Beretta Neos

[Melnic]

My dad just picked up his Beretta Neos late last week and we shot it together at the range. It's the 4.5" barrel one
I have a 6.5" barrel Buckmark, my wife has the Ruger 22/45 lite so I can compare it to those other ones.
The Beretta is heavy. Heavy as the buckmark.
The grip is small and angled pretty far forward so you have to like the grip before you go any further. My dad does not have big hands but mine are wider so I had a little more trouble finding a good thumb position with it. With the top rail so big and going all the way down the gun (stock sights are on the rail) that seems to add weight. We shot 100 minimags through it and zero failures. I did not strip and clean the gun, just ran a dry patch through it and that was it. I like my buckmark better, but the Neos has a good price. I think he got it for around $300 at BassPro

 

[photoracer]

I think the Beretta is interesting but like you I prefer Buckmarks. I shoot them competitively. I use lightweight barrels from Tactical Solutions to get the weight down in the 20-27 oz range so as the allow faster transitions. However an original Buckmark Splash Lite or any other Lite model from Browning weighs similar to the 22/45 Lite model.

 

[SuperMag]

I've had a Neos for a few years. Had early issues with it spitting out the extractor, but that's fixed and no problems since. It is fairly accurate; not as accurate as my Ruger Mk III, but close. If you're looking for an inexpensive and fun 22 pistol, the Beretta is a well-made pistol.

 

[Scratch]

I have one. It's fun, inexpensive, much easier to take down than a Mk III. Front sight sucks though.

 

[RugerFan]

much easier to take down than a Mk III.

haha, as is almost EVERY OTHER PISTOL MADE?

Don't get me wrong...I love my Mark II, but I sure don't look forward to cleaning it!

 

[mbz300sdl]

haha, as is almost EVERY OTHER PISTOL MADE?

Don't get me wrong...I love my Mark II, but I sure don't look forward to cleaning it!

Hey WTH I am Ruger guy

 

[Melnic]

Dad had light strikes with some Remingtons. He had shot minimags for the first 2 range trips.
I pulled it apart to clean it and seems like on snap caps, it barely makes a mark. Of my Buckmark, My wife's Ruger 22/45, this Neos is by far the easiest to pull apart and clean.
I need to take it back to shoot it for him and try minimags again. I still think the dents on the plastic snap caps is too light though. It was the same before and after the cleaning. Maybe my snap caps have a thin rim, dunno. I'll have to look at that.

 

[Scratch]

Beretta makes a Carbine Kit for the Neos, but the last time I checked they were unobtanium.

http://www.berettausa.com/products/u22-neos-carbine-kit/ju22ck1/

 

[dwnthehatch]

I had one and got Hi-desertdog to thread the barrel for my suppressor. It functioned flawlessly. I wish I kept it. Cleaning it was a breeze.

 

[erwos]

That's pretty weird. My Neos ate anything back when I had it. Have you looked at the striker to see if it looks OK? Hard to believe it would be the spring, given how strong that sucker is. Might also consider lubing the striker a bit?

I don't regret getting rid of mine, but that was more because of how my collection evolved than because of the Neos (which I liked).

 

[Melnic]

I had a spent CCI blazer from another gun (someone else's).
I put it in the Neos. The Neos strike is the one on the left.
Looks good to me. I need to measure the rim thickness of my snap cap.
Maybe the Neos has something to limit the strike so it does not peen the breech face and the snap caps are too thin to show a hard strike.

 

[erwos]

That's how all of my strikes looked. You sure they were light strikes and not just duds?

 

[Melnic]

That's how all of my strikes looked. You sure they were light strikes and not just duds?

The ones I pulled from him at the range, I could barely see the strike. I was on the adjacent range when it would happen and he'd call me over. I'd look and the firing pin would be forward and on at least 2 of them, the slide was resistant to being pulled back. We were thinking it needed to be cleaned but I thought his round count was pretty low.

