beretta tomcat

Mr. Bggs

Mr. Bggs

Well-Known Member
2A Bourbon Hound OG
Sponsor
Life Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2017
Messages
5,248
Location
Burlington
Rating - 100%
28   0   0
Anybody have any experience with one? g pa used to have the bobcat in 25 i believe... Was fun to play with but this ones kinda expensive for a pocket rocket. Just curious about you guys real world experience. Thanks in advance fellas
 
I have a 3032 Tomcat Inox.

It is a regular pocket carry gun for me. It is a very simple design. There have been issues with frames cracking, more so with the non-Inox versions.

FYI, the Tomcat is a .32 acp. I think the .25 acp version is the Bobcat.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.
 
I would probably rarely shoot it so frame cracking isn't too much of a concern although it doesn't excite me when i look at the price and think about it. Ive always liked 32s since i had an old smith snub in 32 long. It was stainless or maybe nickel. It just felt so small and sweet in my pocket. Trigger was amazing, i hate i let it go. Thanks for sharing your experience. Any reliability issues when shooting it?
 
Last edited:
One oddball reliability issue I have is that some brands of ammo (Blazer in particular) create enough fouling that I cannot get the tip-up barrel to fully lock back down. A quick spray with some gun scrubber takes care of it. This seems to happen if I shoot more than 30 rounds in a session. Otherwise I love this little gun!

Another option is a Beretta model 81, which I also own. Several of us on the forum got them from a LE return through Classic Firearms. It looks like those are still in stock at a very reasonable price.
 
Last edited:
thanks ill check em out. strange about the barrel not locking down. my g pa's old 25 worked and worked. he rarely cleaned it and never had an issue. either way, thanks for talking with me bout em. i think theyre cool guns. If they were 300 Id def have a pair.
 
I carried one for a couple of years in my front pocket before i moved to the glock 43 then eventually to the sig 365. Great gun just didnt trust the caliber as much as i do 9mm
 
Dad has one with the cracked frame. It seems to be far too common on older ones and not unheard of on inox models. Personally I would skip it, especially with things like the LCP on the market.
 
frakncylons said:
Dad has one with the cracked frame. It seems to be far too common on older ones and not unheard of on inox models. Personally I would skip it, especially with things like the LCP on the market.
Click to expand...

I didn't mention it before, but Beretta tells you to shoot ammo that does not exceed 130 foot pounds of muzzle energy.
 
One of my folks bought one at the Florence show 3 weeks ago for $300. They are great little guns. I have all of the others from .22 short, .22LR and .25. Ima get one sometime just to finish out the group. I have at least a dozen Berettas, none in 9mm. Too big for me.
 
BatteryOaksBilly said:
One of my folks bought one at the Florence show 3 weeks ago for $300. They are great little guns. I have all of the others from .22 short, .22LR and .25. Ima get one sometime just to finish out the group. I have at least a dozen Berettas, none in 9mm. Too big for me.
Click to expand...

I don't care for the full size 92s, but I really like my Px4 compact carry. My model 81 is really growing on me too. That is the gun I use to step new shooters up from .22.

Someday I'll make it to BO and you can show me how I should be shooting it better!
 
I used to carry a .22 bobcat in my pocket. When the Tomcat came out I got one but in spite of it being the same overall dimensions it never felt right for me.
 
This idea came to me while reminiscing about gpa's old 25, but for the money, i guess a lcp or something similar would make better sense for the intended purpose. They look cheap to me, but there are more than enough reviews that say otherwise so i guess im just being judgmental. I like the looks of the little beretta and the tip up barrel was so cool to me as a kid. It was the first semi handgun i ever shot. Oh well
 
J R Green said:
I used to carry a .22 bobcat in my pocket. When the Tomcat came out I got one but in spite of it being the same overall dimensions it never felt right for me.
Click to expand...
JR, the Tomcat is considerably larger than the rest of the tip up guns. One reason I never made the leap.
 
BatteryOaksBilly said:
JR, the Tomcat is considerably larger than the rest of the tip up guns. One reason I never made the leap.
Click to expand...
Outside dimensions are the same Height, length and width in the grip. Tomcat just feels different.
https://www.handgunhero.com/compare/beretta-21a-bobcat-vs-beretta-3032-tomcat

Compare Views

01234532105432103210
Dimensions

Length
Height
Width
Weight
Barrel
21A Bobcat
4.92"
3.7"
1.1"
11.8 oz
2.4"
3032 Tomcat
4.92"
3.7"
1.1"
14.5 oz
2.4"
Ammunition

Calibers
Capacities
21A Bobcat
22 LR
25 ACP
7 +1 (22 LR)
7 +1 (25 ACP)
3032 Tomcat
32 ACP
7 +1 (32 ACP)
 
JR, you will notice there is 3 ounces difference in the guns. The weight difference is in the lower receiver. The width given is not through the grips but the slide unit. That almost 3 ounces is in slide mass and lower.
 
Those pictures do not convey how wide a 3032 is in the grips. It’s basically like carrying an upside-down J-frame.
 
JRV said:
Those pictures do not convey how wide a 3032 is in the grips. It’s basically like carrying an upside-down J-frame.
Click to expand...
This is why I never made the Leap. I just measured a 21 and it is indeed 1.1 in the grips. I am certain the Tomcat is wider. There's 3 ounces difference somewhere. I'm gonna own one of these one day. My Pard beat me to the $300 one in Florence 3 weeks ago.
 
