Mouse Gun's

[JWGlock23 3]

Over the past few months I have gotten some "mouse guns" from family and friends.

 

Pictured below are the following.

 

Beretta 21A .22LR (blued with original walnut grips) Bought new in 1991 by my father who carried it off duty for many many years until his retirement in 2006. (He was one of those "better than throwing rocks kinda guys, he liked the gun and it was easily hidden) When I got it from him, I took it down as far as it could possibly go and cleaned every nook and cranny. I for one, don't think its ever been as clean as I got it. (he begs to differ)

 

Beretta 20 .25 ACP Got it today from a friend of mine. Its in rough shape as he states it was also carried by an off duty LEO for many years. Its my understanding that these are pretty rare guns and were only made for a few years in the 80's. I just got done taking it down as well and cleaning all the little areas. I'm glad I did it as well as there was years of gunk in the areas under the grips that took some elbow grease to get off. I don't plan on shooting it much as .25 ACP is expensive for what it is, and id like to keep the gun in my collection and see if it goes up in value in a couple years.

 

((sorry, couldnt get photobucket to rotate the picture without cutting one gun or the other out of it))

 

[david8613 69]

love these little mouse guns almost got one about a year ago, regretted not picking it up... very nice...

[GRIZ 3,369]

I have a few of these types of guns. While many bad mouth them I go along with Skeeter Skelton who said "nobody wants to get shot even with a 25". You may be able to bluff your way out of a situation. If you find yourself having to use one for SD the best way to employ it is to keep shooting until your opponent goes down or you run out of ammo whichever comes first. Don't double or triple and then observe.

 

The good ones (like the Berettas) are very accurate if you can learn to deal with the tiny sights and short sight radius. Using a Beretta 21 or 950 I could shoot a max score on the qual course I fired at work.

 

FWIW I find the 21 runs best on standard velocity 22s.

[david8613 69]

the one i was lookin at had the tilt open barrel, just to put that extra round very easy, do the ones you have pictured there have the tilt open barrel, you should show it in a pic for those that never seen that..,

[JWGlock23 3]

Yes, they both have the tip up barrel. I'll get some pictures up tomorrow for everyone.

[GRIZ 3,369]

Beretta has had the tilt barrel on its little 22s and 25s for some time now way before they made them DA. This is worthy of mention as your manual of arms is different if you get a misfire or feeding problem. The reason for the tilt up barrel is there is no extractor. Without the tilt up barrel there is no way for you to get the round out of the chamber. If you hit the barrel release many times the chambered round will come flying out or at least stick out enough so you can pull it out. Sometimes you need to use a fingernail under the rim or in the extractor groove.

 

If you get a failure to fire you should just tip up the barrel to extract the round. A natural reaction is to pull the slide back. DON'T DO THAT! If you pull the slide back while the barrel is up the front of the slide will come off the frame as it does for disassembly. If this happens in a SD situation you are better off dropping the gun and going to plan B or C.

 

You can avoid about all these problems if you use quality std velocity ammo if you use the gun for SD. Hi velocity ammo screws up the timing of these Berettas and results in failures to feed. I use CCI target ammo or Federal target. Both std velocity. You also need to keep the gun clean. Remove the slide and grips and clean the gun with Gunscrubber or give it a bath in mineral spirits and blow it out with compressed are. DO NOT THINK OF DETAIL STRIPPING! I'm generally against it anyway but compared to a 1911 trying to put one of these guns back together is like doing the same to a watch.

 

Hope this helps some.

[Ray Ray 3,566]

I love these little blasters. Great pick-ups dude.

[hd2000fxdl 422]

Beretta has had the tilt barrel on its little 22s and 25s for some time now way before they made them DA. This is worthy of mention as your manual of arms is different if you get a misfire or feeding problem. The reason for the tilt up barrel is there is no extractor. Without the tilt up barrel there is no way for you to get the round out of the chamber. If you hit the barrel release many times the chambered round will come flying out or at least stick out enough so you can pull it out. Sometimes you need to use a fingernail under the rim or in the extractor groove.

 

If you get a failure to fire you should just tip up the barrel to extract the round. A natural reaction is to pull the slide back. DON'T DO THAT! If you pull the slide back while the barrel is up the front of the slide will come off the frame as it does for disassembly. If this happens in a SD situation you are better off dropping the gun and going to plan B or C.

 

You can avoid about all these problems if you use quality std velocity ammo if you use the gun for SD. Hi velocity ammo screws up the timing of these Berettas and results in failures to feed. I use CCI target ammo or Federal target. Both std velocity. You also need to keep the gun clean. Remove the slide and grips and clean the gun with Gunscrubber or give it a bath in mineral spirits and blow it out with compressed are. DO NOT THINK OF DETAIL STRIPPING! I'm generally against it anyway but compared to a 1911 trying to put one of these guns back together is like doing the same to a watch.

 

Hope this helps some.

 

I have and old 25 cal one out in AZ and it is a fun little gun, and your right about the detailed strip not the most fun thing the first time I did it and I like the spray and blow out with compressed air much better..

[david8613 69]

so no ejector? so how does the next round go into battery?

[robot_hell 72]

The round is extracted and ejected when cycling via the slide or during firing. Griz is saying the round is not ejected when tipping open the barrel like it would be on a break open ejector shotgun.

 

Your options for clearing the chamber in an emergency are to rack the slide or tip open the barrel and remove the round manually, but not both at the same time.

[david8613 69]

gotcha! thanks see learn something everyday...

[GRIZ 3,369]

Extraction is accomplished totally by gas pressure pushing on the brass.