 

[Melnic]

Cleaned and lubed again last night. I took his gun to range again
(in order of what was shot)
50 Federal Auto Shock
50 Remington Thunderbolt
50 American Eagle 40g LRNred box stuff what ever it is
50 Minimag CPRN
50 Federal Automatch (Cheap Walmart LRN)

One dud Remington, One light strike Fail to Fire Remington.


The light strike Remington, what I noticed was when I pulled it back, the extractor claw had not pulled it back. I"m thinking the slide was not all the way forward. I'd noticed when I took some spent Federal rounds, some depending on the shape of the rim, did not want to push all the way in and let the claw get around the rim. Right now, I'm thinking it needs more rounds through it and not the Federal Autoshock nor Remmington thunderbolts. Dad has some more Minimags for his next trip to range.

BTW, his inexpensive Reflex sight was messed up, the dot kept moving. Groups were all over the place, so after first 30 rounds I removed it and it shot just fine with the fixed sights.

 

[Boss94]

I love mine . Reminds me of a modern day version of my high standard trophys grip angle is about identical.

 

[jodavk]

Got mine (NIB 7" barrel) a couple days ago; went to the farm to test fire. All I had was some Aquila 40g lr ammo. Only had time to fire two mags. Each mag had at least one or two FTFs (re-tried them and 2 fired the second time) and each mag had at lest 2 bullets that jammed on the feed ramp. I know it's new and I should have cleaned it first; but the barrel was clear, shiny and I was pressed for time. Also, the slide action seemed "gritty". The trigger was OK. I am going to clean it and take several types of 22 lr ammo to the Elk Neck state range and try again, as son as I can. I expect some "break in" problems. We shall se....

 

[Melnic]

I think I have some insight into what is going on.
The Firing pin on the Neos is limited to how deep it will go into the rim. The Pin will stop about .020" before the face of the bolt. In other words, you can dry fire it without the Firing pin hitting the breech face and peening it or flattening/shortening the Firing pin. Something that some manufacturers do so tha the firing pin does not fail over time due to wear from dry firing. On the Neos, there is a pretty big gap in their design. What that also means is that if the slide/bolt is not fully forward, that when the firing pin strikes, it will just knock the bullet forward some and not pinch the rim as much as it could. So what you get is a situation where the Neos needs to stay clean and not get gunk built up on the breech face or the bolt face or that gunk can cause the gap to widen. I noticed the Federal Gamshock left some waxy gunk on the breech face. Bringing a nylon brush or old tooth brush to the range to clean the face would help if your round count gets up there. Good news is that the Neos is so darn easy to clean, it does not take much time. I have not been aggressive on the cleaning mind you. I'm not taking a bore brush to the bore even, most of the cleaning has been using a nylon brush to clean the dirty ammo, then wiping down with oil and cotton cloth and re-lubricating. For the bore, I have a bore snake with the embedded metal brush removed.

 

[SuperMag]

One possible reason for light strikes with 22 LRRF ammo is head spacing. Sometimes the rim is on the thin side. But I don't think that's the cause here.

The striker (firing pin) on the Beretta U22 Neos is conical in shape where it comes through the bolt face. The journal in the bolt that houses the striker has a matching conical shape.

If there's any powder residue/gunk packed up in there, it prevents the striker from going all the way forward in the bolt. That's what causes light strikes with this cool little pistol.

When you field strip the pistol, use a miniature bottle brush to make sure the journal in the bolt (clean it from the rear) is gunk-free.

Ba careful when removing the striker from the pistol (you pull the trigger to do so) because it will launch the striker, along with its spring, across the room. Hold the striker with your fingers, pull the trigger, and ease the striker forward and out of the striker catch.

 

[tomandjerry00]

Ba careful when removing the striker from the pistol (you pull the trigger to do so) because it will launch the striker, along with its spring, across the room. Hold the striker with your fingers, pull the trigger, and ease the striker forward and out of the striker catch.

Learned that on Saturday