New life for an old "Cat"/Kudos Ruger!

I was recently given an old (but in good shape) aluminum frame (1967 model) Bearcat that a coworker bought in a pawn shop. It was not functioning properly (missing parts) so he figured he would give it to me for my "world famous" kitchen table gunsmithing. It was even missing it's grip pannels. Ruger would not ship parts for this gun because it had not had the safety upgrade. I figured, "it's not a collector's item" so I sent it in for the free upgrade and to be totally revamped. Ruger sent it back in about two weeks with new grip panels, safety upgrade, all new internals, new ejector rod housing, new cylinder pin, and all the old parts in a plastic baggie for exactly $00.00. They even cleaned out all the lead deposits. Fresh clean steel through and through. This is one sweet little gun now that new life has been breathed back into it. So now thanks to my buddy and Ruger, I have a great shooter and all it cost me was shipping to Ruger (about $20.00). My wife already has her eye on it. She said ''it's sooo cute". I just wanted everyone to know the upstanding company Ruger is and how great their customer support is. They have gotten my business for a long time and will continue to. Great job Ruger!

It's always nice to do business with a reputable company.

Soooooooo......
As a firearms instructor for your police department I envision your talk to a new set of officers going like this....

Your weapon is a tool.
You must maintain that tool.
Your life and the life of your partner may depend on that tool.
This is your Glock G-17.
It is your service weapon.
It is reliable.
It is dependable.
It is deadly accurate.
This is your Ruger Bearcat.
It is your back-up weapon.
Cute huh?
:innocent:

GC, I have a similar story regarding Ruger. Back in the late 60's one of my brothers bought a Ruger Mark II, brand new. I loved that gun, I dropped many a raccoon with it by placing one shot right between the eyes! When my cousin got out of the Marines after serving a tour of duty in Veit Nam he got an apartment with my brother. One night while drinking my somewhat inebriated cousin asked my brother if he ever tore down his pistol and gave it a thorough cleaning? My brother said that he didn't know enough to do that and my jarhead cousin told him that there wasn't a gun made that he couldn't tear down and put back together again blindfolded, Well, he must have left off the blindfold because he took it all apart alright but couldn't get the darn thing back together again! My brother put the gun back in his holster and hung it from a peg on his rifle rack, keeping it for an ornament that he figured would never see action again. Over the years he'd lost all of the parts so the gun was basically usless as a weapon for anything but a club!

Years later, after I'd gotten re-married, my father-in-law had taken up gunsmithing. He told me that if I knew of anybody who had a gun in serious need of repair to let him know and he would buy it off of them to have something to work on. I remembered my brother's Ruger and I asked my brother if he'd take $20 for the gun. If so my father-in-law would buy it off of him. He agreed and my father-in-law began to reassemble the gun from parts that he'd bought. He'd gotten most of it back together but there were three sections that needed to be factory installed, so he took the pistol to a friend of his that had a firearms license and had him mail the gun back to Ruger. Several weeks later he got a call saying that the gun was back. My wife's dad didn't have much money so he cautiously asked how much he owed. The answer astounded him, only $1.89 for the cost of shipping the gun to Ruger as the gun was still under warranty! I love Ruger and I have both a Mark II pistol and a 10/22 rifle! I can't say enough about them! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by crashdive123

It's always nice to do business with a reputable company.

Soooooooo......
As a firearms instructor for your police department I envision your talk to a new set of officers going like this....

Your weapon is a tool.
You must maintain that tool.
Your life and the life of your partner may depend on that tool.
This is your Glock G-17.
It is your service weapon.
It is reliable.
It is dependable.
It is deadly accurate.
This is your Ruger Bearcat.
It is your back-up weapon.
Cute huh?
:innocent:

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My wife may take that stance but I will never say to another man that a gun is "cute". You just loose too many "man points'' saying something like that. Hahaha. Besides, I want my men to carry something a lil bit more engineered toward ''people'' for a backup weapon. .38 special minimum. Now, if we have to make SWAT entry into a rabbit hole, maybe :).

GC: Hey, look at your old Ruger.
GC's Buddy: Holy cow. You did a great job on that.
GC: Yeah, it was a bit of work but it looks great don't you think?
GC's Buddy: You bet. How much do I owe you?

