Beretta Tomcat ... feeling sheepish

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I launched mine probably two decades ago. I ended up putting a little piece of bent wire in there to keep the safety from flopping around. I figure it’s a double action pistol. I’m never going to use the safety anyway. It would be carried hammer down, safety off.

I later bought a used 21A, and someone had saved me the trouble of losing the spring. So I locked the lever down with wire on that one as well.

I did buy replacement springs & plungers from Brownells at one time. I dont know if there was a redesign, but they would not fit in either gun. The plunger was too long. I even trimmed the tail on it and it was still too long. Even with the spring compressed completely the assembly was too long.

At that point I went back to the disabled safety, and it hasn’t been an issue.
 
Done the carpet crawl many times. I’ve been very fortunate in my success rate, including one memorable evening in my youth looking for a tiny Camp 9 spring in the scrofulous ‘70’s shag carpet of the apartment I was living in at the time.
Eye protection for assembly/disassembly is something that I think isn’t stressed enough among shooters. A couple of close calls and I learned my lesson. Maybe I’m slower than most folks.
 
Monac said:
OMG, I am so glad I am not the only person who does things like this.
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No way, dude. I'd bet every single one of us has launched a spring or two along the way.
This one was a bummer for me 'cause of the pure tininess of the spring (I'm still amazed I found the plunger). Heck, had found the thing, it was too tiny for me to reinstall in the safety and then get the safety into the pistol all while that little nipper was under pressure.
That said, you want to see something impressive? Launch a mag tube spring from a semiauto shotgun (but make sure melon's not in the way).
I sent one to the ceiling the other day from a Tri-Star Viper G2 Bronze in 20 gauge. It was frightening, impressive and hilarious all at once. Like someone opened up a canned, pizzed off snake with a boost from a gas station air hose. I swear, you could even hearing the "boing."
Next time I go to put in or take out the mag plug, I'll remember to keep a hand over the tube assembly while pushing in the two little flanges that let the mag tube cap come out ... for sure!
 
Been there, done that. When I moved out of my last house, after living there for 20 years, while cleaning up and moving benches and stuff, the number of pins, plungers and springs I found behind stuff made me laugh.

BTW, harbor freight sells a visor that has flip down magnifiers built in. Guess why I own a couple pairs of these.
 
Not the only gun where a grip panel is all that keeps stuff from flying. I added this to the Firestar page years ago after I became a victim:

There is one good warning not included in the manuals. Use some caution when stripping these pistols. The safety lever is only prevented from over-rotating by the grip panels. If they are removed for cleaning or maintenance, the safety can be rotated too far, and the the detent plunger will fly out. This is a very, very, small part and will almost certainly become lost. The safety lever is very important to the safe operation of the gun, so use caution not to lose the detent pin. If you do loose this part, a very tiny ball bearing can replace it perfectly well, but good luck getting ahold of one.​

http://star-firearms.com/firearms/guns/firestar/index.shtml
 
Here's an idea, if it ain't broke don't fix it. If it doesn't work, it's going back to the factory without tool marks and being tampered with. Tinker with it after it's broke in and not having issues. Why do people think they are smarter than factory engineers because they sure ain't.
 
I took my Browning Buckmark apart when the factory manual said not to and springs went everywhere. I found all of them but then no instructions on how to reassemble so I took it to my local gunsmith. On the way back home I was thinking there has to be some instruction on putting it back together when I thought of Rimfire Central. Sure enough there was a clip on how to do it so I retrieved my pistol from the gunsmith and put it back together. I won't do take one apart again as the old saying goes "you don't learn nothing new by the second kick of a mule".
 
d2wing said:
Here's an idea, if it ain't broke don't fix it. If it doesn't work, it's going back to the factory without tool marks and being tampered with. Tinker with it after it's broke in and not having issues. Why do people think they are smarter than factory engineers because they sure ain't.
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Yeah, t'm the first guy in the world to take grip panels off a semi-auto pistol. (Apparently not)
You've never changed out grips on a factory pistol, say aftermarket wood for factory plastic?
 
Somewhere, deep in the bowels of my garage, is the recoil spring plug for a Springfield Armory 1911 that launched skyward a couple of years ago. I heard at least two ricochet sounds from what I believe was the roof and a wall, then it buried itself somewhere amongst my boxed up garage treasures, never to be found again.

