Old Model Bearcat Walnut Grips

[Bonasa]

I recently acquired a 1961 Bearcat, identical to the one shown below, and would like to upgrade the grips to the oil-finished walnut OEM grips Ruger used on the original model. If you have a set for sale, please let me know the condition and your asking price. A few pictures of them would be great.

 

[rugerguy]

the original Bearcats had the polymer ( poured plastic) grips seems they were called "wonderwood",a take off of the poured Colt plastic grips of long ago called "Coltwood", your "Upgrade" to a walnut grips wood be wrong, nice touch, but NOT original to the first early Bearcats..............
the three on the left are in their order of use.....the years I would have to refer back to the RENE.........

 

[Bonasa]

No worries; rest assured I won't be disposing of the original resin-impregnated mahogany grips. I have a wide variety of grips--both factory and custom--for all my handguns, especially my Ruger SAs, and I enjoy swapping them out as the mood strikes me. Just my personal preference, but I always consider natural material (wood, stag, bone, or ivory) an upgrade for my grips, and the oil-filled walnut OEM grips look like they would be fairly similar to those I prefer on my very early Single Sixes.

Thanks for the photo. Can you tell me whether the first three grip sets are interchangeable? The first two look roughly similar in size, but the third set looks substantially bigger. Would it fit a first gen Bearcat like my 1961 model? I thought I had read somewhere that the grips with a medallion are slightly different in shape and size and will not interchange with the early model bearcats.

Again, many thanks for sharing your insight and the pic.

 

[Ruger44fan]

I am fairly sure ALL Bearcat grips interchange. Thoughts?

 

[rugerguy]

yessir they are ,I just thought you did NOT like the "smooth,shiny, slippery feel" of the early grips, we are old school as to the "collecting" end of the spectrum, yes the Bearcats were M.r Rugers answer to a "kit gun"......