Beretta 21a review

[zackmars]

The mall ninja assassins pocket gun

The Beretta 21a... Is a gun. This gun is chambered in .22lr with a 7 round magazine, DA/SA trigger system, tip up barrel, 1/2x28 barrel threads...

Like i said, its a gun.

Right in the box. One magazine. Thats it. One stinkin' magazine. Gun, manual, lock, etc.

I initially wanted the regular covert version, but all i could get was this. My total after shipping/taxes was $510.

It's not a cheap gun, S&W, Browning, Ruger all have guns that float around this price range, and typically come with more magazines, have provisions for optics, lights, have better sights, etc. I'd like to compare this to something, but I can't. At least not to something good. At least something not encased in quickrete and sitting at the bottom of the Gulf.


So let's dive right in.

The 21a has terrible sights. It's a Euro pocket gun, so I'm not expecting S&W adjustable revolver sights, but man these things are small.

7 yards, Federal AutoMatch

They still suck though


The trigger. Meh. DA pull is about 8-9lbs, and is actually pretty nice. I find it very easy to get an excellent first round hit with no effort. Then the SA... Maybe 4.5-5lbs? I find the thin shoe, pull weight, break location, LOP, and grip size makes for a rather difficult SA trigger to shoot accurately.

Again, small Euro pocket gun.

You have a lever on the left side, this allows the barrel to pop up to place or manually extract a round in the chamber. There is no extractor, so it's a pretty important feature.

Magazine holds 8 rounds. Well, you can load 8 but you won't be able to seat it on a closed slide. So before you insert the mag, tip the barrel and shuck a round from the mag into the chamber, close it then insert the mag.

There is a flip safety. And it works well enough. It can be used in either DA or SA. I don't use it. Of note there is no manual decocker. However due to the tip up barrel there's ways around that. Think of it like a chamber disconnect. I've seen where people convert the safety to a slide lock, but it only contacts a small part of the slide, and all that energy is going into the aluminum frame... It doesn't strike me as the best idea.

Mag release. More Euro weirdness. It's Beretta's classic semi-heel release. On a gun this size it's not the worst location. The magazines also don't really eject. They just kind of leisurely slide out.

Reliability. Good. I've shot about 3k through it, giving it a halfway decent clean every 500 rounds or so. I've found CCI SV shoots well, Federal auto match does alright. CCI quiet semi auto runs ok, but I've noticed it is extremely picky about how the gun is held. A quirk/issue i noticed is that if the right side grip screws are even SLIGHTLY loose, the trigger bar kind of walks out a hair, meaning if you release into the DA pull for some reason, it might not reset fully. The trigger can be pushed out if needed, or simply tapping the hammer also works. Not a big deal, but a bit annoying, since it's DA/SA with no decocker. I bought some NOS grips off ebay that have a much tighter fit, and this has fixed the issue. The gun hates being dry. Go to lube has been slip 2000 ewl 30.

Fit/finish. Not something I'm usually concerned about, but compared to a Taurus PT22, sorry, submerged quickrete block, this gun is a work of art. The frame is anodized, and the slide and barrel are ceracoated a pleasant peanut butter color. The gun was initially very tight, to the point the safety was (almost) impossible to use, but over time it's loosened up.

So what does the 21a do? Well it's a very small host. It's stupid fun with a can, despite the sights not being up to par. And it's not going full auto for some reason. And it's not shooting the slide back at my face for some reason. So i like it. I just wish Beretta would toss at least 1 other mag in the box, and had better QC on the grips. If someone is looking for their first .22 suppressor host, this isn't it. Go get a Ruger MkIV for that. And while it's not quite the James Bond gun, it's a much, much, much nicer gun than that Umarex piece of shit they call a PPK.

 

[baboon]

But will it keel while suppressed?

 

[zackmars]

But will it keel while suppressed?

I can keel a soda can at 7 yards maybe about 50% of the time with a suppressor.

So maybe.

 

[Sam7sf]

Great review man.

 

[Charley]

The 21 A is a pretty popular handgun. I sell quite a few holsters for them. Oddly enough, a large percentage of those sold go to Florida. Maybe it's an old folks gun.

 

[Hoji]

Paid $300 for mine a couple of months ago. A pair were traded in at local FFL. I was there when they were brought in. Asked for one to be put aside with my name on it after they were entered in book and I would grab it next time I was home from work. I got the unfired one.

Good guy pricing is awesome. I did buy a second mag.
Great review. The only thing mine has choked on is any ammo made by Remington.
Several hundred rounds of CCI without failure.

 

[V-Tach]

A lot of husbands buy this gun for their wives (in my experience) then the wives have trouble with the DA trigger pull.........I have one...non threaded blued version and it's ok....

I wouldn't EDC it though.....

