I picked a Beretta 21A bobcat yesterday. It cycles fine when its clean, but I keep getting light strikes. Any idea what might be the issue? I checked the firing, that appears to be fine. Any help would be much appreciated.
Thank you
Thank you
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beretta 21a bobcat
- Thread starter snubking
- Start date
When you fire in DA the hammer only retracts like 2/3 of when you fire from SA. So that could account for the light strikes.
I'd strip it down and clean it out: firing pin, hammer, and hammer spring particularly. Then if that still doesn't fix it replace the hammer spring and maybe the firing pin too. If detail stripping is beyond what you're comfortable doing, then field strip it and take off the grips and spray it with CLP blasting it the best you can. Wear safety glasses and really blow out the firing pin and hammer spring. Then shake it dry as much as possible.
These get pocket carried a lot and subsequently get a lot of pocket lit jammed in them.
Nick Fury
NES Member
I shoot mine a good abount it likes pretty much everything in the way of ammo. I shot mostly rem subs and it cycles fine.
Mr. Mossad up in Maine headshooting cute little bunnies...
wow, really? Mine is very reliable. Like all Berettas it has some quirks. You can over load the magazines but it's a guaranteed failure. So load one less than will fit and that's the factory specified max load--I can never remember the number. Like all .22 autoloaders, you need to make sure the barrel chamber is clean and not oily or wet from cleaner or it will jam. And "good" ammo helps. I shoot leaded bullets (unjacketed) but they have a molly coating. Plated work fine too. Standard velocity is best for these older pistols.
I always wondered if it was just a cheap weapon or if there was a defect. Now that I'm seeing everyone likes them, that tells me it's mine. I just never bothered with it. I'll look a little closer. It didn't look like light hits, but it could be. I'll pull it out one of these days and run through it. Thanks for the reply.
dwarven1
Lonely Mountain Arms
Who makes spring kits for these, and what springs do you recommend replacing?
I've got one that I love but lately it's had issues with failures to feed - as Another David mentions, it's usually when the mag is loaded up to "capacity". But it definitely didn't do it at first; it developed this annoying habit 2-3 years ago. Sending it to Beretta was a waste of money - I'm VERY unimpressed with their gunsmiths in MD.
Another owner here. Mine won't move the hammer when you pull the trigger in double action. Feels like tow parts are touching and then pass by each other. Single action works sometimes. Anyone know someone who works on these local? Really don't want to send it out by mail.
45collector
NES Member
Sounds like something is wrong with your transfer bar, or the sear where it meets the transfer bar.
I had one years ago that ran 100% with hot stuff like CCI minimags or velocitors. Standard velocity stuff would sometimes choke it up but not all the time. I sold it because I was bored with it and wanted to fund something else. Fast forward 4 years or so and I bought another one, exact same model. This one eats a wider assortment of ammo than my first one did, with better results this time around.
They can be finicky little guns for sure. Having such a light slide, they rely on that stout double recoil spring/ arm setup to run without battering the hell out of it's little aluminum frame. To remove the firing pin properly involves a roll punch. Get one if you don't have one. I don't recall the correct size but I have a wide assortment of them. Remove the FP and clean the heck out of it's channel and go from there.
I have been shooting winchester bulk ammo, and thunderbolts with no light strikes. Its only with the CCI Mini Mags that it light strikes, or after shooting alot. I would like to get some stingers but I cant find any .22 ammo right now. If anybody has some they would like to get rid of let me know ![[smile]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/001.gif "Smile [smile]")
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Whats going on anyway. People are hoarding .22 ammo? Never thought I would see the day where you could get .22 lr.
.Whats going on anyway. People are hoarding .22 ammo? Never thought I would see the day where you could get .22 lr.
I bought one of these and its a fun little gun. I wanted to do a complete strip down but heard on the internets that removing the roll pin to get at the firing pin was a major PITA. Especially putting it back. Is that not the case?
Mine runs best with CCI minimags. Handles std vel stuff when clean. Neat little piece.
I'm dying to test out some shorts in there. I figure a few here and there won't muck things up too much. Safe assumption?
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dwarven1
Lonely Mountain Arms
I wouldn't. Mine got fed some Aguila Super Colibri rounds... and THAT'S when it started screwing up. It had been flawless until then.
45collector
NES Member
I would think as long as you scrubbed the chamber well enough after using rounds like shorts, Colibri's or CB's, you shouldn't have any problems. Some CLP and a wire brush right after you fire it should do the trick.
dwarven1
Lonely Mountain Arms
You think I didn't try this? Please. I do not have any idea why it suddenly started giving me FTFs; I can only report that it happened. I do not know if this is cause and effect or a horrendous coincidence, and until I figure out WHY it's doing it I won't know.
But I don't shoot the Super Colibri rounds in the 21a any more... they get relegated to the wheelguns ONLY.
45collector
NES Member
![[laugh]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/012.gif "Laugh [laugh]")
No Ross I was not implying that. I have only used those Colibri rounds in my single shot bolt action .22's and I did notice that after several rounds of them, regular .22lr's don't seem to chamber as well. I passed a soaked wire brush through the bore several times and it was fine. Have you noticed the stink from those Colibri rounds? Holy hell I was getting sick to my stomach from shooting those outside one day. I'm thinking whatever is used as the primer/propellant in those rounds must really gunk up chambers.
dwarven1
Lonely Mountain Arms
Hmm. Starting to think that stripping the slide and removing the firing pin to clean it might be a good idea.
