Beretta Tomcat vs. Taurus PT-22

Status
Not open for further replies.
P

priv8ter

Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2002
Messages
1,003
Location
Poulsbo, Wa
My wife normally carries a Firestorm .380, that she enjoys. But, being a hair under 5-feet tall, she has mentioned that she would like a smaller gun from time to time.

I have tried to direct her towards a J-Frame, but she isn't interested in revovlers. She has mentioned a derringer, but...I'm not crazy with that idea. Also, she has never really handled a derringer, so I'm not sure she appretiates how heavy most of them are.

But, she has handled a Beretta Tomcat, and she seemed to like it. I was looking into the Taurus PT-22, because they are about the same size. So...here is what I have so far.

Pro's for the Tomcat are:
1. It's a Beretta, and not a Taurus(not knocking Taurus...I have tried and liked some, just they do seem to let a lemon slip out every now and then.)

2. It's in .32 ACP instead of .22. Bit larger bullet, and then there is the reliability issue center fire vs rimfire.

Pro's for the Taurus:

$$$$$$$$
And I'm not talking just MSRP, although the Taurus runs around a $100 less. I'm talking .22 vs .32 here. Even premium .22 ammo is a fraction the price of the cheapest .32. And, hopefully, cheaper ammo would lead to more practice! Also, with the Taurus, you get 8 rounds instead of 7!(Like I'm happy risking my wife's life on one extra round of .22).

One of my main concerns is how the Beretta feels when using it...things like follow up from shot to shot. Yeah, a .32 in not a .40, but, I'm kind of worried about how 'snappy' it might be in a gun like the Tomcat.
I don't seem to be having much luck finding a range that rents Tomcat's in the area.

Thanks for everyone's help!

greg
 
Why not a KelTec P-32 or P-3AT? Both of the KelTecs are thinner and lighter then the two you mentioned and the KTs have locked breach action for less felt recoil.
I had a Tomcat that I replaced with, IMO a much better shooting P-32! I now carry a P-3AT that is 380 cal and is still smaller, lighter and easier to shoot then the Tomcat.
 
Forget 22LR for a small carry gun. Even JMB couldn't make the rimed .22LR feed reliably in small pocket pistols -- 'tis why he invented the 25ACP!

I'd second the suggestion for a Kel-Tec P32 or P3AT. Quality control is spotty -- meaing you get to do the final QA/QC but they stand behind their product and since its the lightest & thinest .32 or .380 out there, its unique and worth the potential hassle. Add $7 to the potential cost to cover a return trip if needed,
Should be around $230-240 NIB, maybe $7 more if you get a lemon.

P3AT recoil might be a bit stout, P32 will be much easier with a small women's hands, but get the P3AT if she can handle it. P32 for practice and P3AT for carry might be best bet if the budget allows. Could always get the P32 first and later move up to P3AT for carry.

--wally.
 
Actually...

I agree with you guys. 100% If this was for me, I would already own a P-3AT(or, maybe a P-32...I'm one of those types who wants to let someone else work out the bugs).

But. This is for the wife.

The first, and more minor point, is that she feels the Kel-Tec's look like toys. She doesn't find them asthetically pleasing.

The more important point, and the reason that she doesn't want an airlight revolver, is that she wants whatever gun she carries to have a safety. She has tried revovlers, and she agrees that the trigger pull is heavy enough to AD's...but, there it is. She want's whatever gun she carries to have an externally mounted safety. :(

Other than that though, she's an outstanding girl.

greg
 
if this is a companion piece to her Bersa Firestorm .380 it should have a similar manual of arms. so go with a Beretta Bobcat .22lr or Tomcat .32acp because they're traditional double action with safety while the taurus is DAO with non-exposed hammer but you also might want to look at a walther tph .22lr because it's also traditional DA and the safety is slide mounted (like the Firestorm).

http://www.gunsamerica.com/guns/976438624.htm

whatever you she decides on, this would all be a moot-point if she carries it in her purse where it's most likely to be taken from her immediately. aesthetics are important but i hope it doesn't mean she's not serious about this.

pick a good .22lr solid point or .32acp fmj too
http://www.goldenloki.com/ammo/gel/tests.htm
 
"Forget 22LR for a small carry gun. Even JMB couldn't make the rimed .22LR feed reliably in small pocket pistols -- 'tis why he invented the 25ACP!"

I agree, don't think I'd trust a .22LR auto with my life...

Have you thought about the Beretta 950 "Jetfire"? It's like a Tomcat, but a bit smaller, and it's a .25 ACP. I've got one and love it, it's small, light, reliable, and acurate. Everything a mousegun should be...



p_950_jetfire_maxi.jpg
 
Although I know very little about Taurus pocket pistols(I love their revolvers) I can vouch for the quality of Beretta pocket pistols. I have a model 418 in 25acp that is 50 years old and is as reliable as the sun. I wouldn't think that their new ones were much worse.
 
My 10 yr old boy shoots the Tomcat .32 like theres no tomorrow and doesnt have a problem with the recoil or follow up shots...I bought him a Buckmark camper .22 because the .32 ammo was so expensive....The .32 has had a couple of jams in about 300-400 rds and seems to dent the spent shell when ejecting.....The Tomcat has a big grip for the frame so recoil isnt much of an issue....drf
 
I don't know about Taurus, but Beretta .22 rimfire handguns don't have an extractor. I have both a .32 ACP Beretta Tomcat and a .22 LR Beretta Bobcat.

With no extractor, a misfire cannot be cleared on a Bobcat by merely racking the slide. The firing pin swages the misfired cartridge to the barrel breech and requires a tool to remove.

I have zero experience with the Taurus knockoff, but if it doesn't have an extractor then you can probably expect the same situation.

IMO, a double-action revolver is THE ONLY choice for a defensive handgun chambered to fire a .22 rimfire cartridge. There's no chance of a misfeed, and a misfire is solved by merely pressing the trigger again. Some .22 caliber revolvers have greater capacity than the little Beretta and Taurus handguns.

For anyone who desires a small caliber automatic pistol for a defense gun, I suggest .25 ACP or .32 ACP.
 
Also the Tomcat is very hard to manually rack the slide for a woman so Beretta has the tip up barrel for the first round......drf
 
I actually own a Taurus PT-22. It took about 200 rounds and a couple of thorough cleanings before it became 100% reliable, mechanically. Mine doesn't like Stingers but happily pops out cheap Remington high velocity cartridges. Once in a while I get a dud round. I usually tip open the barrel, rotate the round 90 degrees (after waiting a while to make sure it isn't a hangfire) and it goes bang.
It has a very long DA pull so I don't worry about an AD. It also has the spurless hammer so that's not a worry, either.
I have had the safety snag in my jeans pocket and inadvertently engage the safety but it has never happened while carrying with an in-the-waistband holster. It's not really a CCW piece for me as I carry something with a larger cartridge.
Regards,
Apple
 
I will never buy, trade or be associated w/ another Taurus -- just have never handled one that was completely right. Berettas on the other hand have been reliable & trustworthy -- that's why I now have 5 ;)
 
I have a Tomcat. It’s a great little pocket gun. Easy to shoot and
pretty accurate. Be advised thou, Beretta pocket pistols cannot
be dry fired. I learned this the hard way on both my bobcat and
tomcat. Beretta was nice enough to replace the broken firing pins
on both these guns for me. I noticed the problem on my bobcat
right away, but I carried my tomcat for about a week with a
broken firing pin. OOPS :(
Steve
 
Take any of the pros from the PT-22 column. Its the worst pistol I've ever owned. Give me fifty bucks and you can have mine. It can be YOUR headache then. If you wan't a 32 get a P32 Keltec. It works great and it has a much better record of reliability than the Tomcat.
 
Unless the tomcat is in INOX, stay away from it. I had two new blued ones crack in the first 60 rounds. Do a seach on Tomcat cracking, and you will find a lot of people have had this problem. The INOX are heavier and apparently ok.
 
