Beretta U22 Neos Trigger Job

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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
Hello gents.

Picked up a shiny new Beretta Neos U22 this weekend. Topped it with an El-Cheapo Sight Mark red dot. Only purpose is a fun range toy. I went through 100 rounds of CCI Mini Mags (in about 10 minutes:eek::D) without a hiccup.

Only trouble is the trigger, which has about 4" of pretravel, stacks at about 17lbs and then breaks into another 4" of over travel.:rolleyes:;) Not easy shooting when your fingers got to be 8" long.:D

There was a very thorough trigger job instruction set posted years ago by a fellow that called himself Hexidismal and Hex. I find many references, but no working links. Anybody have a link to those instructions?

Any other suggestions or tips?

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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
Wow, I had a chance to look through that trigger job. That's a wee tad more involved than I would have hoped. I wasn't figuring on soldering and grinding my way there. I'll probably do the polishing part and over-travel screw. I don't know about the rest. I see also though that at least one well respected company will do the job for me for about $60 plus one way shipping. Seems like more than $60 work to me, maybe better off just letting them do it, except for the hassle of shipping.
 
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weblance

New member
Its really a shame there arent aftermarket parts for the Neos trigger. Its a well made, accurate pistol, with a horrible trigger.
 
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mellow_c

New member
That's a neat little pistol. Thanks for the picture, I've enjoyed looking at it.

Sorry to hear the trigger is so bad on them, otherwise I'd consider picking one up. Not as if I need one though:rolleyes:

How much did just the pistol cost ya?

Is there really soldering involved in that trigger job you mentioned or are you just pulling our legs? I wish I could see the whole pictorial or whatever of what the guys does. I'm interested to look/read through it, but I'm not going to join another forum :p
 
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FrankenMauser

New member
Wait? There's a Neos out there that actually works? :eek:


No, I'm not trying to start a fight.
My experience with them really is that they're all unreliable ****s. Like Walther P22s, I don't know a single person that has owned or still owns one, that ever got it to run well with any type of ammo ... without fumbling their way through malfunctions for several thousands of rounds to get it broken-in, or making a substantial monetary investment (and that "thousand dollar" P22 still went belly-up like the rest of the the P22s).
 
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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
mellow_c said:
Its really a shame there arent aftermarket parts for the Neos trigger. Its a well made, accurate pistol, with a horrible trigger.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised there aren't, it's been made for quite some time. It seems as though it's popularity never really took off. Maybe due to Frankenmauser's referenced reliability problems.

I looked into getting one of these a few years ago and was dissuaded by the number of problems I read about. It *seems* like maybe Beretta has addressed some of those as reviews have trended more positive recently. There are definitely a few changes that have been made, such as the trigger assembly screw used to be some sort of odd, semi-proprietary straight edge and now is an ordinary 5mm hex. Whether that reflects any functionality updates, I can only guess.

mellow_c said:
How much did just the pistol cost ya?
Click to expand...

Gander had it on sale for $249.

FrankenMauser said:
Wait? There's a Neos out there that actually works?
Click to expand...

Well, it worked for 100 rounds so far.:p

We'll see, hopefully it remains reliable. I field stripped it and looked it over inside. It's actually a rather ingenious design (IMO) and simpler than I expected. I can see why the trigger is heavy. One thing that would lighten it for sure is using a lighter firing pin spring, since that spring is what directly dictates the pressure between the firing pin and seer. Of course, that could also cause reliability problems.

I'm going to wait until I've got a couple hundred more rounds through it... which should take about another 20 minutes of shooting:D.... and then smooth out the trigger contact points to see where I'm at then.
 
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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
mellow_c said:
Is there really soldering involved in that trigger job you mentioned or are you just pulling our legs?
Click to expand...

Sorry, just noticed this question.

Yes, there really is. There's a "step" in the firing pin that effectively dictates pre-travel/creep. The solution (according to that guy's method) is to solder a thin piece of stainless so as to make the step a lot smaller.
 
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James K

Member In Memoriam
Sorry, but I was working as a gunsmith when that gun first came out as the High Standard Duramatic. It was a POS and a PITA to work on. I will say that when they worked, they were accurate (as one would expect from H-S) and reasonably reliable, but far too many did not work. The balances in that design are delicate; guns that fired OK wouldn't cock, guns that cocked wouldn't feed reliably, etc., etc.

