Beretta 21A Jamming Problems

[Hopback]

HELP! I've got a new Beretta 21A in 22LR, and in the last month since I've purchased it, it fails to feed, stovepipes, etc. It's rare that a mag will run all the way through. I've tried using WW Power Points, Rem Yellow Jackets, Blazers, Rem HS HP's etc. All seem to have their problems in cycling the action. CCI's Stingers have functioned perfectly, however, leading me to believe the extra power is compensating for some manufacturing glitch. Oftentimes the slide will push back, but either not eject the fired case, or the fired case will eject but the next round won't feed. Sometimes, especially with the WW Power Points, the case will eject but the next cartridge won't feed, preferring to ride up on the feed ramp and jam between the slide. I've stripped this down to the pins, smoothed everything up, clean it religiously after firing, even tried different mags (Beretta and a Mec-Gar). I'm not seeing much improvement. I've already put over 500 frustrating rounds through her. Has anyone else had similar problems with this little Beretta, and what have they done to solve the feeding problems? My next step is to send it back to Beretta under the warranty, but I hate to be without it for too long.

[Doc TH]

This sounds like the same problems voiced by someone on the Rimfire forum.  I have a 21A, blued w. walnut grips,  that has been very reliable.  I did find, as you commented, that the HV (CCI or Stingers in my case) ALWAYS worked, and that some std vel. were less dependable.  In mine, the only problems would occur after firing for some time, when the chamber was getting a little dirty.  But it sounds as though you've done all the cleaning and polishing that should be needed.
I eventually advised the other correspondent to have Beretta look at it - they are a dependable manufacturer of good quality firearms.  He did so, and later said the pistol had been made totally reliable, and they also replaced his plastic grips with a new pair of walnut grips.

[Tacoma]

Just bought one that had been test fired  with stingers only and am having the identical problem!  It won't even blow back the slide with target stuff. Took it apart and polished bearing surfaces and lubed the snot out of it. Slightly better but still only 50-60% reliability with high speed bulk.  ( It does cycle reliably with HS IF it's the last round in the mag. )
It does shoot stingers and any other hypervelocity 100% though. My last guess is that the main spring is just too strong and would benefit from loosing a coil. However, since i plan to carry it with stingers ( for woods walking) I figured I'd just leave it alone and see if it wears in.

p.s . Check out this thread.

 http://rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48229

[Hopback]

Tacoma, thanks for the thread link. When I was thinking about purchasing the 21A I did some research and came across that thread. Interesting. One thing seems to keep repeating itself, and that is the matte finish Bobcats seem to perform less reliably than the blued finish. Rougher bearing surfaces, I guess. When I got mine I put a few boxes through it, to break it in a little, then took the Dremel and polished the barrel-to-slide interface, and took a ceramic stone to the little hump on the trigger bar. That seemed to make it work better. The hyper velocity stuff just plain works best in these little guns because of the stiff recoil springs. Too bad Wold doesn't make something a littel lighter. My Bobcat will go back to Beretta soon, and I'll let them work their magic on it. I agree that, despite the finishes, they should function with a higher degree of reliability. But I still like this little pistol because of the tip up barrel, and how it fits in my hand.

[Tacoma]

Yea, I did all that polishing . I thought it would help more. I'm convinced it's not a finish thing (anymore.) I think it's a spring thing. In any case, I also really like the gun (and would not go back to my jennings.) I just plan to keep it full of hyper velocitie fodder.  
Keep us posted!

[His lordship.]

I really wanted a .25 ACP version, why anyone still thinks that .22 rimfire in such a small framed gun actually works, baffles me.  I have owned  several makes in .22 rimfire, totally unreliable, that is why John Browning came out with the .25 ACP.

I got rid of that Beretta ###% waste of money after a day of trying to get it to shoot reliably, same with the other ones like my Lorcin.  Your problems sound just like mine.  I did have a friend in the early 1980's that had the .22 short calibered Minx that was reliable, but after 1,000 rounds we could see that the gun was wearing out awfully fast with the aluminum frame.  It was really only meant to be a carry gun anyways.

[dawei]

HELP! I've got a new Beretta 21A in 22LR, and in the last month since I've purchased it, it fails to feed, stovepipes, etc. It's rare that a mag will run all the way through. I've tried using WW Power Points, Rem Yellow Jackets, Blazers, Rem HS HP's etc. All seem to have their problems in cycling the action. CCI's Stingers have functioned perfectly, however, leading me to believe the extra power is compensating for some manufacturing glitch. Oftentimes the slide will push back, but either not eject the fired case, or the fired case will eject but the next round won't feed. Sometimes, especially with the WW Power Points, the case will eject but the next cartridge won't feed, preferring to ride up on the feed ramp and jam between the slide. I've stripped this down to the pins, smoothed everything up, clean it religiously after firing, even tried different mags (Beretta and a Mec-Gar). I'm not seeing much improvement. I've already put over 500 frustrating rounds through her. Has anyone else had similar problems with this little Beretta, and what have they done to solve the feeding problems? My next step is to send it back to Beretta under the warranty, but I hate to be without it for too long.

I've had several Beretta® Mdl 21A Bobcats® over the years & all were the same - CCI® Stingers® ONLY! Anything else caused the gun to be a Jammomatic! Using Stingers® they were all reliable; well in excess of 10K rounds each.

[dave375hh]

My wife started to have problems with her 21-A. It would jam on just about every shot. When I shot it I could run Mag after mag through it with no hangups. I watched her shoot for a while and found that she limp-wristed the gun slightly. The 21-A seems to be quite sensitive to this and any weak hold wiil cause malfunctions. Don't take this as an attack on your manhood, strength, sexual orintation, or any other BS, It's not how it's intended, and is just what I found on her 21-A.  She put it aside for a S&W317 airweight.

[Uncle Howie]

I must be one of the lucky ones...

I have a 21A Bobcat in the matte finish w/plastic grips. It eats everything I feed it. Mostly CCI Blazers and Federal bulk pack.

Maybe you should check your extractor?      

Edit: mine's reliable as heck, but I still can't hit anything with it! My trigger pull is L-O-N-G...

[greenjeans]

Mine was totally reliable, but, like Howie, I couldn't hit anything with it and I'm usually a pretty good shot. Only thing I did with mine was polish the feed ramp real good. Dremel tool and jeweler's rouge.

[Kenneth in NC]

My 21 took 250 rounds to fully break in. It prefers CCI minimag ammo. The Quil-Shok's work really well in it too. My daughters 21 works fine with remington ammo but won't shoot federal (550 packs) It too works well with CCI's.

Maybe you just need to give it more ammo.  :-)


Kenneth in NC