Beretta Tomcat--Unique Design--How to Clear Jams?

[aaaaa]

This is a fascinating gun. Unique features:

* Tip up barrel (tip up to safely de-cock or to put one in chamber without racking the slide)

* No extractor (so can't tap, rack, bang a jam; instead, flick the barrel release and it throws the case out)

* Slide springs behind grip (simplifies field stripping)

* Nearly impossible to put out of battery (barrel protrudes beyond the slide, which is only exposed on the sides)

* Recessed Mag Release (that also is in a unique location where none of my fingers get near it)

* Open slide design (jamming and stovepiping virtually eliminated by this open design) I question this feature (noted in the second reference below) because it is not unique to the Beretta, but also is present in the Seacamp and I had a lot of jams with the Seacamp.

Anyone know of other unique features of this gun?

Anyone have experience clearing jams in these tip-up barrel Berettas? I just purchased a Tomcat and am wondering how that works. Flipping up the barrel makes sense for simple jams but what about more complicated jams? Might one have to rack the slide at some point to clear a bad jam?

References:
https://www.mtrcustomleather.com/wh...-and-thin-version-of-the-beretta-tomcat-3032/
https://rangeusa.com/product/3032-tomcat-inox-32acp-ss-ca

 

[Blkhrt13]

Downside is the frame cracking. Mine dropped the safety switch detent and would it stay on or off reliably. It was stolen before I could finish putting it back together with a new detent spring and ball. It was a decent carry gun. But the jet fires I had didn’t have any problems. Don’t think I would buy another. I did like the pop up barrel.

 

[hemiram]

My jetfire is from 1978, and it's never jammed or had any other malfunction. I guess it might mess up with an primer only round, but mine has been shot a lot and other than some frame finish wear, it's like it was new. It's the only gun I've never sold or replaced due to needing cash at various times.

 

[aaaaa]

My jetfire is from 1978, and it's never jammed or had any other malfunction. I guess it might mess up with an primer only round, but mine has been shot a lot and other than some frame finish wear, it's like it was new. It's the only gun I've never sold or replaced due to needing cash at various times.

Never heard of the Jetfire but apparently the predecessor of the Bobcat .25 ACP.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Mine jammed occasionally, but nothing that couldn't be handled by tipping up the barrel and a screwdriver.
I found it to be very ammo-sensitive, both in regards to bullet shape and power level. In addition, like most pocket autos, they are intolerant of a weak grip.
Once I found some loads it liked, it was acceptably reliable, but I still wasn't super confident in the gun- a condition which didn't improve when the frame cracked.
Replaced it with a P238 and never regretted it.

 

[Nasty Canasta]

I don't recall my Tomcat ever jamming, racking the slide when it doesn't have an extractor won't clear anything & could make it worse if it picks up a bullet from the magazine & there's still a round or empty casing in the chamber. Disengage the magazine & flip the barrel would be the clearance procedure.
I've had some issues with my 22 Bobcat after shooting several magazines & it got dirty or trying to use weak ammo but always reliable when clean/lubed with CCI Stingers or Mini-Mags. I have a 25 Jetfire too but haven't shot it a bunch but so far it's been 100% functioning with my reloads.
Best to avoid having to clear a malfunction with proper maintenance & high quality ammo. I do like these little devils & have confidence they would empty their contents in an emergency situation & will occasionally carry one when they fit the bill.

 

[Tallball]

I had one and let it go due to poor trigger, size/weight, and ammo pickiness.

The tip-up barrel is an excellent feature. The fit and finish were excellent.

When I gave it European FMJ it did not jam.

Still have a 22lr version JFF.

Beretta 21A 22lr

• Tallball
• Aug 30, 2020

 

[jar]

Tip up barrel and pocket knife to get out a stuck cartridge or a stick down the barrel.

 

[CDW4ME]

Anyone have experience clearing jams in these tip-up barrel Berettas? I just purchased a Tomcat and am wondering how that works. Flipping up the barrel makes sense for simple jams but what about more complicated jams? Might one have to rack the slide at some point to clear a bad jam

Mine jammed occasionally, but nothing that couldn't be handled by tipping up the barrel and a screwdriver.
I found it to be very ammo-sensitive, both in regards to bullet shape and power level. In addition, like most pocket autos, they are intolerant of a weak grip.
Once I found some loads it liked, it was acceptably reliable, but I still wasn't super confident in the gun- a condition which didn't improve when the frame cracked.
Replaced it with a P238 and never regretted it.

Tip up barrel and pocket knife to get out a stuck cartridge or a stick down the barrel.

Regardless of caliber, a pistol that required a screwdriver, knife, or other tool to clear a jam would be unacceptable to me for carry.

 

[aaaaa]

Regardless of caliber, a pistol that required a screwdriver, knife, or other tool to clear a jam would be unacceptable to me for carry.

It may depend how often jams occur in the Tomcat and how often normal semiautos jam worse than a tap, rack, bang can fix. If these are about equal then either gun works about the same, and perhaps the Tomcat is better in that it does not jam as much overall. However, it is .32 caliber and so .... But I think I bought it as a toy, a much nicer toy than that nasty Seacamp anyway. If I carry a .32 for a backup it will be the KelTec P32.