Luckily the kids weren’t home, as my Scottish “check rage” light went on and I strung 4 letter words together in sentences that would make the Pope shoot cheap whisky.

I was online ordering a new one within minutes of realizing the plug had permanently disappeared.

It happens to us all at some point. o_O

Stay safe.
 
Mark1964 said:
Yeah, t'm the first guy in the world to take grip panels off a semi-auto pistol. (Apparently not)
You've never changed out grips on a factory pistol, say aftermarket wood for factory plastic?
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Sure, I tinker alot. But not before I determine that the gun doesn't need factory repair.
 
d2wing said:
Sure, I tinker a lot. But not before I determine that the gun doesn't need factory repair.
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Well, given I've seen guns from the factory (and good-name makers at that) come in every state from properly cleaned & lubed to bone dry to over-oiled to gunky with something brown, half-dried and resembling Cosmoline, I guess we differ on how much to trust the factories. It also occurs to me that the engineers or designers don't actually work on the line and/or prepare the guns for shipment .
And I honestly don't see taking off a pair of grip panels as major surgery, thought next time I do go into an unfamiliar gun (even for that seemingly simple task), I'll web search first. My bad on that front.
Given I've had to spend little with smiths over the last 40 years or so, and most of that was for jobs of preference I thought better to trust to a pro smith, I doubt I'm going start seeking a smith or armorer for everything.
I could even likely do this one -- seems plenty of guys here and elsewhere have -- but I just don't want to futz around with parts this tiny. This time, I'll pay someone else to undertake the aggravation.
I guess we all do what we deem right for our guns and our money.
Enjoying mine, hope you're enjoying yours. Peace.
 
commygun said:
Done the carpet crawl many times. I’ve been very fortunate in my success rate, including one memorable evening in my youth looking for a tiny Camp 9 spring in the scrofulous ‘70’s shag carpet of the apartment I was living in at the time.
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I used to repair old school 8mm movie cameras at Mack Camera Service in NJ. Most of those were spring driven. Not to mention the lens click stops that were a ball bearing sitting on top of a spring. Magnets are your friend with any launched iron or steel part.

Now, once upon a time, in those 70's, I spilled a bag of #6 lead birdshot. Whee! vacuuming the floor was noisy for months.
 
Aw, geez dudes, went and fondled a couple 238s and 938s today.
I think hanging with you guys is going to be bad for my wallet.
I'm leaning 938.
 
Not a launch. I field stripped my Kahr P6 for cleaning. Never moved from in front of my bench. Went to put the slide stop in. Nowhere to be found. Figured it would show up at the same time a replacement arrived from Kahr. Nope, still AWOL.

My gunsmith almost lost an eye when he failed to wear protection when disassembling a 1911. Done it probably a thousand times, but still got away from him.
 
Well, after much examination and fondling of the finalists ... I actually went with a Sig P365.
The 238 and 928 are lovely, no doubt.
But I was rather taken with that little 10 +1 9mm and, yes, I have shot one.
If it proves less than truly pocketable, I still have the Beretta 21A, the LCP and even the SW 642.
I think I'll enjoy the P365. Will get it out for some trigger time on Saturday.
None of which, of course, precludes a 238 or 938 in the future.
 
Mark1964 said:
Well, after much examination and fondling of the finalists ... I actually went with a Sig P365.
The 238 and 928 are lovely, no doubt.
But I was rather taken with that little 10 +1 9mm and, yes, I have shot one.
If it proves less than truly pocketable, I still have the Beretta 21A, the LCP and even the SW 642.
I think I'll enjoy the P365. Will get it out for some trigger time on Saturday.
None of which, of course, precludes a 238 or 938 in the future.
Click to expand...
I have both the 380 and the 9mm Parabellum Sig P290RS which was the predecessor of the P365. I have carried both in a DeSantis Dual mode pocket/IWB holster.

standard.jpg
 
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.
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I would love to have one too but as you say, can't bring myself to buy one with the cracking problems.
 
I liked the idea of the Tomcat. Really wanted a chubby twin for my Bobcat (21A). But the Tomcat and my hands didn't get along well.
Got $250 for it on trade. Was a bit of an expensive rental, LOL.
 
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