beretta tomcat / bobcat

[mossy]

i am thinking of getting one when i have the money.if you have one can you please share your thoughts about it.

[Blue]

I had a 21a in 22lr and I still kick myself for selling it

[leelaw]

I have a 21A that I just bought.

It is a teensie bit finickey with ammo, but only shows when you try to feed crap ammo through it.

The sights are a bit of a pain, and way too small, and there is a defect with the safety which can allow the hammer to fall (put safety on, pull trigger, release trigger, release safety), but if you don't screw around with that, it's a nice, small pistol.

I won't be selling mine, and I make fun of Blue for selling his.

[Blue]

I won't be selling mine, and I make fun of Blue for selling his.

[VegasND]

I have a 21a I'd sell but you can't buy it!

It's a pretty nifty little pistol. Cheap to shoot, a bit ammo picky, heavy for its size-thick too. Altogether a neat pistol if it's what you want. I'm selling this one and probably keeping the Taurus PT22--even though the Beretta's a better pistol. I like to practice with the Taurus because it's DAO, like 2 of my CCW pistols.

[rockstar]

My experience with the Tomcat has been very positive. It is reliable, and best for the money in its category. I like its safety features. Due to its diminutive size it is a bit punishing to shoot but controllable. It is a gun that rides with its master but wont be shot as much as the other ones. I have always felt if I could only pick one hand gun in this category, this would be the one for me.

[jazman]

It must be Beretta day. I have (in addition to my 950bs) a Tomcat .32. Really like the Tomcat, it runs perfectly on Winchester Silver Tips; Beretta designed the gun around them. Very reliable and the .32 is supposed to have excellent stopping power according to studies I read before I bought it. It fits perfectly in the back Levi pocket and doesn't "read" much in case you want to carry it.

[tonelar]

I have a Tomcat and think its a neat .32
Be careful how you hold it; its been known to bite the hand if you're using too high of a hold.

[Moonclip]

Some of the older Tomcats with a thinner slide are suppose to have issues. I recently saw a used Tomcat for $235 but I passed partly because I have 2 KelTec P32s.

[ivanimal]

I like the generous trigger room of the Beretta's they are functionally fine as long as you keep them clean.

[redcliff]

I have a 21a I bought in the 80's as I recall. Great little pistol. Under-powerred for a carry gun, but the little sucker can sure put rounds down range in a hurry. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end. I used to carry mine in an ankle holster or sometimes just a jacket pocket when I had a ccw.

When I worked at the gun shop in the 80's a lot of ladies liked them because of the tip up barrel, they never had to work the slide to get it ready for firing.

I notice the 21a if off the list now, too bad.

[maxicon]

Here's my standard post on the 21A:


I have a Bobcat, and there are lots of mixed reports on reliability - some people can't make them work for beans, and others have good luck with them. Here's the scoop on mine, FWIW.

There's no extractor, so duds and failures to extract will leave you out of commission for a while. Some folks have made little ejector rods to slip under a notch they've cut in the grips so they can push unejected or dud rounds out quickly.

Mine works best with CCI Minimags and nearly as well with CCI Stingers. I get roughly 1 failure per 100 rounds with Minimags and 2 per 100 with Stingers - typically what I call a horizontal stovepipe, where the ejected brass is caught horizontally between the slide and the barrel. These are pretty easy to clear, and most of the other jams aren't.

Stingers have a big, bright flash (woohoo!), while Minimags are much more subdued. Groups range between 4-6" at 10 yards, and the Stinger groups are slightly smaller than Minimags. I can get them down to about 3" from a rest.

The sights are nearly non-existent, and to get these 4-6" groups, I need to have my strong glasses on so I can see the tiny front blade, which makes the target a total fuzzball.

When I shoot other ammo, either standard velocity or weaker hi-velocity ammo like Federal Champion Hi Velocity or Zappers, I get a ton of jams, usually 3-4 per magazine. Horizontal stovepipes, regular stovepipes, jamming into the chamber, failure to extract, and partial extraction are typical. I've had a few double-strikes required on Zappers, which is unusual.

This is one of the benefits of the centerfire versions - they're much more reliable. I got mine as a plinker, and it's been good for that, but I'm working on some form of front sight improvement. The place I got it had a .32 as well, but they're too expensive for plinking.

Also, the mag release button is in a funny spot, in the side of the grip, and when I've been practicing a lot with more traditional guns (which is most of the time), it's not very quick or intuitive to get to.

Lots of people say they're better if you keep them spotlessly clean, but mine has the same reliability whether it's just been cleaned or has had lots of rounds through it. I'm at about 500 rounds without cleaning now, and it's still running as I described above.

All in all, I've been happy with mine - it's very nice looking, with attractive bluing and wood grips, and it's fun to shoot. I wouldn't even consider using it as a defensive gun except as a absolute last resort, both because of the weak round and because of the mediocre reliability.

It's too bad you can't get the Keltec P32 or P3AT easily, because it's smaller and lighter, with lots more power and better reliability. For a small defensive gun, I'd definitely look elsewhere.

[Guntech]

A friend of mine carries Tomcat .32 seems to be reliable

[jazman]

Again, my Tomcat is very reliable, but you have to spring for the Winchester Silver Tip ammo that the gun was designed for. A bit spendy but it works.

[ojisan]

My new model 21 A in 22lr was junk. Regardless of ammo, mini mag stingers velocitors wildcat etc there was a empty left in the chamber every other shot.Not so bad if there is an extractor so you can just pull the slide to clear the rounds, but no extractor here. I got tired of using my pocketknife to extract the cases. Never again a gun without an extractor! Tip up the barrel to clear the chamber and the slide comes off...bye, bye Beretta.
Phoenix HP22 works every time, cheap and fun. Has an extractor. ; )