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wrong ammo won't cycle new Beretta Bobcat 21A ??
- Thread starter OLDSTER
- Start date
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OLDSTER
Member
Pisgah
Member
Many moons past, I had a 21A that would not feed anything reliably. I finally discovered its secret -- it wasn't WHAT was being loaded in to it but HOW. If I loaded the magazine in a manner normal to me -- press down the follower with a cartridge and slip it in -- no load would feed reliably. BUT, if I used the mag follower button provided to pull down the follower and drop in the rounds one at a time, it would feed absolutely any .22 LR ammo I could scrounge to put in it.
I picked one of these up last year at a swap meet and hadn’t shot it. No idea what I was going to do with it, but I couldn’t resist the $100 price tag. As an added incentive, I had a used Kramer pocket holster and some Altamont grips at home that I had planned on selling.
This isn’t something I see myself carrying, as it’s not much smaller than a Glock 42. I prefer a 2” .38 Special over the Glock 42, but I’d choose a .380 over a .22 all day long. I was a little concerned after reading this thread and figured I had bought someone else’s problem.
I was scheduled as an RO at our indoor club range yesterday, so I dug out the Beretta, a Blazer bulk pack, an old box of Stingers and some CCI Mini Mags. I’m happy to report that the gun worked flawlessly with bulk Blazer ammo. I let 3 other shooters give it a try and we probably put 100 round through it in total. I never bothered with the Mini Mags or the Stingers.
When I first got the gun, I gave it a good cleaning and lightly greased the rails. I have no idea how much it was previously shot, but the Beretta website dates the serial number to 1993.
A few observations about the pistol. The Altamont’s make it a lot easier for me to get a good grip on the gun, but they also add substantially to the width. I loaded the magazine by pulling down on the little screw button and dropping in the cartridges. I loaded 6 in the magazine and 1 in barrel. We shot at 21’ using a standard B-27 target and I was able to keep most shots inside the 8 ring. The sights are all but useless with my eyes on an indoor range, but it point shoots pretty well. When I shot off a rest and really focused on the tiny sights, it seemed to shoot about 2-3” left and an 1-2” low.
I do wish the slide stayed back after the last shot. I don’t like dry-firing rimfire’s and we inadvertently did that a few times when we failed to count our shots. I’ll also add that I’m glad I have firearm safety protocol pretty well engrained. When I pulled the 21A out of my range bag this morning to take photos, I dropped the magazine and popped up the barrel to verify it was unloaded. It had a live round in the chamber! I shot 6 guns yesterday and obviously should have been more careful before packing them up.
This isn’t something I see myself carrying, as it’s not much smaller than a Glock 42. I prefer a 2” .38 Special over the Glock 42, but I’d choose a .380 over a .22 all day long. I was a little concerned after reading this thread and figured I had bought someone else’s problem.
I was scheduled as an RO at our indoor club range yesterday, so I dug out the Beretta, a Blazer bulk pack, an old box of Stingers and some CCI Mini Mags. I’m happy to report that the gun worked flawlessly with bulk Blazer ammo. I let 3 other shooters give it a try and we probably put 100 round through it in total. I never bothered with the Mini Mags or the Stingers.
When I first got the gun, I gave it a good cleaning and lightly greased the rails. I have no idea how much it was previously shot, but the Beretta website dates the serial number to 1993.
A few observations about the pistol. The Altamont’s make it a lot easier for me to get a good grip on the gun, but they also add substantially to the width. I loaded the magazine by pulling down on the little screw button and dropping in the cartridges. I loaded 6 in the magazine and 1 in barrel. We shot at 21’ using a standard B-27 target and I was able to keep most shots inside the 8 ring. The sights are all but useless with my eyes on an indoor range, but it point shoots pretty well. When I shot off a rest and really focused on the tiny sights, it seemed to shoot about 2-3” left and an 1-2” low.
I do wish the slide stayed back after the last shot. I don’t like dry-firing rimfire’s and we inadvertently did that a few times when we failed to count our shots. I’ll also add that I’m glad I have firearm safety protocol pretty well engrained. When I pulled the 21A out of my range bag this morning to take photos, I dropped the magazine and popped up the barrel to verify it was unloaded. It had a live round in the chamber! I shot 6 guns yesterday and obviously should have been more careful before packing them up.
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wetdog1911
Member
38SPL HV
Member
My made in 2016 Model 21a (Inox) oddly does not like 40 gr CCI Minimags or 40 gr Federal High Velocity (terrible jamming) offerings. The only HV which it likes are the Federal 36 gr CPHP (“525” pack). It does not like CCI 40 gr SVs.
The 21a functions very well with Eley Target, Federal Auto Match, HV Hunter Match, Federal Standard Velocity (#714) and Aguila Super Extra SV.
Use a Qtip wetted with Mil Spec CLP and occasionally (after 20-25 rds) clean chamber and breach face. This morning I shot a box of 50 rds 40 gr Eley Target cleaned as above (takes seconds)...absolutely no malfunctions of any kind.
I keep the 21a loaded with the Eley Target since their reliability has been perfect after 300 rds total (four range sessions).
The 21a functions very well with Eley Target, Federal Auto Match, HV Hunter Match, Federal Standard Velocity (#714) and Aguila Super Extra SV.
Use a Qtip wetted with Mil Spec CLP and occasionally (after 20-25 rds) clean chamber and breach face. This morning I shot a box of 50 rds 40 gr Eley Target cleaned as above (takes seconds)...absolutely no malfunctions of any kind.
I keep the 21a loaded with the Eley Target since their reliability has been perfect after 300 rds total (four range sessions).
