had brought along his Glock Model 22 in 40 S&W!
He handed it to me once he got it out of his back-pack and said "good luck if we have to use this"!
Luckily the big boar Bear snooped the length of the shore of our bay and never paid us much attention as we stood at the tree line and watched him go past.
I was so tired once I got to that destination I could not have put up much of a fight with the Leatherman but that Glock sure felt good in my hands.
The noise my Model 651 makes scares me and I think it probably would have scaret that Bear off.
Next week we are venturing back to that lake for more fishing and I think I will be carrying my own Glock Model 22.
Thanks again for your explanation.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Varmintman, I feel your pain. My one encounter with an aggressive black bear was when I was packing my service weapon, at that time a Colt "Trooper" 4" .357. I looked at the big sow and at the sixgun and decided to try backing slowly away. That worked.

But then my Golden, normally about as aggressive as a Rhode Island Red hen, rushed the bear, barking and growling like crazy. She turned and walked away--WHY I'll never know. Dog trembled and growled for hours after that and stank like a skunk. This was in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon on a fishing backpack trip.

Bears are simply unpredictable as heck.

My 651 kinda intimidates me, too, when I shoot it back in the boonies without ear plugs! I think if I shot it off in a bear confrontation, I'd be careful NOT to hit the bear, tho....

Glock makes more sense. Once you shoot it, keep shootin' until it runs dry!

I'm never quite sure what to make of your posts. I once killed 24 Prairie Rattlers in 1 day with a Model 34 using the crimped 22 Shot Shells (25 grains of #12 shot). I RARELY had to shoot one more than once. I've easily killed 100s with a 22 revolver and that's always been my experience. I don't know what "very close range" is to you but I'm talking about 5-6 feet. Prairie Rattlers die very easily.

Mesa: I have often wondered how a 357 Magnum would fare when up against a close in Bear?
I have a bunch of 357's and some are in stainless steel and double action configuration - I probably should dedicate one of those stainless 357's to be my pack along Bear protection pistol with top flight "Bear stopper" ammo.
You are right the "noise factor" would be what I would depend on to "shoo" away an approaching or to close Bear with my Model 651.
I am glad your Bear encounter turned out relatively well.
My beloved Uncle Tiny (speaking of the Blue Mountains) used to fly in to the Blue Mountains and land at a remote air strip and Hunt Mule Deer from there every fall.
Well on one of his trips (last one?) an early snow storm came and "impounded" his airplane in place - he was stuck the plane was stuck and his rescue came via helicopter several daysd later!
But his plane was still there and he had to re-helicopter back to his plane every time it snowed that winter (to clean off the snow from the wings)!
Finally the next spring/summer he was able to take a small generator and jumper cables in to the remote airstrip and flew his plane out!
He had always done well on those Hunts but I believe that was his last Hunt of that type.
Love those mountains - I wish I had done more thereabouts.
Black Bear are unpredictable but so often they are prone to flee - its that one in a hundred that we have to be concerned with.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy