Beretta Tomcat ... feeling sheepish

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Mark1964

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Well, I was furious with myself, now I'm cooled down to simply feeling like a dolt.
Got a new .32 ACP Beretta Tomcat Inox today (3032, the alloy model with the matte stainless-like finish).
Natch, I was going to field strip and even remove the grips, remove any excess oils (or touch up if dry), tidy it up, lube it properly, reassemble and return to the case until the weekend.
Bungled it.
There is a tiny plunger and screw in the safety that can fly away very, very easily when left grip is removed. It is a notorious problem; this I now know.
Natch, I learned of this AFTER mine took a stroll. Some idiot with a name identical to mine did no reading, watched no vids and had to figure out afterward what had happened.
Amazingly, I found the plunger. Did not find the spring. Even if I did, the parts involved are so tiny (wee, wee, tiny), I wouldn't trust myself to reassemble.
Going to go see the dealer tomorrow (good guy), but have a feeling this one's headed back to a Beretta Service Center at my expense after less than a dozen hours in my possession.
I'm sure I've felt more sheepish in my life, but I can't remember when.
 
only use the watered down factory stuff commonly found on the shelf. the properly loaded ammo and the boutique stuff is too stout for the delicate design of the Tomcat which has led to frame cracking because the slide smacks the frame hard in recoil cycling. the grotesquely larger slide was suppose to solve this frame cracking problem by being heavy enough to slow its movement during firing, thus not striking the frame as hard- didn't fix it but did cut down on the occurrences. I'd love to own one of these guns again, but can't bring myself to do it.
 
JERRY said:
only use the watered down factory stuff commonly found on the shelf. the properly loaded ammo and the boutique stuff is too stout for the delicate design of the Tomcat which has led to frame cracking because the slide smacks the frame hard in recoil cycling. the grotesquely larger slide was suppose to solve this frame cracking problem by being heavy enough to slow its movement during firing, thus not striking the frame as hard- didn't fix it but did cut down on the occurrences. I'd love to own one of these guns again, but can't bring myself to do it.
Click to expand...

I hear the 73 grain Fiocchi ball is slightly warm and doesn't seem prone to rimlock. You think it might be an OK choice?
 
Thanks for welcome to the Launch Team.
The plunger and spring on this are the tiniest things I've ever launched. Was surprised I found the plunger. It hit and stuck to a magnetic parts tray. No luck re the spring, though, despite searching the carpet and bench with flashlight and magnet. Hadn't done the carpet crawl in quite a while; that was fun.
I now realize this does not diminish my Joe Gun Guy status but merely reaffirms my Gun Guy-ness.
That's my new story, and I'm sticking to it. :)
 
Mark1964 said:
Natch,
Click to expand...
I had to look up what "natch" was, as I'd never heard of it before. Huh...…..

Sorry for your troubles. I've had a few springs go flying in my life. After I took the trigger assembly off my Ruger SP101 one of the springs became a short term mystery to me. I figured it out thought.

You know there's probably YouTube videos on this very subject if you go looking. I doubt you're the first Tomcat NASA test piolet out there. Maybe buy from the source jar provided above and you can take care of it yourself, for less money.
 
Mark1964 said:
I hear the 73 grain Fiocchi ball is slightly warm and doesn't seem prone to rimlock. You think it might be an OK choice?
Click to expand...

full length FMJ would be my choice for rim-lock reduction and better penetration.
 
As a veteran Launch Team member I feel your pain. Actually, consider it lucky you didn’t get hit in the eye with your wayward parts. Years ago I ricocheted a Ruger hammer spring off a new pair of eyeglasses. Found the spring but had to get my lens replaced. I learned a couple of lessons that day.

I have lost a number of various springs and parts but the weirdest one was a spring and plunger I lost in my living room from an S&W 22S pistol. They took off like a shot and were never found even after replacing the carpet a year later. Truly weird.
 
JERRY said:
full length FMJ would be my choice for rim-lock reduction and better penetration.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Jerry. I've read (although don't know the accuracy of it) that Beretta uses Fiocchi as their test ammo.
I'll run some and see what happens ... after I get that little danged spring and plunger re-installed, of course.
 
460Shooter said:
I had to look up what "natch" was, as I'd never heard of it before. Huh...…..

Sorry for your troubles. I've had a few springs go flying in my life. After I took the trigger assembly off my Ruger SP101 one of the springs became a short term mystery to me. I figured it out thought.

You know there's probably YouTube videos on this very subject if you go looking. I doubt you're the first Tomcat NASA test piolet out there. Maybe buy from the source jar provided above and you can take care of it yourself, for less money.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I trust my aging eyes and fat fingers on this one. These parts are danged tiny. I mean really flippin' tiny.
Thinking of looking for a local smith or sending it to Beretta or Midwest Gun Works ... after which those grips are staying on the gun!
 
Pat Riot said:
As a veteran Launch Team member I feel your pain. Actually, consider it lucky you didn’t get hit in the eye with your wayward parts. Years ago I ricocheted a Ruger hammer spring off a new pair of eyeglasses. Found the spring but had to get my lens replaced. I learned a couple of lessons that day.

I have lost a number of various springs and parts but the weirdest one was a spring and plunger I lost in my living room from an S&W 22S pistol. They took off like a shot and were never found even after replacing the carpet a year later. Truly weird.
Click to expand...

I've wondered about such disappearances.
It's like there's a Bermuda triangle for parts.
Or somewhere there's a retirement community where lost springs, plungers and pins live one street over from the socks that went missing in the laundry.
 
been there with another pistol. found the spring, but the plunger was gone. started doing any operation like that by just putting the firearm into a Walmart bag and reaching into the bag. not perfect, but it has saved me from losing the exact same parts again, if you have an idea what direction it is going to go flying, just point that at the back of the bag and it has worked OK for me. as an aside, since those parts tend to be reasonable to replace - I just order a couple extra, so - if I do make the same mistake again, I have some parts available to replace them with ready to go.
 
Safety glasses, large plastic bag, been there done that too many times myself. I keep spares around and reorder upon "launch". :)

Beretta's recommendation (or warning if you prefer) is not to exceed 130 Foot pounds of muzzle energy with your chosen Tomcat ammo. Mine is the thinner blued slide, has the frame crack above the trigger pivot, so like others after great wailing I cleaned up the crack. I still use it even though this is officially discouraged. I don't carry it having other options, but I still like it and it still works.
 
unclenunzie said:
Safety glasses, large plastic bag, been there done that too many times myself. I keep spares around and reorder upon "launch". :)

Beretta's recommendation (or warning if you prefer) is not to exceed 130 Foot pounds of muzzle energy with your chosen Tomcat ammo. Mine is the thinner blued slide, has the frame crack above the trigger pivot, so like others after great wailing I cleaned up the crack. I still use it even though this is officially discouraged. I don't carry it having other options, but I still like it and it still works.
Click to expand...
Interestingly, my new 2019 made Tomcat Inox did not include the insert about the 130 ft/lb limit and only says to use factory standard ammunition.
 
Mark1964 said:
Some idiot with a name identical to mine did no reading, watched no vids and had to figure out afterward what had happened.
Click to expand...
LOL

Don't feel bad... even when I DO the research ahead of time, I still forget when I actually start messing with stuff. My den is littered with springs and detents. I figure the elves can use them to fix my guns.
 
jar said:
Interestingly, my new 2019 made Tomcat Inox did not include the insert about the 130 ft/lb limit and only says to use factory standard ammunition.
Click to expand...

Neither did mine.
I'm thinking the 73 grain Fiocchi ball is probably going to be fine.
 
Dudes, I'll definitely order a couple extra spring/plunger sets, but I STILL doubt I could do the reinstall. That's some tiny stuff. Don't think my old eyes and fat fingers are going to get it done w/o multiple launches. Don't know that my temperament could withstand repeated launches, plus search and recover operations, plus another try.
 
My favorite .32 ACP FMJ is S&B 73 gr but it's a smidge warmer than the Fiocchi. A little over 900 fps in a P32.
 
Had not thought of the S&B or the Geco. Will keep my eyes open for both, or maybe order some in.
I'll hit the Rural King this weekend .... the one here has a surprisingly good ammo selection and pretty good prices.
 
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