J R Green said:
They're both 1.1" at the widest part which is the grip. The slide is thicker on the .32.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected — all current production Beretta pocket guns are crazy thick for caliber.

I had an old Jetfire that served as a pajama gun, and even that was a little wide in the grip for pocket carry in lighter fabric slacks.
 
I had a old model TomCat, that got converted into DA only and the hammer was bobbed flush with the side. If you look a where the old frames were cracking, it's a very thin and weak area, but not a critical area. Buffalo Bore has a +P 75gr. hard cast FP that I think would be ideal as a carry load. If you don't let the frame cracking thing get to you. ;)
large_132_30a-250-cb.jpg


Item 30A/20 is a 75gr. HARD cast bullet with a flat nose. It is traveling over 1,000 fps out of my 3.4 inch Beretta Mod. 70. We've used a flash suppressed powder so that you won't be blinded by your own gunfire in the dark. This is significant as well over 90% of all civilian shootings in America occur in low light when the criminal element is out and about. Also, this flat nosed, nonexpanding, hard cast, bullet will penetrate deeply and will do much more damage than the typical round nosed FMJ bullet. Round nosed bullets tend to slip and slide through living tissue, doing little damage as opposed to a flat nosed bullet. The flat nose not only wounds much more than a round nosed bullet, but it actually keeps the penetration straight and thus deeper. Notice the below velocities from my personal 32 ACP pistols. These are real-world guns and thus the speeds are realistic and not the exaggerated speeds you'll see produced from laboratory test barrels. What you see with Buffalo Bore Ammo advertising, is truly what you get in the "real world" where it matters. You can expect 20+ inches of straight-line penetration in flesh and bone with this load. If you are worried about over-penetration with this load, DON'T! You chose to carry a tiny under-powered 32 ACP pistol and the tradeoff is that now you are going to have to stay alive using this pistol and over-penetration will be the least of your worries if you end up needing this gun to save yourself or your family.
 
Last edited:
I had one of the original Tomcats. It was a good shooting gun. But the trigger pull was heavy an a little rough. I tried to get a local gunsmith to work on the trigger, but it was so small and difficult to work on, he didn't want to take the job. Seeing I couldn't get it done properly, I figured I do it myself by dry firing it a lot (using a snap cap.) I got some snap caps (the kind with a metal insert) and started dry-firing. Did it a lot, but didn't check the snap cap -- which the firing pin cratered from repeated strikes. The firing pin eventually broke, as it was traveling too far, and it was handling the firing pin like dry-firing without a snap cap, something warned against in the user's manual.

I sent it back to Beretta, and they repaired the firing pin under warranty. (Beretta was so busy sending Tomcats out, they didn't have a lot of spare parts, it took a while. Two months later I got it back.) After I got it back, I shot it a bit more, and got fairly proficient with it. Then, while firing, the slide somehow got partially off the rails -- don't know how. It took a nylon mallet to get it back in position. No apparent damage, and it ran properly, but I decided I had enough Beretta Tomcats.

I've since tried a number of other small, pocket guns, and have owned several. The one I ended up with was the Remington RM380, upgraded with a Galloway Precision trigger kit, which lightened and shortened the trigger, and smoothed it out a bit. Great little gun. (I don't carry it often, but when I do I think that .380 is a more practical round than .320 ACP.

The RM380 is thinner than the Tomcat and a 2 ozs. lighter, and about .3" longer (but the RM380 barrel is 1/2" longer.) The RM380 is a locked breech design so recoil, despite it's small size and light weight, is surprisingly easy to handle.)
 
Walt Sherrill said:
I had one of the original Tomcats. It was a good shooting gun. But the trigger pull was heavy an a little rough. I tried to get a local gunsmith to work on the trigger, but it was so small and difficult to work on, he didn't want to take the job. Seeing I couldn't get it done properly, I figured I do it myself by dry firing it a lot (using a snap cap.) I got some snap caps (the kind with a metal insert) and started dry-firing. Did it a lot, but didn't check the snap cap -- which the firing pin cratered from repeated strikes. The firing pin eventually broke, as it was traveling too far, and it was handling the firing pin like dry-firing without a snap cap, something warned against in the user's manual.

I sent it back to Beretta, and they repaired the firing pin under warranty. (Beretta was so busy sending Tomcats out, they didn't have a lot of spare parts, it took a while. Two months later I got it back.) After I got it back, I shot it a bit more, and got fairly proficient with it. Then, while firing, the slide somehow got partially off the rails -- don't know how. It took a nylon mallet to get it back in position. No apparent damage, and it ran properly, but I decided I had enough Beretta Tomcats.

I've since tried a number of other small, pocket guns, and have owned several. The one I ended up with was the Remington RM380, upgraded with a Galloway Precision trigger kit, which lightened and shortened the trigger, and smoothed it out a bit. Great little gun. (I don't carry it often, but when I do I think that .380 is a more practical round than .320 ACP.

The RM380 is thinner than the Tomcat and a 2 ozs. lighter, and about .3" longer (but the RM380 barrel is 1/2" longer.) The RM380 is a locked breech design so recoil, despite it's small size and light weight, is surprisingly easy to handle.)
Click to expand...
This locked breach vs pure blowback really makes a difference in guns this size, huge imo
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom