Beretta Tomcat with a cracked frame options/feedback

[Southpaw]

Hi All,

I'm looking for a little help on what to do with a Tomcat I have.

Long story short, I got this tomcat in partial trade for a dirtbike I sold a number of years ago. I didn't know a whole lot about tomcats other than they had a popup barrel and I though i's size it would be a good carry for the wife. Plus I didn't think you could really go wrong with a name like Beretta, and I could always sell/trade it later.

Well it sat in the safe for a couple years, before I had a chance to shoot it. When I did shoot it, it would jam quite a bit so I figured it might be dirty or didn't like the ammo I was using. Anyway cleaned it up and while surfing the net ran across the cracked frame issue. Sure enough, tiny crack on mine. Darn, neat little pistol, but totally sounds like a design flaw and sounds like Beretta can be less then helpful on a return especially from a second owner.

Here's my options as I see them.
1.) Since it's the only .32 I have I wouldn't miss it at all and really don't want a new INOX version from Beretta but I suppose I could always trade that one or sell it, but dealing with shipping and me being the second owner, I don't really envy going down that road.

2.) Hang on to it until the next Police buy back and see it I can get a couple hundred for it and sell the 2 mags on EBAY.

3.) Try to sell it as is, can't imagine it's worth much.

One thing I WON'T do is try to sell or pass it off to some other sucker like me. I asked the dude how it shot and if it had any issues and trusted him when he said no.

Anyway, if you guys can think of what else I can do with this nifty looking paper weight please give me your two cents i'd appreciate it.

You can see the crack it's the light line going across the frame.



Thanks, Southpaw

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[SynapticSilence]

The early Tomcats had a problem with cracked frames. Beretta solved this by widening the slides. The added weight meant the slides delayed a bit more and didn't smash back against the frame as hard. I'd contact Beretta to see what they offer. You never know.

 

[3MTA3]

The early Tomcats had a problem with cracked frames. Beretta solved this by widening the slides. The added weight meant the slides delayed a bit more and didn't smash back against the frame as hard. I'd contact Beretta to see what they offer. You never know.

That or the buy back option. JB Weld just ain't gunna fix this one...

 

[etrain16]

I'll 2nd what @SynapticSilence silence said - contact Beretta. I think most manufacturers don't want ANY guns on the market, no matter how old, if they are a safety issue - it's still a potential liability for them. I dealt with a company, I think Ruger, on an old gun with a safety issue that went back years - and they were all to happy to fix it for me.

I'd give them a try before you do anything else.

If that doesn't work you might try looking online - sometimes you can find replacement slides online - I've done that myself before.

 

[SynapticSilence]

When I bought my Tomcat (for my wife) at Keith's, I expressed concern about the cracked frame history of the guns. They put me touch with the regional Beretta representative who sent me a personal note stating how committed Beretta was to making their customers loyal and happy and inviting me to contact him directly if I had any problems. I can't find the note, but I imagine Keith's would put you in contact with him if you asked them and explained the problem. Might save you some hassles if you could get the local rep on your side before you started the process. If I find the guy's name I'll let you know. Good luck.

 

[Southpaw]

When I bought my Tomcat (for my wife) at Keith's, I expressed concern about the cracked frame history of the guns. They put me touch with the regional Beretta representative who sent me a personal note stating how committed Beretta was to making their customers loyal and happy and inviting me to contact him directly if I had any problems. I can't find the note, but I imagine Keith's would put you in contact with him if you asked them and explained the problem. Might save you some hassles if you could get the local rep on your side before you started the process. If I find the guy's name I'll let you know. Good luck.

Hey, thanks!
Yeah, I guess in this day and age with firearm litigation running rampant, you would think it would be in Beretta's best interests to get broken or defective arms issues dealt with, after all it's cheaper than a potential lawsuit.

I'll try seeing what they can do for me. Looks like my tomcat is a 2006/7, man that strip of cracked metal sure is thin, lol.

 

[Pandaz3]

I expect and hope you have a good experience with Beretta, We all are interested.

 

[SynapticSilence]

They built these up from 22LR to .32 and just flat out overestimated the frame's resilience. They tried putting warning on them not to use ammo that generates over a certain limit of foot pounds of energy, but that was pretty useless. They're really great guns, though, especially with the tip up barrel. A lot of people who lack the hand strength to rack a tightly sprung slide love them. I have a Beretta 84FS in .380 and it's an amazing gun. Still wish I had the Cheetah version with the tip up barrel (Beretta 86FS), though. They're really hard to find but have the same advantage. I've got really bad arthritis in my cervical spine that's affecting my arm and hand strength. I can still rack any slide I want, but I can tell the difference and know I might need something like that someday.

 

[kschmadeka]

If you're interested in selling it at an appropriate price for a paperweight, I can use it for holster making.