Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Revolvers. From air weights to .500 s&w.
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Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Post by Frailer » Sun May 31, 2015 1:00 pm

I have a "thing" for small, stainless revolvers, and when I first saw this model I immediately wanted one. Unfortunately, the range reports were something of a mixed bag, with a significant number of owners reporting poor fit, very difficult extraction, misfires, crap triggers, lousy accuracy, etc. So I passed.

Nevertheless, the damn thing kept pulling at me, and last week--on a whim--I bought one. I took it out today to shoot it, wondering if I was going to end up sending it to a Ruger guru like David Clements (and spending as much as the revolver cost) to make it right.

I guess I got lucky. While the grip fit is poor (I obviously knew this when I bought it), everything else about this gun is good to go. Its small size makes it tricky to shoot accurately, but if I lock in on the front sight and do my part it'll hit what I'm aiming at, so long as the target isn't too much smaller than a tin can. It even kicks empties out cleanly into the palm of your hand if you keep the extractor rod along the side of the chamber so that it engages the lip of the cartridge case.

Best of all, this gun is fun. And I mean FUN. I often carry my NAA mini revolver in a pocket when I'm working in the yard, but this thing just might take its place:

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Re: Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Post by JustShootIt » Sun May 31, 2015 1:05 pm

Care to show a pic of the NAA and this side by side for size comparison?
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Re: Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Post by Frailer » Sun May 31, 2015 1:13 pm

Sure.

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Re: Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Post by burn360 » Sun May 31, 2015 1:58 pm

A lot bigger than I expected
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Re: Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Post by Gunsmokin » Sun May 31, 2015 2:31 pm

Nifty little revolver.
jackalo626 wrote:Skibble dee dibbledy

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Re: Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Post by Frailer » Sun May 31, 2015 2:52 pm

burn360 wrote:A lot bigger than I expected
It's a little smaller than a J-frame; it fits in my S&W 60-4 holster with room to spare. It also fits neatly in a pocket.

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Re: Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Post by JustShootIt » Sun May 31, 2015 4:38 pm

Bigger than I expected as well....but I think I'd like that better than the NAA

Glad u posted this. I'm gonna watch for one now.
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Re: Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Post by Frailer » Sun May 31, 2015 6:02 pm

Warning: if you like SA revolvers don't hold one of these unless you're prepared to buy it. It's just too damn cute to pass up.

A target gun it ain't, but I went through 100 rounds as fast as I could load them up ringing steel in the back yard. Made me feel like a kid again, only with no shot-up tin cans to pick up when I was finished.

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Re: Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Post by Niceguy » Sun May 31, 2015 6:07 pm

What rounds are the offered in?

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Re: Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Post by Frailer » Sun May 31, 2015 6:15 pm

.22LR only.

There are guys who'll do .22 WMR conversions...for a price, and a couple will re-work it for .327 Federal...for a bigger price.

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Re: Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Post by JustShootIt » Sun May 31, 2015 10:52 pm

Mind saying what you paid?

Off to Google just to get an idea
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Re: Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Post by Frailer » Sun May 31, 2015 11:13 pm

550-ish, I think.

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Re: Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

Post by kymarkh » Thu Jun 04, 2015 9:53 pm

Sweet!

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