Beretta 21a, what to expect.

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Gato Montés

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As the title suggests I went ahead and bought a little Beretta Bobcat in 22 the other day. I was mining for something a little different this time around, something appropriately sized for the 22 that would make for a great pocketable pistol when taking leisurely strolls through the woods. I was going to get a Ruger Bearcat but the realization that I can suppress the Bobcat was the final push for me in that direction(I still need more hosts). I find the tip up barrel pretty neato as well.

My understanding is that you use Mini Mags/Stingers and you're GTG; cheap bulk pack stuff is a no go with this little guy, is that correct? I have said before that if a 22 won't run on bulk it's not worth buying, but I suppose with the current stable of good reliable 22's I own that something a little more picky couldn't hurt.

Did I make a mistake with this little guy or does it run alright with the better stuff?
 
Thanks for the vids, help pass the time while waiting for my "cool down" period to end so I can pick it up. Thanks WI State government for looking out for me and my temper!:banghead:

Good to hear that Blazer works. I've found that Blazer can work in almost any 22 regardless of how picky it may be.

I've certainly always known of the 21a, but I was damn well surprised as to how difficult it was to hunt one down, and I have a huge amount of locations local to me that sell firearms. I don't know if that's a result of the gun mania going around or what, but I had to try over 20 joints just to find one. I paid $290 which I think was a little high for the blued one, but it certainly beats paying $400 at Gander (ack!).

EDIT

I actually have a couple questions that I just thought of.

How's Beretta's customer service? Never owned a Beretta before.

The 21a doesn't lock open for the last shot. Given that, this thing will be dry fired inadvertently after running the magazine dry which for most rimfires is a big no no. Is that a potential concern with this pistol or is it similar to Rugers in that dry firing on occasion is ok? Can't imagine they'd put a pistol out that eats itself alive, but just wondering none the less.
 
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Mine functions great with CCI Minimags, Stingers, and other premium ammo.
 
Feed it good ammunition and it will work well. With not-so-good ammunition it will probably not be reliable, but it should still be accurate.

I love mine.
 
I have had one for about ten years and shoot it often. Mine did not like bulk ammo at first but will run it after about 200 round break in.

Mine and I have heard of others likes to be clean. I normally clean it after every 50 rounds or so.

Last weekend I took my wife and another female out to shoot handguns for the first time. They each shot 6 different guns from 22lr up to 45acp. At the end of the day both liked the bobcat best and could make hits with it.
 
All positive reviews, good to hear!

I'm not looking at this as a primary CCW piece, but for the trail that tip up barrel will make popping in a round of snake shot pretty easy (does snake shot in 22 work, never had the opportunity to try it?).

What kind of round counts do you guys have on these?
 
In my experience, semi-autos are picky about ammo, little semi-autos are pickier about ammo, and little .22 rimfire semi-autos are the pickiest about ammo. If you want to shoot bulk, you'd probably be better off with the Bearcat. I would stick with the Mini-Mags.
 
Man, I do want a Bobcat, for some reason or another. I've lusted at those 21As since I was a young kid, after I acquired my Phoenix Arms HP22 I've had even more interest in getting a slightly higher quality "pocket plinker" of a sort. Not super practical, but fun I suppose. Very NFA worthy, they look nifty when sporting a suppressor. Sorry for adding a non-imformative post to your thread I just had to get it out of my system. The HP22 though, changed my mind about smaller rimfire Autos being finicky, it's shoots even the old generation Golden Bullets splendidly.
 
I have 2 I stopped using the stingers and went to CCI standard 22 LR lead Now times are bad and its running on Blazer . I shoot 1 of them every day at least 1 or 2 rounds . I live in country and use it to call my dog when he's out in the field running . He hears gun shot he's on way home .

We fired 250 rounds threw both at 1 sitting and neither were cleaned Just shot . I like this little pistol as much as I like my Older 950 and model 20 Berettas in 25 auto. Mine have been great guns Unlike the Taurus POS copy we had before.
 
I would keep a round count when shooting. I would NOT dry fire the 21a. Mine shoots fine with Blazers also. The only thing I dont like are the sights. Pretty tiny. Oh... and the word "stainless" stamped in the top of the barrel.
 
I would keep a round count when shooting. I would NOT dry fire the 21a.
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Agreed. I wouldn't dry fire any rimfire. What I sometimes do with rimfire semi-autos is put a snap cap as the last round in the magazine.
 
Cute little gun!:D
Mine runs like a clock on regular old Blazer. It does like to be kept clean, there is no extractor, so if the chamber gets cruddy I get a failure to extract.
I rarely shoot more than 100r at a time, so it's not usually an issue, but if you shoot yours more, you may need to swab out the chamber.
 
I like the Bobcat and carried one as a backup. Test it with your carry ammo.
 
