Bearcat Shopkeeper Extraction Problems

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Green Frog

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
200
Well, my kid brother was ecstatic about finding a Shopkeeper in NoVA a week ago, and he pounced on it. When he took it out to the range however, ecstasy turned to disappointment when the several brands of ammo he tried failed to extract readily. A couple of the chambers were so bad he had to take the cylinder out of the gun to force the empties out. In most cases they would come part-way out but then got very stiff for the last little bit. He took it back to the shop where they are going to check it out and probably send it back to Ruger, but I was more than a little surprised... has anyone else had this difficulty with this particular model or the Bearcat 22s in general?

Froggie
 

H.H. Hipshot

Single-Sixer
Joined
Nov 29, 2004
Messages
214
Location
Texas
The ejector rod on the Shopkeeper is not long enough to push the casings all the way out. If they don't pop out with a quick stroke, then you have to catch the edge of the case mouth with the end of the ejector rod and give it another push. You can do this by holding the chamber against the ejector rod as you push.

This problem could have been eliminated from the beginning by making the barrel 1/4" longer.

That being said, if one or two chambers have serious extraction issues, send it back to Ruger. They will fix it.

HHH
 

Green Frog

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
200
Yes, he's aware of the "short stroking" problem, but this appears to be a problem of roughness. It almost seems to be a problem of chamber shape, as the effort to push increases as the shell casing moves to the rear. He has taken it back to the store for either local fix if it's something simple, or more likely shipment back to Ruger if there is something systemic wrong with it. We haven't dealt with Ruger CS for a while, but were never disappointed before. Thanks for your response.

Regards,
Froggie
 

Green Frog

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
200
There seems to be a glitch in the tooling there. It's not like Ruger hasn't made 22 revolvers for over 50 years and doesn't know how to chamber one. My brother is supposed to hear from the LGS this week, but I'm really expecting to hear it's on its way back to the factory. Those chambers just aren't right and I doubt if the factory will want some local gunsmith messing with them unless it's a real simple problem with a routine fix... but if that's the case, why aren't they fixing them before they sell them??

Froggie
 

DGW1949

Hunter
Joined
Apr 10, 2005
Messages
3,916
Location
Texas
Green Frog said:
There seems to be a glitch in the tooling there. It's not like Ruger hasn't made 22 revolvers for over 50 years and doesn't know how to chamber one.....

........Those chambers just aren't right and I doubt if the factory will want some local gunsmith messing with them unless it's a real simple problem with a routine fix... but if that's the case, why aren't they fixing them before they sell them??

Froggie

'Cause to Ruger, the customer is the QC Dept.

DGW
 
Joined
Dec 19, 2001
Messages
10,107
Location
Alaska, Idaho USA
For some reason rimfire cylinders occasionally have issues. I had an issue with an S&W and that's what the gun smith said. He reamed it a little and it was fine after that. Didn't charge me anything so no big deal. Nice guy.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
9,675
Location
Dallas, TX
Yeah I was going to suggest some extremely fine grit sandpaper and sort of polish the chambers ever so slightly. A little at a time.

But being a new revolver, Ruger might like to do that themselves at the factory. ..
 

Green Frog

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
200
Thanks for all the responses, guys. It would appear that his problem is not unique, but it is unfortunate. One would think that each gun would be test fired at the factory and this problem should have been noticed then. I guess as Hawkeye said, "... the customer is the QC Dept." It shouldn't be this way, but with a lot of American Industry it is... and in foreign electronics it seems even more widespread. :(

We'll just have to see how this thing works out. It's not like he doesn't have another 22 (or 6) to shoot, but he is understandably sad to have a new toy he can't play with right away.

Froggie
 

Hondo44

Hawkeye
Joined
Apr 3, 2009
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8,041
Location
People's Republik of California
Charlie,

When the cases get tighter the farther they come out, that tells me the chamber is swelled at the case mouth end and you basically resize the case as it's forced out.

Had that happen in a pre heat treated 38 Spl cyl of 1910 vintage when a rookie shot 38 + Ps in it. Seems like the front end of the chamber where the flutes are is weaker and swells more than the Chamber mouth area where the cyl flutes don't extend to. Bulged the bottom of the cyl lock notches as well but hadn't cracked them yet. Had to put in a new cyl for him.

Maybe Ruger got some reamers with a little run-out on the front end of them.
 

dcxplant

Bearcat
Joined
Oct 31, 2013
Messages
7
Hello all,

I picked up a brand-new Bearcat Shopkeeper today. I brought along a handful of empty cases to check the extraction before selecting the Shopkeeper model or the standard Bearcat. I looked at two different individual pistols and compared how they ejected. One was definitely easier to extract empties with than the other. YMMV.

I took it to the range and fired 100 rounds of mixed 40g CCI Mini Mag and 40g standard velocity. All ejected well. Towards the end my session the pistol was warm and the cases were getting a little sticky but no big deal. I quickly found a way to get them to eject more easily as the pistol accumulated some fouling.

Rotate the cylinder counter-clockwise to the stop then hit the ejector. This lets the ejector ride along the cylinder wall striking the case mouth rather than the case's interior base. All of my round ejected with a good sharp stroke with the ejector rod with the cylinder positioned this way.

Hope it helps, and enjoy those Shopkeepers!!
 

Green Frog

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
200
An update on my brother's Bearcat Shopkeeper... he took it back to the LGS and they handled sending it back to Ruger for repair/adjustment. We don't know what they did, but it came back working fine. He has now shot it multiple times with different brands of ammo (as I understand) without any difficulties at all. It now appears that Ruger CAN make them right, it just seems like a shame so many seem to have "escaped" the necessary QC steps that should have been done before leaving the factory the first time. This is not a strong condemnation of the factory, but should be a wakeup call. All's well that ends well, I guess.

Froggie
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
9,675
Location
Dallas, TX
If it were made a general practice of sliding the ejector rod along the cylinder wall to catch the empty case on the rim...wouldn't the ejector rod potentially scratch the inside of the cylinder?
 
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