I will not recommend the H-S Duramatic, Colt .22/Cadet, or Beretta NEOS to anyone, or suggest buying one, no matter what alias it now goes under, or what shape the outer parts have. Tinkering with the trigger pull is like doing a racing tuneup on a Yugo; when the base product is junk, trying to make it better is not only futile but costs money that could be spent on a good product.

Jim
 
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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
Sometimes, a gun can just be for learning, or even for fun.

I bought it because I felt like it at the time.

I'm out $270 with tax, way less if I should decide to sell it at some point.

I'm going to have fun with it, maybe mess with the trigger a little, and see what happens.

This gun, BTW, seems to cock AND feed AND fire, 100% reliably, thus far. I realize 100 rounds isn't a lot but it's a start.

Sometimes the guy with the Yugo just likes to tinker, you know? If he's having fun and learning, who's to say it's a waste of money? RACING is a waste of money. So is shooting holes in perfectly good paper. We have to waste money a certain way in order to have it be justifiable?

That's what I love about this forum. You never get rambling, unhelpful, pointless tirades against a product that someone already owns. Only helpful suggestions that can actually make a difference.:rolleyes:
 
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James K

Member In Memoriam
Your gun may work 100%, which would mean either that Beretta has solved the problems or that you are fortunate in getting a good one. But the problems with the older guns did exist and my intent was to point out that fact before others assumed that all guns of that design are equally good.

If you have no problems, that is good, and I hope your good luck continues.

Jim
 
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aarondhgraham

New member
Actually, there are four that work,,,

Wait? There's a Neos out there that actually works?
Click to expand...

Actually, there are four that work,,,
I own three and can't remember the last malfunction.

But wait,,,
There are six that work.

After they shot mine,,,
A friend bought a pair of them.

He and his wife shoot every weekend,,,
I've shot with them at their farm and no problems arose.

I almost forgot,,,
There are seven that work.

I bought one for a friend's graduation gift,,,
I haven't seen him in over three years.

But the very day I gave it to him,,,
We went through 550 rounds of Federal Bulk ammo.

I honestly haven't experienced the problems that other people seem to have.

Aarond

.
 
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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
I watched this YouTube video that is (apparently) the current state of "Go To" info for disassembling the Neos...

All I can say is, if I were that guy making the video I would have been too embarrassed to publish it publicly.

Dude uses a BRASS PUNCH to turn the take-down wheel.:eek:

Then dude doesn't bother to heat the screw that is red loctited on, proceeds to strip it, jam a larger hex head into it, strip that out and then (later) DRILL IT OUT. :eek:

Then! As if that's not enough! Dude spends quite some time HAMMERING on part of the safety before he realizes that he's got to remove the firing pin/seer assembly first.

At which point he's back to the broken bolt, which he proceeds to drill out, before explaining it like EVERYONE is going to be FORCED to drill it out, and how you need really good pliers and a really firm grip or you'll sheer off or round the remaining bolt and not be able to get it out.

Or, you know, you could just use a soldering iron on the head and melt the loctite so you could get it out like a normal human?!
 
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weblance

New member
I have 2 Neos pistols. They run perfectly. General comments about reliability are very good with the Neos pistol. Condemning a product because someone used to make something similar is foolish. I stand by my comment about the triggers. That has always been my only complaint about the Neos.
 
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95Blitz

New member
I have had one for years now with out any problems at all. Eats federal, remmy bulk box hundreds at a time. I don't think it have ever failed to anything.
 
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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
Well, we put another 175 rounds through her yesterday. All CCI Mini Mags. Not so much as a hiccup. I think it's time to take it down and work on the trigger.

Had the chance to shoot a Buckmark side by side with it too. The Buckmark has a mighty fine trigger, I must say. Seems a little boring, what would you tinker with?:p
 
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Big Shrek

New member
The SINGLE biggest headache with the NEOS...
is folks who use the wrong ammo in 'em...

You simply cannot use Standard/Match or Sub-sonic velocity ammo
and expect them to cycle, it ain't gonna happen with any reliability. Period.
Once you've got around 5K rounds thru it & the recoil spring has weakened a bit,
THEN Match ammo starts working ok with a 6" barrel.

High Velo Only.
Don't use RGB's for anything other than revolvers.



If you want a better trigger, try to locate a NEOS DLX trigger assembly.
They had adjustable pre- & over-travel.
 
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