I never really noticed any particular smell from them - I used them at my first & second Lodge turkey shoot because I thought that people who'd never shot a .22 before might find the lower recoil less threatening - but subsequent shoots have shown me that people can handle a "full power" .22LR just fine. Still have several boxes of the Colibri, too. Maybe I'll keep them and use them in my bolt gun for pest eradication.
45collector
NES Member
I was at a sand pit not long ago switching between .22lr and Super Colibri's through my scoped single shot bolt rifle. The Colibri round fired from a rifle sounds like snapping your fingers. It's really that quiet. Funny though, at 50 yards and out you really have to lob the round to hit your target.
If you fire Super Colibri's through a suppressor they suck in surrounding sounds.
45collector
NES Member
^ Nice. I imagine that would be as quiet as a mouse fart.
I have a Bobcat that does not fail to fire and a friend's that was experiencing what appeared to be light strikes. I noticed immediately that the hammer was much tighter on mine as it took a noticeable amount of additional force to cock the hammer. I called the tech department at Beretta to see if they had available instructions for disassembly in order to replace the hammer spring on my friend's Bobcat and was advised that (i) be careful of the safety as it contains a spring that can fly away, and (ii) proper disassembly was a subject covered by Beretta with their gunsmiths but instructions were not made available by them to the public. After discussing the problem with the tech he advised replacing the firing pin, which I did several days later. I then put 4 magazines of 22LR ammo that cycles fine through my Bobcat and had two light strikes, the second cured by firing in DA. (The first probably would have fired as well, but I inadvertently tried to remove the cartridge instead of just firing in DA.) I think that replacement of the hammer spring will fix the problem with the light strikes but I am not about to go exploring into the innards of someone else's firearm without illustrtated instructions. Does anyone have access to illustrated disassembly instructions for the 22LR Bobcat?
As to the 22LR Bobcat, it seems to me that it is particularly subject to firing pin failure and/or light strikes, without regard to the hammer spring (in most instances), because it does nothing to deter you from dry firing what is nothing more than a rim fire pistol. The magazine holds 7 cartridges and, if you are not counting as you shoot, you will accidentally dry fire when the magazine is empty. This forces the firing pin into the end of a barrel that no longer holds a fired casing to absorb the impact. Most semi automatic pistols hold the slide open when the last cartridge is fired, but not the Bobcat, so this is probably a major cause of so many failed firing pins with this weapon. If someone has a better reason, please pop in as I am by no means qualified to offer other than a novice's opinion on this subject. I suspect that dry firing the .25 Bobcat would not cause the same problem as it is a center fired cartridge and the firing pin would dry fire into empty space.
I also could not fire "hot" cartridges through either of these Bobcats, such as the CCI Stinger or the Aguila Interceptor. The casings would not eject for either of these super high velocity rounds and had to be extracted by hand. On the other hand, except for the light strikes noted above, both fired regular high velocity 22LR cartridges (1235 fps or so) as well as the Aguila 22LR 60 grain Sniper Sub Sonics without feeding or extracting problems.
I love this little pistol and take it to the range every time I go but would not rely on it for self defense.
As to the 22LR Bobcat, it seems to me that it is particularly subject to firing pin failure and/or light strikes, without regard to the hammer spring (in most instances), because it does nothing to deter you from dry firing what is nothing more than a rim fire pistol. The magazine holds 7 cartridges and, if you are not counting as you shoot, you will accidentally dry fire when the magazine is empty. This forces the firing pin into the end of a barrel that no longer holds a fired casing to absorb the impact. Most semi automatic pistols hold the slide open when the last cartridge is fired, but not the Bobcat, so this is probably a major cause of so many failed firing pins with this weapon. If someone has a better reason, please pop in as I am by no means qualified to offer other than a novice's opinion on this subject. I suspect that dry firing the .25 Bobcat would not cause the same problem as it is a center fired cartridge and the firing pin would dry fire into empty space.
I also could not fire "hot" cartridges through either of these Bobcats, such as the CCI Stinger or the Aguila Interceptor. The casings would not eject for either of these super high velocity rounds and had to be extracted by hand. On the other hand, except for the light strikes noted above, both fired regular high velocity 22LR cartridges (1235 fps or so) as well as the Aguila 22LR 60 grain Sniper Sub Sonics without feeding or extracting problems.
I love this little pistol and take it to the range every time I go but would not rely on it for self defense.
Be cautious with the long barrel. I have had them leave the projectile half-way in the barrel in my savage bolt gun. Its like a guaranteed squib.
I also have had problems with firearms that I have shot them through with failure to eject (including bolt and break-actions.)
Eventually bending the back end of a bronze brush unto an l-shaped handle and using remingtion 40-x cleaned the chamber from the colibri residue.
For the OP, it sounds like you have build-up or debris in the slide.
Maybe try ultrasonic cleaning if you don't what to take it apart?
MaxStravinsky
NES Member
I had one for years, and it worked flawlessly as long as I kept it clean and only used CCI mini-mags. Got rid of it when I could no longer see the sights 
45collector
NES Member
![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
