Beretta 21A-.22lr, an Impulse Buy

[NCBeagle]

Found this ANIB Beretta 21A-.22lr at Carolina Sporting Arms in Charlotte. It's a cool little package. Pocket pistols in .22 are not usually on my radar, but this looked sharp. Feels great in hand. Super concealable. I read mixed reviews on reliability. Certainly, ammo selection impacts reliability. Its a classy little gun. Probably a good deal at $275.

 

[murphydog]

Cool gun, I shot one and it worked well with the two different .22 LR brands I used. Enjoy!

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Can be ammo sensitive: MiniMags (among others) work well...

Cheers!

 

[Baxter6551]

Great gun. Good price. I only had the .22 short one back in the day. Not double action. Traded it to Larry Seecamp for a .25

 

[c good]

They like higher velocity .22 LR. I have also found that if I "flick" the rim portion of the first round in the magazine back, with my thumb on the rim, lifting the nose up, and before inserting the magazine into the mag well, it allows for a more reliable first round chambering.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

All good tips, no pun intended, and those little guns are just so doggone concealable!

Too bad that gorgeous, little Browning replica wouldn't shoot worth a tinker's dam!

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Fun Gun until it’s not!
Not sure if I have completely figured mine out,
But yes, good ammo , like MiniMags. And Stingers.
Not a range gun! When mine gets warm and dirty it jams!
At that point the ammo don’t seem to matter!

 

[robvious]

yup... don't use wimpy 22lr... and yes.. they are darned cute and convenient... mine came with crimson trace.. I got rid of those.. made it too fat... enjoy...

 

[Ameshawki]

I have the Taurus version. Fun little guns. Mine likes to be kept very clean and well oiled. It prefers 40 grain ammo over the 36 grain hollow points.

Owned a lot of the little 22s over the years. They have their quirks. Most had definite ammo preferences. Most like to be clean. I'm not sure I ever had one that was 100% reliable.

 

[petepeterson]

Fun Gun until it’s not!
Not sure if I have completely figured mine out,
But yes, good ammo , like MiniMags. And Stingers.
Not a range gun! When mine gets warm and dirty it jams!
At that point the ammo don’t seem to matter!

Mini-Mags worked great in mine. The case of the Stingers was too long to get consistent ejection.
Kinda wish I had kept mine, but the little Kel-Tecs made it obsolete for me.
Although, looking back, I've kept a lot more guns I no longer had a use for. One more wouldn't have hurt!

 

[Venom6]

Have had one for years, carried as a back-up and undercover. Agree they can be ammo-sensitive, and I found I had to seat the first round solidly with a strong push of the thumb on chambering. Am aware of a UC officer pulling his when a dope deal went bad. The bad guy sneered and asked the officer if it was a cigarette lighter. Officer fired a round into the mattress to emphasize his (and its) sincerity. They are good little guns and a great value, underpriced IMHO.

 

[Engine49guy]

Still have mine bought new in the 90's, also have a Walther TPH which I put right there with the 21A.
I used to carry the Baby Beretta in a wallet holster as a B.U.G. until those were deemed some sorta "other item" as if it was more deadly in the wallet holster than dropped in the pocket....
As stated there are other bug guns today that are about the same size/weight but fire .380 ACP making the little Beretta lower on the scale of CCW choices .
Never had any ammo issues with mine,
Interestingly these have no extractor claw in the slide face, when you think about it the tip up barrel feature wouldn't work if there was an extractor claw, as a result the case is ejected solely by the recoil force of the gases and bullet being fired so it is wise to keep the chamber clean.

 

[Flattop5]

I had one of those (a .22) with wood grips circa 2000. I tried to give it to my (late) mom, but she rejected it. I said, "you can carry it in your purse" but she said no. I later sold it. Wish I still had it.

So much for logic. She often ventured out at night. Logic called for it.


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[Bald1]

I have its two cousins the 950 in .25 & .22short. Both completely reliable and very concealable. I even have leather belt holsters for them which is silly for a pocket gun. Might be good on a trout stream

 

[Rpg]

I may just be lucky, but mine works just fine with everything I’ve tried in it: my favorite 22 ammo - Remington standard velocity, various CCI, various Winchester ammo, and some other stuff I didn’t keep track of.

Since mine works well with Remington standard velocity, that’s what I use in it.

 

[pjpjr]

I've owned one of these pistols on and off for years and currently still do.
If you are on the fence about buying one, don't delay. Great little pocket pistol and mine has been reliable enough to CCW it.

 

[Drm50]

I’ve had several 21a in last 10yrs. Never fails that family or friend cries till I let them have it. The most dependable of all 22rf pocket size pistols. They functioned with everything stuffed in them and were reasonable accurate.
In fact shot better than the 32 frame 22s I was testing. $275 is good deal.
I’m sniffing around for another myself and haven’t run into one in that shape at that price.

 

[.38SuperMan]

I have come so close to picking one of these up several times. The closest thing I had to one was a Raven ( don’t laugh) 25. It was reliable but the accuracy at 10’ was terrible. I traded a cheap camera flash for it so probably has $15 in it. I bought a box of ammo and shot it then sold it. The biggest danger with it was pinching your finger in the slide.

I bought a Fredom Arms mini revolver in 22LR with the belt buckle and holster that looks like a knife sheath and a year or so ago bought the North American Arms version. File little guns but the may need a companion Beretta.

 

[RobertJ.]

I had one years ago. I loaned it to a GF, and she never gave it back!

Great little gun. Mine worked best with CCI Stingers. Very rarely a hitch. The reviews so far let you know you'll want to test it with a myriad of ammo.

 

[BB57]

I have a Beretta 950 Jetfire (.25 ACP), a 950B Minx (.22 Short), a 3032 Tomcat (.32 ACP) and a 21A Bobcat.

My mother in law carried the Minx. All of them are fun to shoot.

My Tomcat has the slightly longer threaded barrel and it’s been very reliable as is my 21A. I’ve carried both on occasion as a back up in a pocket holster.

The earlier single action 950 pistols are a bit more problematic.
The 950 and 950B lack a manual safety but have an inertial firing pin and are designed to be carried hammer down on a loaded chamber. The 950BS added a manual safety and could theoretically be carried in Condition 1.

The DA/SA Tomcat and Bobcat are much more practical.