Excellent review...thanks!

edit....I would pass on any Taurus version........

 

[Glenn B]

I like Beretta pistols. I own 10 or 11 of them at last count. I used to like the 21A until I found that with my son's 21A, if I mistakenly load 8, or maybe it was 9, into the mag and then try to seat the mag into the frame, it pushes the rear of the slide up and off of the frame. That is an unmitigated POS that could get you killed as far as I am concerned. My son no longer carries it. I do not know if that is a fluke but since I can see nothing obviously wrong with the pistol, I am guessing it is a design flaw.

 

[zackmars]

I like Beretta pistols. I own 10 or 11 of them at last count. I used to like the 21A until I found that with my son's 21A, if I mistakenly load 8, or maybe it was 9, into the mag and then try to seat the mag into the frame, it pushes the rear of the slide up and off of the frame. That is an unmitigated POS that could get you killed as far as I am concerned. My son no longer carries it. I do not know if that is a fluke but since I can see nothing obviously wrong with the pistol, I am guessing it is a design flaw.

You mean the front of the slide? The rear has 2 rails for the slide to, well, slide in.

If you are inserting the magazine hard enough to pop off the slide, you are using way too much force.

You also shouldn't be inserting a magazine with the barrel tipped up, as the barrel is what locks the slide into the gun. Part of dissassembly involves tipping the barrel and pulling the front of the slide up, after all.

It's also not a good idea to carry a .22, much less one that lacks an extractor. Mine has been reliable enough to meet my desired reliability for a carry gun(500 rounds without cleaning) but there's no way I'd carry it for anything other than dispatching nuisance animals caught in traps.


Its the smallest .22 semi on the market, there will be quirks, but your problems sound user induced. You can't go into it expecting it to be like a ruger Mk IV

 

[leVieux]

The 21 A is a pretty popular handgun. I sell quite a few holsters for them. Oddly enough, a large percentage of those sold go to Florida. Maybe it's an old folks gun.

Do you have a holster website ?

 

[Glenn B]

You mean the front of the slide? The rear has 2 rails for the slide to, well, slide in.

If you are inserting the magazine hard enough to pop off the slide, you are using way too much force.

You also shouldn't be inserting a magazine with the barrel tipped up, as the barrel is what locks the slide into the gun. Part of dissassembly involves tipping the barrel and pulling the front of the slide up, after all.

It's also not a good idea to carry a .22, much less one that lacks an extractor. Mine has been reliable enough to meet my desired reliability for a carry gun(500 rounds without cleaning) but there's no way I'd carry it for anything other than dispatching nuisance animals caught in traps.


Its the smallest .22 semi on the market, there will be quirks, but your problems sound user induced. You can't go into it expecting it to be like a ruger Mk IV

The mag should not be able to hold enough rounds to make the slide pop off (front or back - it was probably the front as you said (my little gray cells not as sharp as once they were in the memory department but not too shabby yet) but nonetheless the slide comes off. I have owned and still own a smaller 22 semi-auto, the Beretta 950BS; I have never encountered the same problem with that pistol nor in the three or four Beretta 950BS pistols in 25 ACP that I have owned; maybe I never inserted the mag with the barrel in the up position. Don't recall if that is what I did with the 21A but it must have been. I need to try again next time I visit my son if he has not sold it.

ETA: I put the little gray cells to work because I could not recall why I would have placed a mag into the mag well with the barrel up. Took a minute or three but it clicked. I had been trying to load the pistol, barrel locked in place as I usually do, but the mag would not fully seat in the mag well. I popped the barrel up and tried a little push on the mag base, up came the slide. Now whether or not you should try to load the mag like this was not the cause of the problem. The thing is that the magazine will hold more rounds than with which you can load it into the pistol with the barrel in the locked down position. None of my Beretta 950BS mags do that (not even the current Triple K ones I have with my current 950BS in 22 short). So while I may be a b it off calling the pistol a POS, the mag most certainly is in my opinion because it has a fault that allows it not to fit into the pistol when fully loaded. Note, my son only has OEM mags for his 21A. Again though, if he still has it I will try to replicate the issue.

As to what is a good idea to carry or not, that is a personal preference for those carrying. You have your preferences and others have theirs. As a back-up weapon I would consider carrying one if not for the slide coming off the way it did. The biggest drawback to carry a pistol in 22 rimfire is the chance the primer will fail because it may not be distributed properly within the rim.

 

[TheDan]

My total after shipping/taxes was $510.

Holy shit... why?

It's also not a good idea to carry a .22

Of course not. The 21A is just a trainer for your 3032

 

[zackmars]

Holy shit... why?

