Kids and Guns
My kids ... who are grown ladies in their 40's.
I bought my youngest daughter a Bersa .22 from Jeff Quinn some years ago. She played with it for a couple months and came and said, "Dad, I don't like this gun. It has too many things to do. I want a revolver."
So, being a nice easy target, I went and bought her a .38 Special by Taurus .. 5 shot .. that she can carry easily. Uses the same ammo as her S&W Model 10. And I took the Bersa in trade.
I shot 6 racoons, a cat and targets with the Bersa and had it running where it was really reliable. Nice pocket gun when working around the place. Then my oldest daughter came for a visit and while here she shot the Bersa and lo and behold, it went home with her!
I was bereft of a pocket .22 until someone mentioned the Ruger New Bearcat Shopkeeper that Lipsey's had brought out. I emailed someone I know there and told them I just discovered that they had Ruger build the Shopkeeper for them, and now I wanted one! They told me that as soon as Ruger re-started production I would have one. I told him I wanted the stainless one he said there was no problem.
A couple months later I had it in hand!
Neither one of those girls are gonna see or shoot this one!
![[image]](images/uploaded/2025032914364067e805788a8e8.jpg)
![[image]](images/uploaded/2025032914380467e805cc25f94.jpg)
I scalloped the trigger guard to give better access for my fingers and I straightened the trigger slightly for a better feel. Oh, I took the READ THE MANUAL off the barrel ..
![[image]](images/uploaded/2025032914415867e806b614b48.jpg)
![[image]](images/uploaded/2025032914421667e806c8cd78a.jpg)
![[image]](images/uploaded/2025032914450967e8077512ab7.jpg)
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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.
Very nice!
by Dave B 
, Alamogordo New Mexico, Saturday, March 29, 2025, 12:22 (5 days ago) @ JimT
Looks like a handy little popper!
Somehow or other...
by Paul 
, Monday, March 31, 2025, 08:22 (3 days ago) @ JimT
I've never managed to get to shoot a Bearcat. I've seen them here and there, but never on a firing line where I could try them out. They LOOK handy, but feel tiny in my hands. On the other hand, Scott Tschirhart has one that he's put a lot of snakes and such out of the way with, and he's bigger than me by a substantial amount.
Anyway, it's articles like yours that keep me looking at them. A pocketable 22 with decent accuracy - what's not to like?
A Couple Things About The Bearcat Shopkeeper
The ejector rod "handle" or "button" from the factory has nicely finished square edges that poke your finger really well. I rounded the edges on mine.
![[image]](images/uploaded/2025033113312767ea992f4bf85.jpg)
The ejector rod is so short that it only pushes the empty cartridge part way out of the chamber when unloading. To unload completely, I start the rod into the chamber, then rotate the cylinder slightly so the rod is against the chamber wall and then pop it back and that pops the empty clear of the gun.
It's easy to do and when you practice it enough it becomes habit.
--
Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.