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Originally Posted by Sarge47

GC, I have a similar story regarding Ruger. Back in the late 60's one of my brothers bought a Ruger Mark II, brand new. I loved that gun, I dropped many a raccoon with it by placing one shot right between the eyes! When my cousin got out of the Marines after serving a tour of duty in Veit Nam he got an apartment with my brother. One night while drinking my somewhat inebriated cousin asked my brother if he ever tore down his pistol and gave it a thorough cleaning? My brother said that he didn't know enough to do that and my jarhead cousin told him that there wasn't a gun made that he couldn't tear down and put back together again blindfolded, Well, he must have left off the blindfold because he took it all apart alright but couldn't get the darn thing back together again! My brother put the gun back in his holster and hung it from a peg on his rifle rack, keeping it for an ornament that he figured would never see action again. Over the years he'd lost all of the parts so the gun was basically usless as a weapon for anything but a club!

Years later, after I'd gotten re-married, my father-in-law had taken up gunsmithing. He told me that if I knew of anybody who had a gun in serious need of repair to let him know and he would buy it off of them to have something to work on. I remembered my brother's Ruger and I asked my brother if he'd take $20 for the gun. If so my father-in-law would buy it off of him. He agreed and my father-in-law began to reassemble the gun from parts that he'd bought. He'd gotten most of it back together but there were three sections that needed to be factory installed, so he took the pistol to a friend of his that had a firearms license and had him mail the gun back to Ruger. Several weeks later he got a call saying that the gun was back. My wife's dad didn't have much money so he cautiously asked how much he owed. The answer astounded him, only $1.89 for the cost of shipping the gun to Ruger as the gun was still under warranty! I love Ruger and I have both a Mark II pistol and a 10/22 rifle! I can't say enough about them! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

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Those Mark II's are a pain to get that hammer spring assembly back in. I can hardly do it sober. While drinking? NEVER GONNA TRY! It's nice to know a company has your back. By the way, I did ask my buddy if he wanted the gun back since it's in perfect working order now. He said "No, just keep it,....I'm sure I'm gonna need you to fix something else again one day. Consider it advanced payment" :).

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Originally Posted by Rick

GC: Hey, look at your old Ruger.
GC's Buddy: Holy cow. You did a great job on that.
GC: Yeah, it was a bit of work but it looks great don't you think?
GC's Buddy: You bet. How much do I owe you?

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It was a gift but I couldn't keep it without offering it back since it was all fixed up. My friend told me to keep it as payment for future services. Hell of a guy, I tell Ya! Believe me, I'm gonna have plenty of opportunity to work it off with my buddies lack of tinkering skills. He's a great pal but he could destroy a titanium ball bearing. Can't tell you how many times over the years his stuff has been in pieces all over my table with both of us scratching our heads :).

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Originally Posted by glockcop

Those Mark II's are a pain to get that hammer spring assembly back in. I can hardly do it sober. While drinking? NEVER GONNA TRY! It's nice to know a company has your back. By the way, I did ask my buddy if he wanted the gun back since it's in perfect working order now. He said "No, just keep it,....I'm sure I'm gonna need you to fix something else again one day. Consider it advanced payment" :).

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I figured you'd show him the pistol and say "Not bad for "kitchen table gunsmithing," huh? Are you impressed? :creepy: :whistling:

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Originally Posted by Sarge47

I figured you'd show him the pistol and say "Not bad for "kitchen table gunsmithing," huh? Are you impressed? :creepy: :whistling:

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Boooooy, I came close. Hahaha!

That is super great story.....I was gonna ask if you offered it back to the guy....I guess I would, just because, but you beat me too it.
As far as saying how good of a job YOU did, I may have stretched that a tad.....just because....LOL

In the long run I think both you and your Buddy came out ahead....and yeah, I really like my Rugers as well, and that one main reason.
The other of course is they are still made in the U.S. of A.

Actually I do have a Super Blackhawk, .44 mag, 11" barrel, belonged to my BIL, that passed a while back.
It is in pretty rough shape with a lot of rust damage.

It had been stolen from his house, went missing for a bunch of years, he moved to Washington state.

MIL got a call from the local PD, they were checking stolen firearm numbers, as as she was list listed as contact person, that they had his gun in inventory, evidence I guess....Anyway they wanted her to come get it.

She called me, I picked it up, but had been stored in a plastic bag and was half full of water.
Signed for it, opened the bag and notice that it still was loaded, with 4 live rounds of .44mag, and two empties, pretty corroded.