Had one for a few years. It seemed to run better with MiniMags than Stingers. Often ran cheap Thunderbolts fairly well if I kept it clean. Sold the pistol. Later replaced it with a cheapo Phoenix Arms .22. THe Phoenix has been a lot more reliable than that little Beretta ever was. Even running cheap Thunderbolts.
 
In my experience, semi-autos are picky about ammo, little semi-autos are pickier about ammo, and little .22 rimfire semi-autos are the pickiest about ammo. If you want to shoot bulk, you'd probably be better off with the Bearcat. I would stick with the Mini-Mags.
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And I would completely agree with that but like I said I already own a couple dead reliable 22s, an MKII Target and a 22/45 TB, both of which are pretty big and I was looking for something drastically smaller in the caliber, reliability issues acknowledged. At least if it turns into a single shot its got that swanky tip up barrel to make things easier!

Man, I do want a Bobcat, for some reason or another. I've lusted at those 21As since I was a young kid, after I acquired my Phoenix Arms HP22 I've had even more interest in getting a slightly higher quality "pocket plinker" of a sort. Not super practical, but fun I suppose. Very NFA worthy, they look nifty when sporting a suppressor. Sorry for adding a non-imformative post to your thread I just had to get it out of my system. The HP22 though, changed my mind about smaller rimfire Autos being finicky, it's shoots even the old generation Golden Bullets splendidly.
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I'm actually pretty glad you posted that as we seem to feel exactly the same when regarding the little Bobcat. Set up with a can that thing should be rockin, and I almost wonder if the added back pressure from the silencer would almost assist in better operation of the pistol since it relies on simple blow back to eject the casing.
 
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My Bobcat has been very reliable. I mostly feed it CCI 40-grain Mini-Mags, but it runs great with Blazers and the (used to be) cheap Walmart 550-pack Federals. Keep it clean.
It is a hoot as a single-shot with Aquila 'Colibri' primer-fired cartridges too!
The only thing I don't like about the 21A Bobcat is the rather low round count in the magazine (considering the grip length).

I have no idea about Beretta service. I currently own 5 Beretta pocket guns, but none has ever needed factory servicing.
.
 
Brought it home just now. I really dig the way it strips for cleaning, very simple.

So as I mentioned before I plan on threading this guy for a suppressor. I can send the whole pistol if need be, albeit at a much higher shipping cost, or I can just send the barrel. I've read of people damaging the frame trying to do just that. Any you guys know a good way of removing the retaining pin without the assistance of a press?
 
I have one that does okay with Minimags, . . . sketchy with bulk. I'm up in the air about whether or not I'll keep it. It is the blued model with wood grips.

Update: I should restate. It will pretty much shoot any bullet for about 30-40 rounds or so, but when it starts to get fouled a little, that's when the bulk stuff will fail to get the next round or fail to eject. Stingers work anytime.
 
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Gato... keep us posted on the threading of the barrel. I have wanted to thread, or replace the barrel, with a threaded barrel, on my 21a. Another 22 host is always a good thing...
 
Mine will cycle anything....bulk stuff, premium stuff, doesn't matter. I have shot more standard velocity Blazer 40gr. than anything else but it isn't picky at all. Enjoy yours. It is a fun little gun and amazingly accurate for what it is.
 
Gato... keep us posted on the threading of the barrel. I have wanted to thread, or replace the barrel, with a threaded barrel, on my 21a. Another 22 host is always a good thing...
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Not a problem, but I might be a little while. First things first, I want to get out to the range to make sure the little guy will function, and I won't be able to get out till next week. If all goes well I'll have it sent out next week as well.

I'm utilizing Jim of JP Grips and Machine to do the threading; quote is $135 for just the barrel and $155 for the whole pistol. That does include the thread protector, the extension necessary to thread and return postage. Hi Desert Dog sells both pre threaded 21s and threaded barrels, both of which are (seemingly always) out of stock. The other two joints that are always highly recommended are ADCO and Tornado Tech; ADCO hasn't replied to my emails and TT I hear has a waiting list of about a YEAR! Jim does a great job for what I can tell a good price, and his turn around time is never more than 15 days door to door. I just wish I had the tools/know how to remove the barrel as it's the difference of five dollar shipping to fifty dollar shipping for a handgun.:(

Once I got everything finalized I'll resurrect this thread with a full update, so keep a look out.
 
Had one for a while. Actually, got it for my wife.
Liked some ammo, more than others.
Not impressed with the double action pull.
I had "slide bite" issues.
My daughter (around 12 at the time) had "limp wrist" reliability issues.

I know it sounds like it but, I was not dissatisfied with it.
It's pretty nifty. Really, really LOW on my list of possible SD guns, though.
My wife said it "makes her hand look fat." So off it went.
 
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