Beretta Tomcat Primer Dent

[Spc Lewis]

So I was cleaning my fiances Beretta Tomcat today and I noticed a small dent in the primer of the chambered round. Now I am pretty sure I have seen this with rounds that were chambered in M16s and then not fired but Im not sure about pistols. She has been carrying it in condition 2 which to my knowledge is the way these Berettas are to be carried. Do I need to be worried? Searching the web all I found was replacing the firing pin spring but that was not specific to the Beretta. So for now it is unloaded and waiting.

She has been wanting the S&W bodyguard .380 anyway and I have been wanting her to have something bigger than a .32 so maybe this is a good thing.

Thanks for any help.

[King 5.45]

You do not want to do anything on the Tomcat, even simple tear-downs. The safety mechanism is mind-numbing to get back together again, and I'm assuming that its removal/replacement would be one of the steps needed. I've had one for a long time now and never seen a primer dent as you describe.

[Spc Lewis]

Thanks. So maybe I should take it to a smith to have it looked at. I dont like her not having a carry weapon and she hates my P3AT(only other small pistol we have at the moment). I think it is just about time to pick up that bodyguard. I have seen this in the military with m16s. I cant say that its a good thing their or not but from what i read its not a problem with the heavy primers used in Military ammo. THanks again for replying so fast. But now its my bedtime....gotta love night shift work.

[CHEMICAL]

Thanks. So maybe I should take it to a smith to have it looked at. I dont like her not having a carry weapon and she hates my P3AT(only other small pistol we have at the moment). I think it is just about time to pick up that bodyguard. I have seen this in the military with m16s. I cant say that its a good thing their or not but from what i read its not a problem with the heavy primers used in Military ammo. THanks again for replying so fast. But now its my bedtime....gotta love night shift work.

call Beretta...get a work order (or whatever they call it) and send it back. Let them fix it.

[mrnyman]

Your Beretta is a better quality weapon than that bodyguard any day of the week, if you do get a bodyguard make sure its already been through the recall process.

A dented primer can happen in any gun that has a tip up barrel , see if you can duplicate the process by pointing the gun in a safe direction and loading THE SAME ammo from the same box in it , it could be a ammo defect (too high a primer) or just out of spec ammo. If it does the same try a different round from a different maker and see what happen . The firing pin on a Tomcat just doesnt have enough energy to strike the fp even from a drop .

I use Magtech 71 grain ammo and Winchester silvertips and never had a problem with mine.

And yes never take apart a Tomcat/Bobcat.

[spoonltz28]

sorry to hijack the thread, but.....

When you say never take apart the Tomcat, are you referring about the slide, or what.

I remove the slide from mine after i shoot it to clean. I have never taken it down more than that.

[King 5.45]

sorry to hijack the thread, but.....

When you say never take apart the Tomcat, are you referring about the slide, or what.

I remove the slide from mine after i shoot it to clean. I have never taken it down more than that.

It's the grips. Removing the grips means a trip to hell and back, because the safety is held in place by the left side panel, and the parts are microscopic.

[spoonltz28]

good to know, thanks for the info.

[Spc Lewis]

A dented primer can happen in any gun that has a tip up barrel , see if you can duplicate the process by pointing the gun in a safe direction and loading THE SAME ammo from the same box in it , it could be a ammo defect (too high a primer) or just out of spec ammo. If it does the same try a different round from a different maker and see what happen . The firing pin on a Tomcat just doesnt have enough energy to strike the fp even from a drop .

I use Magtech 71 grain ammo and Winchester silvertips and never had a problem with mine.

And yes never take apart a Tomcat/Bobcat.

So I tried the best I could to replicate this dent but without a range to do some more test Im not sure what to do. All I felt comfortable enough to do was load the mag and rack the slide which did nothing. I can tell you she has been carrying it for close 2 years without incident. She can rack the slide but when she loads it she loads it by flipping the barrel. She carries it loaded with the safety on and the hammer up. Which as far as I can tell is the way it should be carried. They say that is the most dangerous condition for a 1911 which is what made me wonder especially when I saw the dent.
I will say the dent is much smaller today than I remember it being last night

[mrnyman]

That is what i suspect that it is happening when she closes the tip up barrel, be careful with that or switch ammo to one that doesnt dent, if you have a micrometer you can mic the ammo you have to see if it is in spec. wikipedia has the dims on it.

Yes the entire FCG is held in place by the Grips, clean without removing them.