They wouldn't tell me how it got there or what case it was from.....but the cartridges were from Herters, and I know he didn't shoot those.
MIL kept it as he was still out of state, but after he passed, gave it back to me.

So, I took it to a gunsmith had a couple of rusted springs replaced, firing pin/spring fitted and got it back.
I have shot it, bore has some pitting, so it leads up a bit.
Main problem now, is a small bump inside each chamber, where the index groves are, so dents the cases when fired.

I have been tempted to send it in, but I am afraid that I won't get this one back.....Bunt-lines are kinda rare, and knowing the story behind it, would rather keep it in as close to current condition as possible, but still safe to shoot.

So, still up in the air on what to do with it........
Your experiance has me thinking about it again.

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Originally Posted by hunter63

Actually I do have a Super Blackhawk, .44 mag, 11" barrel, belonged to my BIL, that passed a while back.
It is in pretty rough shape with a lot of rust damage.

It had been stolen from his house, went missing for a bunch of years, he moved to Washington state.

MIL got a call from the local PD, they were checking stolen firearm numbers, as as she was list listed as contact person, that they had his gun in inventory, evidence I guess....Anyway they wanted her to come get it.

She called me, I picked it up, but had been stored in a plastic bag and was half full of water.
Signed for it, opened the bag and notice that it still was loaded, with 4 live rounds of .44mag, and two empties, pretty corroded.

They wouldn't tell me how it got there or what case it was from.....but the cartridges were from Herters, and I know he didn't shoot those.
MIL kept it as he was still out of state, but after he passed, gave it back to me.

So, I took it to a gunsmith had a couple of rusted springs replaced, firing pin/spring fitted and got it back.
I have shot it, bore has some pitting, so it leads up a bit.
Main problem now, is a small bump inside each chamber, where the index groves are, so dents the cases when fired.

I have been tempted to send it in, but I am afraid that I won't get this one back.....Bunt-lines are kinda rare, and knowing the story behind it, would rather keep it in as close to current condition as possible, but still safe to shoot.

So, still up in the air on what to do with it........
Your experiance has me thinking about it again.

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Why not call Ruger and see what they say, they might want you to e-mail some pics but at least you can get an idea. Nothing ventured nothing gained. :cool2:

I love those little bearcats. Good for you GC.

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Originally Posted by Sarge47

Why not call Ruger and see what they say, they might want you to e-mail some pics but at least you can get an idea. Nothing ventured nothing gained. :cool2:

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Actually I did and they said "send it in", but would say if they would send it back or a new one....I suppose they are under liabilities laws and such...Kinda just scared me off.

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Originally Posted by hunter63

Actually I did and they said "send it in", but would say if they would send it back or a new one....I suppose they are under liabilities laws and such...Kinda just scared me off.

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Would say, or would "not" say?

Hunter63, Would it be worth your while to have the barrel replaced and a new cylinder fitted? You can prolly get the parts from dixie, brownell's, or midaway and any gunsmith worth their salt could put it all together. It would be the safe route to go. It would be cool to have it rechambered into .45 acp. and a second cylinder in 45 colt. That would be sweeeeeet :cowboy:.

I have an old BearCat that the previous owner had polished the ejector housing to its aluminum base. I think I paid $40 for it back in the early 80s. It is a
cute little gun but kicks a lot with hi-velocity rounds,

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Originally Posted by Winter

I love those little bearcats. Good for you GC.

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I love them too. I've had another one for a while. I thinks this light weight Bearcat is gonna live in my bow hunting pack. I'll load it with two CCI shot shells for "Mr No Shoulders" and four CCI hollowpoints for "Mr Cotton Tail". Have you ever shot a squirrel or rabbit you plan to eat with a Rage Broadhead? Well, I won't be doing that again, I'll tell ya. Hahaha!

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Originally Posted by SARKY

I have an old BearCat that the previous owner had polished the ejector housing to its aluminum base. I think I paid $40 for it back in the early 80s. It is a
cute little gun but kicks a lot with hi-velocity rounds,

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No....Please tell me you didn't.....You called it "cute". Sarky my friend, that is NOT a term to use when talking about our ''man toys''. I know you really meant to say, "It's a really handsome lil guy". Right? Ya, ya, that's what you ment to say,....that's it. :)

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Originally Posted by glockcop

.......''it's sooo cute"......

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Originally Posted by SARKY

.....cute little gun but kicks a lot with hi-velocity rounds,

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I'm starting to see a pattern here.:innocent: