Beretta Model 21 "Bobcat" - Reliable ???

CZ, the dog is fine. The nutria bit her on the nose and there was a lot of blood but she did well once the thing passed on to its reward.

I thought of one other relative minus for the Model 21. The barrel is easily scored by bronze brushes so lead fouling has to be carefuly scraped out.
 
Mine was very unreliable. It had anywhere from 3 to 8 jams per box of ammo. I tried many different brands of ammo and the Beretta never got any better. In contrast the my Beretta Jetfire was totally reliable. The Jetfire is a great little gun. It's smaller than the Bobcat. Single action only though. I don't think there's much difference between the 22 and 25 in this size gun except for maybe the price. If you want a Baby Beretta I think you'd be much better served with the Jetfire. You can also get the double action Bobcat in 25 caliber.
 
Wow I've been lucky. With high test Remington not one problem in four bricks. It did not do well with several other types of ammo.I wouldn't use it for anything but a woods walker, however.:o
 
If your baby Beretta is to be used for any self defense duty at all (and it will be tempting), do yourself a favor and get it in .25 instead of .22. The .25 is just more reliable overall because of the centerfire priming system and jacketed bullets. I have a 21A in .22LR and while I enjoy it, I have had enough misfires with good hits on the rim to relegate it to a semi-useful plinking status. These occurred with Remington, Winchester and Federal. I have the 950 in .25 and have never had a problem with either ignition or ejection. I will eventually get rid of the 21A in .22 and replace it with one in .25. I haven't tried CCI .22's and will probably try a brick of them before I decide.
 
Weldon,

My 22S has been totally reliable with the right ammo, and has several thousand rounds through it so far.

The only ammo that did not work, was T-22. I bought a brick of that when my shop ran out of the Federal Target 711 I'd been using, and about 30 percent of the T-22 rounds failed to fire!

When the 22S was new, I bought a box of everything that Walmart had in stock, except the cheap bulk packs, and none of it failed to fire!

I don't know why T-22 causes problems, but I've talked to others on various forums who had the same problem, so I think it's something to do with that brand.

Before you get rid of that 22A, I recommend trying Federal 711, or any other reasonable quality 22 LR ammo, to see which one's are reliable in your pistol.

Also, the nylon recoil buffer pad in the back of the slide takes a beating, and should be replaced every few thousand rounds. Smith sent me a free bag of recoil pads when I called them, and they take only a few minutes to install.

Bill
 
Beretta 21A as pocket choice

I bought a Beretta 21A 22LR last year after looking hard and long at the pocket pistol market. The 21A 22LR was first choice for lots of inexpensive practice and the right size to prepare to use a small .32 ACP, a step up in power. The 21A has been very accurate in my hands, I've used it with good results in Pin Shoots, hitting the neck of the pins to get leverage. That's a small target.

I have confidence in the effective use of 22LR in a defensive situation assuming nothing heavier is within reach. I'm just an ordinary guy so I don't really expect to be in life threatening situations that any LEO faces. I stick it in a pocket walking late at night or biking in the woods or fixing a flat on a lonely highway. It's there when needed and sure beats being empty handed.

It is DA/SA making all shots quick and easy. It is tip-up making chamber checks, loading and unloading a snap. It is light, small, fits a #1 Uncle Mike's pocket holster with room in the L-shaped foot for a spare mag. Two full mags is a lot of hurt ready to go.

My daughter-in-law has it by her bedside while she recovers from surgery. I wouldn't let her use it if I had any doubts about it. My only complaint is the lack of an ejector, dictated by the tip-up barrel design. However, the extractor throws the brass just fine and the DA/SA trigger allows positive restrike capabilities.

I went DAO on the next pocket pistol, opting for the NAA Guardian .32ACP for its rock solid construction. A Beretta Tomcat in .32ACP is still calling to me. I'm sure I hear some big bore groans but I've bought three other .32's (7.65mm) this year from some major combatants of the last century, a Beretta 1935, a French 1935A and a Czech CZ-70. I'll soon add Mauser, Walther, Browning, Colt and other's as budget allows. The 7.65/32 has been a worthy offensive/defensive round for a hundred years.
 
Herb, good for you. Just a note to remind you to keep those bullets fresh and dry. Changing them out every week is not at all unreasonable if a person does any amount of pocket carry at all.

It only costs just a little more, maybe a total of a nickle a round to get premium grade bullets which may be more reliable than the 2 cent a round ammo one gets by the brick. Then if one shoots up 16 rounds per week and exchanges it for fresh ammo that's what 80 cents for peace of mind?

All IMHO of course, not professing to be an expert by any means.

:cool:
 
Beretta 21

Hi Herb,

I have a 21 and also a 950 in .25, they are great guns. You don't have to worry much about the lack of an extractor. In case of a failure to fire it is easy and quick to tip the barrel and fingernail the cartridge out. Often an unfired cartridge will fly out when you release the barrel. I use Stingers and have never had a problem. Buy a few extra mags and switch them in the gun from time to time. (Make sure they all function first, of course)

Good luck
 
I own three 21A's and a 950 in .24acp and they are great and reliable little pocket guns. But I much prefer my hard chromed Keltec P-32.

7th
 
I've had pretty extensive experience with this gun. Problems with them can almost always be traced to an insufficiently strong magazine spring, in my experience. With a good, strong magazine spring and good cleaning habits on your part the model 21 will be as reliable as one can expect from a .22. You will still have the (very) occasional ammo related failure, but for your purposes that will be of no consequence.
 
I consider mine reliable. Mind you though, that before I carried it as a backup, I tested it with various types of 22 to ascertain what was the most reliable and accurate in the gun. If I have to go to a mouse gun, I want it to work.
 
My 21A (DA/SA) was extremely reliable and fun to shoot. I only stoked it with Stingers, and rarely cleaned it. Head shots at 50 feet were a snap. At 12 feet you could dump a mag very, very quickly, which is what you'll have to do if you expect to use it for defense. I can't remember a malfunction, which is more than I can say about just about any other auto I've ever owned.
 
Get a Jetfire in .25 cal.

Totally reliable center fire and the ballistics in a .25 are not that different in a .22 LR in a short barrel.

Ammo is more expensive, but how often are you going to practice with a gun that has an effective range of 15 feet?

I like my Jetfire because it delivers 9 shots with complete reliability. I would aim for the eyes.
 
Not yet...

Just picked up a new Blue 21A in 22LR a week ago - tried to put a few rounds through it over the weekend. Had more jams, misfeeds and problems than I had good rounds. Going back to Beretta to see if they can fix it... Can't blame it on ammo, or the temperature / outside conditions, because my other 21A did just fine. Says something about the [lack] of quality control in my book.
 
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