A friend traded her blue one (which cracked) for a INOX one and is happy with it.

Have you considered Seecamp? They are available in .32 and .380 and are as small as you can get in autoloaders.
 
My blued Tomcat frame cracked after about 300 rounds of Winchester White Box shot intermittantly over several years.

It started to jam and guess what - cracked frame.

Beretta Customer Service said send it in, and no they won't send you a mailer, even if you offer to pre-pay for it. So $47 for express overnight shipping for them to tell me they gun is un-repairable, but they would be happy to replace it with a new heavy slide INOX version for $178. The one year warrenty had expired.

No blue ones were available - they are discontinued. Why - CS did not know. Will there be a recall on the blued guns since so many frames are cracking - no.

If you ask me, the Tomcat is a big black eye to Beretta's reputation (and this is coming from a guy who owns several of their shotguns).
 
Run a search on the Tomcat. A number of threads on this forum from recent months alone will attest to many of the issues that the Tomcat presents. The Beretta name is no sure-fire thing as far as this model goes, let me tell you. And Beretta's customer service department was no sure-fire bet, either, when it came time to repair the brand new one I got and managed a mere 66 rounds through before it crapped out entirely. I'd look a little more.
 
Also cracked the frame and sent it back. Beretta was nice enough to exchange it for an Inox free of charge. I've shot it a few times without problems but don't really trust it as a carry gun. IMO, there are a lot of better options out there in pocket sized configurations.
 
I own/shoot a Taurus PT22, Beretta Bobcat, Beretta 950b, Kel-Tec P-32, Kel-Tec P3AT, and a few dozen other pocket guns in .22, .25, .32, and .380.
As was noted already, the .32acp Tomcat has a frame-crack history (unless it's an INOX frame).
My .22LR Bobcat though has been extremely reliable. CCI Mini-Mags, Blazers, even Walmart Federals function 100% in it.
My Taurus PT22 is not quite as reliable. Overall; it's fit, finish and function are not up to the Beretta 21A Bobcat's. The Taurus is a DAO semi-clone of the Beretta, so it has the same basic wide grip to house the double recoil springs on the sides. The Beretta's trigger on both D/A and S/A is far better though.
The ubiquitous .25acp Beretta 950/950B/950BS Jetfire is extremely reliable. My ancient 950B has never failed to fire/cycle.
You may want to have your wife take another look at Kel-Tecs. I know they are nowhere near as beautiful to most folks as an all-metal pistol with nice wood grips, but they are small, thin, light, and the bugs are pretty much worked out of them now. I recently bought another P-32 and it's functioned 100% out of the box with no fluff'n'buff.
 
i finally got my beretta tomcat today- and a box of 20 -65gr hydrashoks i test fired 12 kept 8 for carry. the first two round the slide stuck open had to push it closed then after the 6 th round it functioned normally. its a real good gun its pretty loud for a small pocket gun . i am gonna do more testing in 2 weeks when i get more bullets i ordered some boxes of silvertips.
 
BushyGuy...You might think about running at least 2-3 boxes of FMJ's through it before carrying it, just to prove it out and break things in. Then run a box of your carry ammo through it. THEN you can carry it with some degree of confidence.
It would be a real drag if "the slide stuck open" on round 13, and round 13 was when you needed it to fire. ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

C
  • Locked
Tomcats and Gaurdians
Replies
20
Views
2K
Bobo
B
Stevie-Ray
  • Locked
NAA Guardian or Tomcat?
Replies
16
Views
1K
bad_dad_brad
B
J
  • Locked
Beretta .32 Tomcat
2
Replies
36
Views
3K
Mark whiz
M
U
  • Locked
Beretta Tomcat vs Kel Tec P32
Replies
15
Views
4K
Highpower1
H
Anna's Dad
  • Locked
Taurus PT-22 vs. Beretta Bobcat
Replies
7
Views
3K
Anna's Dad
Anna's Dad
Back
Top