Contemplating a Beretta Tomcat

[centralpadoug]

A number of situations make carry of my H&K .45 impratical. I've looked at a number of 380's, and small nine's but their size differential (even versus my H&K) doesn't buy me a lot of flexibility. I like the Colt 380's pocketlite but can't find a reaso-nable price. The Berretta Tomcat seems to be a good answer...it is small and still DA/ SA which I prefer.

Combined with some of the better .32 acp ammo now available it may prove to be adequete when my next best alternative is my folder.

Anyone with direct experience with the Tomcat and .32's in general please let me know what you think.

Thanks!

 

[craigz]

Disregarding the anemic performance of the .32 ACP round, I think the .32 pocket pistols are, in my experience, the most unreliable class of handguns there is. I've owned a Tomcat and an NAA Guardian, and neither was reliable enough for me to carry, unlike virtually every other handgun I own. Of the class, however, the Tomcat comes the closest to being usable for me. It's a little bigger than the others, but it's far more accurate. You can actually aim with it, rather than point and shoot. I like the tip-up barrel too. Personally, the smallest gun I'm willing to carry at this point is a .38 snubby.

 

[Gary L. Griffiths]

My "always" gun is a Kel-Tec P32, loaded with Cor Bon or Fiochi 60-gr JHPs. It's significantly smaller than the Tomcat, lighter and easier to conceal. Not terribly accurate, but then it was never intended for a target pistol.

My daughter recently traded me her Tomcat for my old Walther TPH in .22LR. I got rid of it as soon as I could.

 

[Arub]

I, too, carry a .32 whenever I feel uncomfortable with carrying a larger weapon. Not Beretta Tomcat related, but there's a very informative discussion going on over at Shooters at the moment on .380's. Some very positive posts on the Bersa Thunder, enough so that there's some credibility as to the current Bersa's performance. If I remember the Tomcat, the Bersa should be a little thinner, carry a slightly bigger punch, but may be a shade longer. I have seen these, and they do look like they can be fairly easily concealed, even under a T-shirt.

It might be worth your while to stroll on over and have a look-see. They also discuss Feg's, Mak's and other very concealable pistols.

 

[pocketman]

I was looking at that thread on shooters, The bersa in a good 380, but I think the gent. was looking for something smaller than his sig 239 for summer carry. I don't believe the bersa will help him any.

The kahr mk-9 is about the same size as the 32 tomcat, only you have a full power 9mm. My mk is my daily pocket carry piece,if I need to go lighter I use a alloy sig. 232 380.

If 32acp is your choice the best carrying of the crop is the kel-tec p-32 9oz loadded with 8 rds, the best made is the seecamp (imop) this piece weighs about 11.5oz loadded with 7rds, next would be the naa guardian which weights in the tomcat range.

The best pure shooter is probally the tomcat 32, its the biggest and has the best big gun feal, comfortable grip good pointer.

 

[pocketman]

double tap..

 

[Coronach]

One word:

DON'T

Mike

 

[Tamara]

My Tomcat has proven itself to be reliable and accurate; while a little larger than the Guardian and both larger and heavier than the Kel-Tec, it's vastly easier for me to shoot well than either of them, having enough of a grip so that I don't feel like I should be holding it with tweezers. The last three Tomcats that friends have purchased (one old style parkerized, one widebody parkerized, and one widebody stainless) have all performed flawlessly thus far, so I'm hoping that the poor QC jinx that clouded the gun's reputation may be lifting.

 

[centralpadoug]

Tamara hit on many of the attributes I liked as I began evaluating small pocket pistols and found myself at the Beretta Tomcat. Yesterday there was a gun show in Harrisburg which allowed me to touch many small pistols in a very short time (glad that such "evil" gatherings are legal in PA!). The more I thought about my goal with this new addition, the more I wanted something VERY small. I saw (and liked) a number 380's especially from Sig (the H&K 4 I found was VERY nice!), but they were at least 1-2" longer than the Tomcat. I like the Colt MKIV 380 but couldn't find a reasonable price on one.

The Kel tec's were certainly small, but I can't seem to get pasted the look???

I want to EASILY fit it in a back pocket or ankle rig...the longer guns would be tough. I'm making the leap (only when absolutely necessary) from my fullsize H&K 45 so I want a gun to feel good which the Beretta does. It is also good to hear that Tamara has had reliable experience with the Tomcat.

I will certainly be putting it through its paces as I expect like all my guns I will shooting this a lot!

I would appreciate anyone else with direct Tomcat experience to let me know what they found.

Thanks to all for the good info!

 

[7th Fleet]

Get the hard chromed slide model of the Kel-Tec with the dark green or black frame and they look really good. I've heard to may bad things about the Tom Cats longevity and relability to seriously consider one of them and the Beretta is way to big and heavy.

I've had zero problems with my P-32 in well over two years of Police backup gun duty.

7th

 

[bad_dad_brad]

After the Tomcat first came out, I considered it but the early models got a lot of bad press, including the "it's only good for 300 rounds". So I didn't buy one, and instead got it's baby brother the Jetfire, which I really like. It has been flawless but shoots the anemic .25.

Still itching to have a .32, I bought a Keltec P32 about 6 months ago. I don't shoot it much at all, find the trigger long and gritty, but it sure is thin and light. I like it.

You might also consider going up a caliber and check out the Kahr MP-9 in 9mm.

 

[Coronach]

Tams and I always take opposite sides on this issue. I have seen many Tomcats that jammed like clockwork, and none that worked reliably (clarification: one friend had one that worked like a champ for a while. I asked him about it one day and he said it, too, started jamming so he sold it). However, all of these were older models. The QC could indeed have changed. But if this is a gun you're going to rely upon to save your life, I'd want to be sure.

JMO,
Mike

 

[Rovert]

Helooooooo, Harrisburgh!

Doug, I happen to like the Tomcat for LOOKS, but given the consistently dubious experiences of TFL'ers, and other options on the market that are significantly more reliable, and more powerful, why take the chance?

Look at my size comparisons of the Kahr MK9 and Tomcat, and you'll probably come to the same conclusion I did. BTW, the 'street price' difference between the two on the stainless versions of each is about $60.

Look at the photos, and ask yourself if you'd rather have 9mm or .32ACP?...

My MK9 page

 

[johnbt]

I work with a guy who just had the dealer send his new Tomcat back to the factory to see if something can be done about the trigger.

Just after he bought it he ask me I'd take it for the day and give him my opinion - he didn't say anything else, so I didn't know what to expect.

It was almost impossible to pull the trigger and keep the sights near the target - and I'm not inexperienced, small-handed or weak. Trigger pull guesstimate = 19 or 20+ rough, gritty pounds. I have a Lyman digital trigger gauge, but it only goes up to 12 pounds.

We will see. Initial impression...useless.

Old P32 with the bugs worked out...priceless.

John

 

[centralpadoug]

Thank you for all the excellent input. I purchased the Tomcat tonight and took it for its inaugural trip to the range. Nice trigger, good groups, and so far no extra pieces....we'll see where we are after another 260 rounds down the tube...don't they usually break at 300 rounds?

 

[Gordo]

I have had my Tomcat for several years and like
it. The only problem I have had is that is doesn't "like" some ammo. When I first bought it I shot PMC ammo and it fed great. CCI on the other hand jammed repeatedly. So........ I found ammo it likes to eat and stayed with it. It is a fun gun to shoot but would only use it for a backup gun.