A new .22 (Bearcat)

[Scott Tschirhart]

Well the more I shoot it the better I like it. Sights are on at 25 yards but the groups are not great. Most likely it’s more about my abilities than the gun.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Update.

The more I shoot it the better it shoots. I was hitting four inch plates regularly at 20 yards this morning and when I missed, I knew exactly why.

It takes skill and more effort to shoot this little gun well, but I think it is probably as intrinsically accurate as some Single Six revolvers.

[jeepnik]

I started using red axle grease years ago when I took a couple of Urban Rifle courses at Thunder Ranch. ARs went down because they either weren’t lubed properly or the lube wasn’t up to the heat.

One tub of red axle grease has lasted me for almost 20 years. But my ARs have never missed a beat. That grease stays where I put it and doesn’t evaporate when it gets hot.

It is convenient to take a q-tip or a toothpick to use this same red grease to lubricant just about any kind of firearm.

What? The legendary reliability of the AR-15 / M-16 isn't so. You mean that marvel of engineering has faults?

[Scott Tschirhart]

The ARs seem to run just fine with good ammo, but they do need to be lubricated.

[LeverGunner]

I've never had a Bearcat. I've always sorta wanted one. I've always had a Single Six though, and am quite comfortable with one. The one I have currently is a 4 3/4" barrel version and I can hit a 6" plate with it at 75 yards. Wish I could shoot my Blackhawk as well. But practice makes perfect.

I have a matching Simply Rugged Sourdough pancake holster for my Single Six, just like my blackhawk.

Heres an article I wrote about my current Single Six. https://levergunner.com/sixguns/mamaws-single-six/

[Rockrat]

Anyone use TW25b lube in the cold? Understand its used on the Vulcan 20 mm and I figure if the Viper is cruising at 35K it pretty cold up that high, so might work well.

[Griff]

I'm feeling like an absolute heathen... as I carry my Colt SAA in 45 Colt whenever I'm out working on the farm... but then... maybe I only have to be half as good a shot as I would carrying a .22!

[2ndovc]

Scott,

I've found the results to be very similar with my little Bearcat. I've been packing it around the new place waiting for a target of opportunity, but haven't even seen so much as a starling that I offed. I do shoot it a lot more at the cabin with Quentin and his Wrangler I bought him a few years ago. It makes me really happy that the little .22 is his favorite. His biological father had a bad stroke about a year ago and over the summer gave him about half a dozen ARs and a couple of .22s. He keeps most of his stuff at my place because he doesn't want his mother selling off his stuff too!

jb

[LeverGunner]

Good friend Al Anderson uses his Bearcat Shopkeeper for whatever happens to need to be shot when he is carrying it.

bearcat coyote.jpg

That's some fine opportunistic shooting.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I sold my old Bearcat years ago to a friend and whenever I see him at the CSA events in Arkansas he brings me new photos of all of the critters he had killed with it!

Having the gun handy is probably the key to being successful with it.

This shopkeeper version is so handy that there’s no reason not to have it handy.

[LeverGunner]

It'd be interesting to see some testing done from a machine rest with it. I don't think I've ever seen a test like that on a bearcat.

[AJMD429]

Must... resist... temptation....

Lol me too...

I have a Mark 3 Semiauto and a Single Six SA revolver, which I find great but my only double action 22 LR revolver is a Charter Arms Pathfinder which has started to have problems probably due to where on the pawl. So I have to decide whether to fix it with parts that are hard to get since it's an old model, versus get an SP101 double action for my double action fix. BUT THEY ARE 700 BUCKS OR SO ..

[Scott Tschirhart]

The Bearcat is interesting because it actually shoots well. I do better with my old flat gate Single Six. But now, after a few hundred rounds, not by much.