 

[jar]

Regardless of caliber, a pistol that required a screwdriver, knife, or other tool to clear a jam would be unacceptable to me for carry.

Good. LOL

 

[BigBlue 94]

Ive got a Beretta (kitten lol) in 22 short, a NAA Guardian in 32 NAA, and a pair of Taurus PT22s that all have the open slide and tip up barrel (the NAA does not have the tip up). Never had a jam in any that i can remember. The NAA is basically a seacamp copy made by Kahr.

 

[aaaaa]

Regardless of caliber, a pistol that required a screwdriver, knife, or other tool to clear a jam would be unacceptable to me for carry.

I suppose with the right kind of jam (or wrong king perhaps) it might take all that for any gun. Certainly a squib will put any gun out of commission for a while. It may be that most Tomcat jams can be freed by tip up and rack, which may take longer than tap, rack, bang, depending on training I guess.

 

[Blkhrt13]

I only ran about 300-400 rounds through mine max. Mostly either Winchester white box or silvertips. My tomcat never cracked. I never had many jams or reliability issues but I cleaned it pretty regular and carried it often. I will say both the tomcats and jetfires were more accurate than they should have been for their size. I shot a rabbit with the tomcat and several squirrels with the jetfires. All of the shots were in good light and between ten and twenty feet. So I had no doubt I could use them effectively.

 

[Tallball]

I recall my Tomcat as being extremely hard to rack. It's not made with that in mind.

With the 22, racking wouldn't even help eject a jam. Don't remember if that was the case the the 32.

 

[jar]

I recall my Tomcat as being extremely hard to rack. It's not made with that in mind.

With the 22, racking wouldn't even help eject a jam. Don't remember if that was the case the the 32.

Yes, still no ejector.

 

[usp9]

The NAA is basically a seacamp copy made by Kahr.

Kahr makes NAA? Is that accurate?

 

[aaaaa]

Kahr makes NAA? Is that accurate?

Not exactly, but they are involved:

But building a new Guardian in .380ACP wasn't just a matter of rechambering the existing .32 gun. NAA partnered with Kahr Arms to re-engineer the gun for the more powerful round. Kahr had already been building NAA's frames and slides,

https://northamericanarms.com/pdfs/news02b.pdf

Now I wish I had bought a NAA 32 instead of the Seacamp.

 

[JohnKSa]

My wife has a Model 86 Cheetah which is a similar design with a tipup barrel. She sometimes uses it for self-defense. My solution for the problem of how to deal with malfunctions is basically to do my best to insure that it never malfunctions.

1. Keep the chamber very clean since the cases basically self-extract.
2. Use only premium self-defense ammunition with nickel plated casings and make sure that the ammunition is in perfect condition. No worn/dinged/corroded/dirty ammo.
3. Carefully test the ammunition in the gun with enough shooting to insure that there are no obvious incompatibility issues.

 

[aaaaa]

My wife has a Model 86 Cheetah which is a similar design with a tipup barrel. She sometimes uses it for self-defense. My solution for the problem of how to deal with malfunctions is basically to do my best to insure that it never malfunctions.

1. Keep the chamber very clean since the cases basically self-extract.
2. Use only premium self-defense ammunition with nickel plated casings and make sure that the ammunition is in perfect condition. No worn/dinged/corroded/dirty ammo.
3. Carefully test the ammunition in the gun with enough shooting to insure that there are no obvious incompatibility issues.

1. Chamber easy to clean with tip-up barrel.

2. What is it about nickel plated that is better than brass for case ejection?

3. Figure to shoot all but 7 or 14 out of each box and save the rest for SD.

 

[JohnKSa]

They are nearly corrosion proof and they are slicker.

Since there's no extractor, you want to do everything possible to make sure the cases will self-extract reliably.

 

[Tallball]

Drop it and get my knife out.

I can get it out way faster than I could clear a jam on a Tomcat.

 

[trackskippy]

I had a couple of the 21's over the years. They were OK if you kept them clean and used ammo of decent power. Once they started getting dirty, they got grumpy pretty quick. Not that that would likely be an issue with this sort of gun though unless youre one not to clean after you shoot and keep up on them.

If I had a choice between the Beretta and a Seecamp, Id take the Seecamp without hesitation. These guns are basically second/third line "backups", and not what Id carry as a primary. As big as the Beretta is too, Id just carry my 26.

 

[aaaaa]

...
If I had a choice between the Beretta and a Seecamp, Id take the Seecamp without hesitation. These guns are basically second/third line "backups", and not what Id carry as a primary. As big as the Beretta is too, Id just carry my 26.

I just read some reviews and it seems the Seacamp clone, NAA Guardian, is likely the better gun of the two. Certainly not as restrictive for ammo you can use. My back-up likely is the Kel Tec P32 though I have not carried a back-up as of yet.

 

[aaaaa]

So it seems to me one can run this gun without ever having to rack the slide. However, in a SD situation if one goes to a second magazine and the chamber is empty, the slide is not held open by the last shot being fired, so one will have to rack the slide or take the slower path of popping a round into the chamber which is not likely to be having one round easily at hand for such an event.

The second thing is that the slide is extremely difficult to rack on this gun--unless on first cocks the hammer, then the slide racks very easily. Still an extra step.