New to me old model Bearcat, and now a range report

[Vulcan Bob]

Hi all, made an impulse buy of a Bearcat today and not being really up to speed on them I have a few questions. With a serial number of 91-56199 it seems to be one of the last of the old models at 1973 and has a steel frame and ejector housing with an aluminum trigger guard. It has not been converted to the transfer bar. The trigger guard assembly is in the white and polished is this original? Also the front sight looks original but looks like it may have been re-silver soldered or were they a bit rough to begin with? Other than that it appears to have been shot very little with just a bit of blueing wear at the muzzle and tip of the ejector rod housing. It has a great trigger pull (unlike my new one) with no push off and appears to be in good mechanical shape. All the screws look untouched so I don't think Bubba was in it. With no box or such and a really awful set of aftermarket grips I paid $295.00 for it so I hope I was in the price ballpark. I'm going to see how it shoots Monday morning!
Hi all, back with a range report, good news is that the little bugger will shoot. Tried four different brands of ammo for the moment and it likes the Federal 550 value pack, a 38gr hi-vel plated bullet putting them under an inch off the bench at fifteen yards followed closely by CCI standard velocity. Now the bad news, it shoots everything five inch's left and three and a half inch's high at fifteen yards. The elevation can be cured by some careful fileing of the front sight and shooting, the windage though is going to take a bit of barrel turning that I'm a bit hesitant to do myself on such a small frame revolver. Maybe a local gun smith can be availed upon. Overall happy with it and I definitely need some new stocks for it when I'm done tinkering.

 

[SATCOM]

Vulcan Bob,

1. Super Bearcat
2. Trigger guard assy aluminum anodized should be brass color or black/blue.
3. Front sight; ??
4. Better trigger because it is an unconverted old model is normal.
5. Most any Bearcat less than $300 good.

SATCOM

 

[rugerguy]

As 'sitcom' noted above, and sounds as if the trigger guard was "polished' out for whatever reason, yes, the first Super Bearcats had the anodized ( brass) color guards and later went to "all steel", a magnet will tell you real quick which is on that gun......as for the front sight, they are "normally" pressed fit into a slot, so the silver solder sounds like a "repair"...those two issues, still put the gun in and at the value you paid for it..enjoy it, it is a shooter. :wink:

 

[Kevin]

I've been looking for a Bearcat also. $295 is a good price, at least I haven't seen any around here. At least if it has been repaired and not correctly it can always be made right.

 

[street]

With that serial number that gun should have a blue steel trigger guard. Do as rugerguy suggest and try a magnet on it. If it is not steel then take the trigger guard off and see if part of the serial number is stamped on the back side of it. If it is Alum. and is the original trigger guard to your gun then part of the serial number will match. Let us know what you find out.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Hey there, thanks to all for the info! I'm afraid I'm more of user of fine Ruger firearms and not really informed on the history or technical side of things. The trigger guard asy is aluminum and if original or swapped it was definitely off the gun when polished out. Ok, I removed the trigger guard asy and it has a number of 30958 stamped, "not a match" into it, at this point can I assume this was a non original part swapped onto it? At least as the screw head was not buggered up, hopefully Bubba was not involved! However, even if not original it sure looks good this way. As a side note this was one of the first revolvers I have bought in a long time that was clean, including bore and cylinder charge holes. I take this as whoever owned it took care of it. Once again, thanks folks!

 

[street]

Thanks for the information. I thought that the trigger guard was supposed to be steel for that serial numbered gun. And if it was Alum. then it must have been replaced later. As the serial numbers don't match I thought right. :wink:

Go ahead and enjoy your Bearcat as you got it at a good price.

 

[jarubla]

Goodonya on your snag! $300 for a bearcat is muy bueno. You don't see them for that price too often, so good work on that.

Welcome to the bearcat brotherhood. You'll find a lot of folks who absolutely love this little shooter. Keep on shooting it!

-Jay