Tomcat durability?

[michbob]

Hi there Beretta fans!

Looking thru an old gun rag I had pack-ratted away, I saw a blurb that said that the Beretta Tomcat .32 was only designed to fire 1000 rounds before wearing out.  To me this sounds rediculous.  I don't think a company as old as Beretta would put out such a cheap product; besides, the .32 ACP isn't exactly a blind, deafen, and burn round. :wink:

What kind of experiences do y'all have with them, if any.

Thanks.
Michbob.

[Mikey]

michbob - I doubt very much that a quality product firm like Beretta would produce a handgun that would only last 1000 rounds.  I believe those came into being in response to the need for something more powerful than the 22lr or 25acp in a pocket pistol and lots of gunwriters hype this 60 grain xtp stuff as the end all to be all in the 32s but those Tomcats should hang tough for many, many thousands of rounds of even the nominal 71, 73 or 77 gn ball ammo.  

For the definitve answer call Beretta - they have a good customer service shop and won't bs ya.  HTH.  Mikey.

[Gregory]

Mine's doing fine, probably 300 rounds through it so far.

[dread]

I had a Beretta Bobcat in .22 cal. Used and abused. I put one loaded clip in it and it went full auto. Returned it and got my money refunded. I think it is similar to the Tomcat?

[Chris B.]

Why did you return it? What was the problem?

[Mikey]

dread:  I've had a few 22 pocket rockets that have gone full auto on me from time to time.  Once I got over the initial shock they were a lot of fun to play with and sometimes I could even trip them over into selective fire.

Most of the firms that make those pocket rockets, including Beretta, always seem to prefer the use of standard velocity ammunition for every day use and carry, apparently fearing the high speed stuff to be too hot for continued or daily use.  Similar in thought to the S&W Model 19 when it first came out - shoot 38s in it all day and carry/shoot the 357s only when you have to.  Problem with the pocket rockets though is that they don't always work that way.

I finally found out that the problem waas not the piece, in either instance, it was the ammo.  The standard velocity stuff did not always lock the hammer back, be it an internal or external hammer, and the hammer would follow through with the slide and you would get full auto.  When I went to the use of plain jane round nose solid high speeds (Rem Golden Boolets), the problems stopped in each instance.  How so ever, if the one you had was badly abused it may have broken or been worked on.  Sorry to hear that you had one that went bad.  Mine are a ball to plink with and are very reliable.  It gets dropped into my pocket on numerous occassions.  Mikey.

[dread]

Hi Chris, in reply to your question: "Why did you return it? What was the problem?" I saw it advertised on the internet. I called the dealer. He assured me that it was in new condition with extra rubber grips, no wear on the pistol at all. He said he had it right there in his hand as we spoke and it was in perfect condition. This was so untrue! The previous owner(s) had worn off the blueing, carved the rubber grips with a knife or razor blade, broken something internal so as to make it fully automatic and there was no manual with it. When I called the dealer  after I had gotten it. He said he did not want it back and would not refund my money. I had paid 190 bucks for it then had to pay shipping from another state and registration fees. All I was asking for was a refund of the 190 bucks. Finally I shipped it back and contacted my credit card company and they finally resolved the matter. I would not buy from this dealer ever again and it really ruined my experience of "internet shopping". Hope this helps.  By the way, I don't have anything against Beretta, I think they make fine firearms and would buy one again, but not from the Internet.

[Chris B.]

WOW! Sounds like a bad deal and an imoral dealer! Glad it worked out for you in the end!

[dread]

Hi Mikey, That's what I was hoping for, a fun gun to plink with. Tho not a pocket pistol, the Ruger Mark I is fun to plink with. I am still looking at the smaller pistols in .22 lr. cal. My Grandfather used his .25 Walther to plink with. The ammo was cheap back then. No permits or regulations. He used to shoot snapping turtles and snakes with it.

[michbob]

A .25 Walther?  If memory serves, those are rare and EXPENSIVE, refering to the PP/PPK.  Do you have it, by chance?

Michbob.

[gstanfield]

I have a beretta 950 in 25ACP with about 2500 rounds through it, and no appreciable wear. The parkerized finish is kinda worn off it around the edges of where the slide moves, but that is to be expected. I can't see where anyone could claim one of these to wear out in only 100rds, as it didn't even start shooting all that great until about 500rds.


George

[Mark whiz]

If you're looking for a long term shooter................the Tomcat ain't it.

I got about 1000rds thru mine and now it's junk.   It started with the cheap plastic grips disentegrating around the screws.  Got a set of rubber grips that I liked and went shooting again.  This time a piece at the top of the frame broke off on the right side near the trigger mechanism.    Out of warranty and not worth fixin.

If you want one of these little pieces, save your money and buy a Kel Tec cheap, sight it in, and don't fire it but one or twice a year.

[Chris B.]

I have a Minx in .22 short and it has thousands of rounds through it and it is still extreemly tight! Very nice high quality gun that lasts, it was bought in the early 80's and still going strong.

[Win 73]

I have an interesting story about a Tomcat.  I bought one as soon as my local dealer could get one.    I was shooting it one day at the range.  The trigger spring broke and the trigger would not return forward.  You had to push it forward to fire the gun again.  An unusual aspect of the incident is that a Ruger P89 and a Browning Buckmark also broke during the same range session.  Anyway I sent the Tomcat back to Beretta for repair.  I received a letter from them after a week or so saying they had received it and would examine it and send me an estimate before repairing it.  However after about another two weeks UPS left a box from Beretta on my front step.  (This wasn't the first time UPS had just left a box with guns in it on my doorstep.)  I opened the box and my Tomcat was in it.  But wait, it wasn't my Tomcat.  They had sent me a new gun!  As far as I could tell only the trigger spring had broken on the first one.

I have fired several hundred rounds through the new gun without any problems whatsoever.

[Kenneth in NC]

I've put several hundred rounds through mine No problems....yet.


Kenneth in NC

[Zen900]

I have a 32 Tomcat Onyx that I don't like.One: it was over $400 and two: the gun sometimes doesn't want to fire if you use the middle joint of your trigger finger. I'm serious, pull as hard as you like and it won't fire. This doesn't happen if you use your fingertip to pull the trigger. For a self defense gun I find this unacceptable. I bought it because it was the smallest gun I could find the day I was looking. If I had it to do over I would get the KelTec because they are even lighter and aren't overpriced like the Tomcat.

[Old Griz]

Now we know why the Italian army has been feared by no one since the fall of Rome! 

Glad we're moving back to the .45 ACP. Just hope it isn't another Beretta.

[dcewolf]

Just reading somewhere recently...can't remember where but it was online...  The first released versions of the Tomcat did not hold up very long, due to metal being to thin to handle the .32 loads for extended shooting.  That supposedly has been remedied and is no longer a problem.  The new Tomcats are a little heavier and beefier than the original version is my understanding.  I'm assuming the original was just a bigger version of the Bobcat but not beefed up to handle the heavier loads.

[jager]

I've shot and sold a couple Tomcats at a store I frequent, and compared with the usual Beretta quality, I am less than impressed. I've "witnessed" the front sight come off while firing, jams with HP bullets, and poor detail in fitting of the stocks. I personally chose a Keltec .32 over this Beretta offering because of too many issues relating to the model. In both cases the company did take care of the problems, but I consider poor design was the culprit. I haven't seen this problem with the .22 caliber, or the .25 caliber model in this brand.