BEARCAT .22 by CENTURY ARMS

peedad

Looking for information on a Bearcat .22 Rifle made by Century Arms in St. Louis. Only have seen 2 of these my whole life. Any info appreciated. Thanks

rufe-snow

My reference shows that Century Arms Co. was a Trade Name used on firearms sold by the Shapleigh Hardware Co, of St. Louis Mo.

Most of these large midwestern wholesale hardware companies/distributors such as Shapleigh, were in business from approximately the 1870's to the 1930's. Many different manufacturers made utility grade firearms for them to sell using various trade and store brand names.

You might consider doing a GOOGLE search, using some variation of the Shapleigh name as the search term. There are quite a number of folks who collect these early hardware company items, you might be able to aquire more information on the Store Brand and Trade Name guns sold by Shapleigh.

hrf

If you post a photo of it, we can perhaps identify the actual maker.