Beretta Bobcat in .22lr Review
 

I have one of these things and I was wondering what it could really do so I cracked off a few shots today and thought I'd share the results.

First was .22 CCI CB shorts. From this short of a barrel they were louder than I expected, about like a firecracker. They didn't even cycle the slide so I had to flip the barrel up and poke the casing out with a stick. Other than that they zipped through a beercan like nobody's business.

Note: I found the beer can on the ground in the woods, I wasn't drinking and shooting. :)

Second was a CCI Stinger against a 2x4 at 5 paces. The Stinger was definately louder than the CB shorts, made my ears ring a little, probably should have brought ear muffs. Anyway, the entrance hole on the 2x4 looked about half the diameter of the bullet, the exit hole was half an inch deep and half an inch wide. Even from this little gun the Stinger had no problem zipping through the board and burrying itself about 3 inches into the dirt. The recovered bullet didn't expand but sort of bent itself into a semi-bannana shape. I was fairly well impressed by this bullet out of this short of a barrel, but there's a lot of wasted powder.

I'd bet the CCI Velocitor, which has a 1/3 heavier Gold Dot bullet, would do better out of the .22lr pocket pistol, and I wouldn't be suprised if a standard velocity round of equal quality wouldn't yield equal results simply because there isn't enough barrel to reall burn too much powder. For instance you'll never be able to tap the potential of the Aguila Super Max out of any .22 pistol, but the freakishly large 60gr Aguila Super SubSonic ought to do well and is next on my list to face the board. I'm willing to bet this round will be able to realize its 800fps potential based on the PT22 tests at Golden Loki's site, and the longer, heavier bullet ought to offer better penetration, some more pronounced tumbling effect and spare the ears as compared to the CCI Stingers.

A .22lr Bobcat definately isn't my first choice for a primary carry, probably not as a backup either, but it isn't the 1960's anymore and we're not talking about WalMart bargain bin bulk pack ammo. Quality modern .22 rimfire like CCI's Stingers, Velocitors and Quickshock are very reliable, I've fired a couple thousand with no ftf's. If it'll tear through a 2x4 at a realistic distance it's good enough to ruin a badguy's day... I'd just skip over center of mass and go straight for the head and face area.

An interesting discovery was that the magazine will *almost* accept 8 bullets as is, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to modify this sucker to hold and feed 9 or 10 shots in a flush fitting magazine. With its other "real gun" features like a true double action trigger safety, a 10-shot Bobcat would be one heck of a fun mousegun. The sights are suprisingly useable, but would benefit from a little white paint on the front sight. The ergonomics are actually pretty decent, at least for my medium sized hands. It fills my grip well and the edges are all round so it's comfy. I have no problem fitting my finger into the trigger guard and the metal trigger itself is well positioned for reach either in single or double action mode, though I will say it's a bit heavy and rough compared to the dreamy double action trigger on my trick CZ-75. The tip up barrel is awesome and works well, it makes shoot the CB caps in an auto a breeze since you can just use it like a break action rather than having to drop and reload the mag for every shot like on my wife's P-22. The safety works, but isn't the easiest to flick on and off. I actually see this as a good thing, since on a gun as small as this you wouldn't want the safety to accidentally engage during firing or disengage in your pocket if you were carrying condition 1.

All in all I have to say I really like this little peashooter. It works reliably, while no Swiss watch it is definately well made, and it's a just plain fun little pistol that at 4.9" LOA can ride in your front pocket or on your ankle when you can't carry anything bigger. Now all I need is a plague of mice!

Re: Beretta Bobcat in .22lr Review
 

Nice review!

While I've never tried, how does the remington .22lr bulk pack stuff from wally world stack up against a 2x4?

Re: Beretta Bobcat in .22lr Review
 

Dunno... but I may as well find out, I have a lot of this stuff sitting around. I don't shoot much of it because regardless of maker I've found the bulk pack bargain ammo to have a much higher porportion of duds and accuracy can be poor at times. I'll use it on the range, but never for hunting or defense.

Check out the Golden Loki link for some .22 gel tests using the Taurus PT-22, which has a barrel only about a half inch longer. I've found some chrony results from the shorter Bobcat barrel to match up to these results, and it looks like you only lose at most 10fps with the Bobcat which is pretty much neglible. I almost bought the PT-22 for the longer barrel, but I was scared away by too much badmouthing on the internet. I'd bet on average they work well though, the early USA made Bobcats had a bad rep, too.

http://www.goldenloki.com/ammo/gel/22lr/gel22lr.htm

It looks like I was wrong about the Super SubSonic, it was actually chrono'ed at 643fps, but I would still expect a bit more dammage from the giant .22 bullet vs soft target and probably vs the 2x4. Just wait till the 4th of July when I'm not as worried about upsetting the neighbor's dogs with the gunshots... I've got a lot of tests in mind and I'm gonna take pics! Pork spare ribs butt roast here I come!

Based on Loki's results I'd guess the ideal .22lr defensive bullet would lie somewhere above 40gr and below 60gr, so you're getting the most velocity you can out of the barrel with the biggest bullet you can. It looks like the 40gr bullets are offering the best penetration even when the fps and energy are low, I guess this is like a micro-sized version of the .45-70 effect where the weight alone just carries the bullet through the target.

I took my Bobcat out with me when I went out to dinner today, and 100 rounds in the box. That's what I like about the pintsized rimfires, you can carry the gun and a bunch of ammo just as incindental stuff in your pockets and not even notice it. If you find yourself in some situation where you are able and feel like doing a lot of impromptu shooting, you're all set! If you find yourself in a self defense situation with it, empty the mag! Of course, that's always the rule.