Of course not. The 21A is just a trainer for your 3032

View attachment 363463

Because that is the going price for a new threaded 21a

 

[zackmars]

The mag should not be able to hold enough rounds to make the slide pop off (front or back - it was probably the front as you said (my little gray cells not as sharp as once they were in the memory department but not too shabby yet) but nonetheless the slide comes off. I have owned and still own a smaller 22 semi-auto, the Beretta 950BS; I have never encountered the same problem with that pistol nor in the three or four Beretta 950BS pistols in 25 ACP that I have owned; maybe I never inserted the mag with the barrel in the up position. Don't recall if that is what I did with the 21A but it must have been. I need to try again next time I visit my son if he has not sold it.

ETA: I put the little gray cells to work because I could not recall why I would have placed a mag into the mag well with the barrel up. Took a minute or three but it clicked. I had been trying to load the pistol, barrel locked in place as I usually do, but the mag would not fully seat in the mag well. I popped the barrel up and tried a little push on the mag base, up came the slide. Now whether or not you should try to load the mag like this was not the cause of the problem. The thing is that the magazine will hold more rounds than with which you can load it into the pistol with the barrel in the locked down position. None of my Beretta 950BS mags do that (not even the current Triple K ones I have with my current 950BS in 22 short). So while I may be a b it off calling the pistol a POS, the mag most certainly is in my opinion because it has a fault that allows it not to fit into the pistol when fully loaded. Note, my son only has OEM mags for his 21A. Again though, if he still has it I will try to replicate the issue.

As to what is a good idea to carry or not, that is a personal preference for those carrying. You have your preferences and others have theirs. As a back-up weapon I would consider carrying one if not for the slide coming off the way it did. The biggest drawback to carry a pistol in 22 rimfire is the chance the primer will fail because it may not be distributed properly within the rim.

Mags being able to be overloaded and not fitting in the gun can happen with anything.

Ar's, AUG's, glocks, other Berettas, sigs, you name it.

Loading the pistol with the barrel tipped up will cause the slide to pop off. Its how the gun is designed.

It'd be like popping out the pivot pin on an AR and tring to load a mag on a closed bolt.

Besides, Beretta lists the capacity as 7 rounds.

You aren't going to cause the slide to pop off by loading 7 rounds in the mag.

 

[Hoji]

Holy shit... why?

Of course not. The 21A is just a trainer for your 3032

View attachment 363463

For some reason I thought you sold that. Cute ducks

 

[seeker_two]

As sexy as the Beretta looks, I wouldn't trade my LCPII .22lr for one. That little Ruger keeps impressing me with its performance, accuracy, and appetite for any type of .22lr ammo. Eventually, I'll get a threaded barrel for it so I have stand-off ability if I have to make a contact shot.

...and, yes, I do carry the Ruger as my primary CCW on occasion. A shot from a .22lr is like getting stabbed by a foot-long icepick....and I don't know anybody who will shake off getting stabbed multiple times with a foot-long icepick in the face and neck.

 

[zackmars]

As sexy as the Beretta looks, I wouldn't trade my LCPII .22lr for one. That little Ruger keeps impressing me with its performance, accuracy, and appetite for any type of .22lr ammo. Eventually, I'll get a threaded barrel for it so I have stand-off ability if I have to make a contact shot.

...and, yes, I do carry the Ruger as my primary CCW on occasion. A shot from a .22lr is like getting stabbed by a foot-long icepick....and I don't know anybody who will shake off getting stabbed multiple times with a foot-long icepick in the face and neck.

A 9mm, .380 or .38 sounds much more appealing to me than a foot long icepick.

And i take exception to comparing .22lr to an icepick.

I've never seen an icepick FTF.

 

[Charley]

I have a store on Evilbay. I'll PM you the name, don't want to improperly "advertise" for free here when lots of companies pay for advertising here.

As for the "old folks" comment, just following Jimmy Buffet's song, Migration...
"Most of the people who retire in Florida
are wrinkled and they lean on a crutch".

 

[seeker_two]

A 9mm, .380 or .38 sounds much more appealing to me than a foot long icepick.

And i take exception to comparing .22lr to an icepick.

I've never seen an icepick FTF.

I've never seen an icepick stab someone at 5-10yds, either.....or take down some notable political figures.

....and the .22lr that you can hit a target with trumps a .380 in the same concealable package that you can barely control.

 

[zackmars]

I've never seen an icepick stab someone at 5-10yds, either.....or take down some notable political figures.

....and the .22lr that you can hit a target with trumps a .380 in the same concealable package that you can barely control.

An icepick took out Trotsky...

If you are in between picking a .22 and an uncontrollable .380 for a primary, you've made some bad decisions and should've bumped up to a larger gun, unless you are trying to satisfy some extreme deep carry/NPE situation.

Practice can make an uncontrollable .380 a little more controllable.

Practice won't make .22 more reliable.