Beretta U22 NEO
My wife is a 22LR nut, a few years ago just made of list of the guns she would like to have, it might as well have been a list of every 22 ever made. When I made plans to buy the Beretta U22 NEO she was as enthused as was I, this is a cool looking pistol. Like most new pistols they were hard to get when the first published articles come out about them. This is a primary reason we have the rules in place that we do at The GunMuse Outdoors. Product must be available to purchase at the time we print the article. We found from years of interfacing with customers it was just plain aggravating to read about a firearm then have no way to get one in the immediate future. 6-9 months is a Quick turn out time for firearm manufactures but it’s a lifetime to those waiting to get the new hot items.
So we have had this Beretta Neo 22 for more than a year now and have been waiting until supply caught up with demand to do a proper review. So what did we like and dislike. Well if you have read my articles in the past very few products will get a 100% thumbs up. We leave those reviews to the paper magazines. Every product has its +’s and –‘s the Berretta Neo was no exception.
First glance hey this Beretta 22 pistol looks cool. I give the factory big Kudos for building a firearm that makes you go “Cooool”. I will admit we wanted to shoot this one in particular because of the look of this gun at first glance makes you go “That one”.
The type of rubber/polymer used in the grip is a fairly comfortable feel, although the ergonomics of the grip seemed to be a hair too large. By that I mean this gun would feel more comfortable if I had an extra ½ inch of length in my 7 inch hand for the most part though its on the higher side of comfortable for hand guns but I would say that the Ruger Competition 22 and the Smith and Wesson 41 or the Old High Standard competition automatics (which I have found to be the most comfortable and natural pointing of competition 22’s.) I mention this as the Beretta Neo is supposedly based off the old High Standard 22’s.
For the past 10 years the redesigning of firearms by legislation had led to safety issues that are apparent in the film footage highlights of our shoot. The magazine was of good quality production but of poor quality design. The magazine was very tight and 22 shells had a tendency not to load completely properly. I could have fixed this easily with a quick “Tweak” of the magazine but I felt it important to show the type of problems even experienced shooter often face. This is a common problem and this type of weapon is often bought for and by inexperienced shooters and it bears the possibility of someone not being responsible while they clear a jam. I also didn’t like the required frame rail as it obstructs my view into the chamber. Since I prefer fixed sights I would also prefer the safety of seeing the chamber that could be allowed here. The firearm malfunction you see in the video was the ammunition not advancing in the magazine. Common problem with new guns these days and be fixed fairly easily ask your Gun Smith to help you. One of the final not really problem with the magazine was a dimension issue. Ruger and Browning magazine loaders is becoming a widely dispersed asset to those who like to shoot 22’s. By not putting dimensions in line with these styles of magazines Beretta isolated itself from the tools already available in the market place. The magazines were easier to hand load than a Ruger and Browning due to the larger button but the sharp edges made loading it a chore and not worth doing after a few magazines. The reduction in shooting by a firearm owner is for two reasons. Not fun, not cheap. Well it doesn’t get any cheaper than a 22LR and if Beretta wants to sell more magazines and ammunition manufactures want to sell more ammo. Loaders need to be available to keep the time spent on the range on the fun shooting side and clear of the Magazine-loading Chore.
What about the rest our pistol well it appears from design of the integrated scope rail that Beretta intended for a Red-dot or holographic site to be used with this pistol. I would highly suggest you think about taking that route when you buy this pistol, as the fixed sights (my preference to use), were terrible at best. There was a huge amount of slop in the sight picture - 6 inches at 25 yards of movement. So I highly suggest making use of an aftermarket optic as was obviously intended by the Beretta Neo’s design.
Now knowing that the High standard was the design that Beretta was going for, hurt them in my mind with this shoot. I was never a high standard fan until my wife talked me into buying her a 20-year-old one at a Gun Show. I became a closet fan almost immediately hated the magazines and the magazine release but the way that pistol cycled was outstanding. A Rapid fire on never had any muzzle rise and even while the back sight was slide and moving I never lost sight picture between shots. The gun spit lead and fire ever which way, but accuracy and cycling was something to be cloned not styling and I think that was the failure by Beretta in resurrecting this design for their own use. There is muzzle rise in this pistol using standard CCI and Federal ammunition. For this reason follow up shots are slowed while trying to control the muzzle. Consider the ergonomic grip adds a degree of control then I would be safe in saying that the muzzle rise is greater than it should be.
Accuracy , This is where I was highly disappointed. Here is a pistol with a futuristic look and an integrated rail for superior accuracy in sighting the handgun and then fizzle. The best we could get from this pistol from a vice was 1.26” at 25 yards with common ammo. CCI mini-mag, Winchester, Remington, and even some Green label CCI. Now we did get a .9 group from CCI STANDARD. Now this is not as common on the shelves its usually ordered by accident and it is an old trick of mine for accuracy in 22LR. The more is better routine fails in most 22LR’s. A lighter load tightened the group on the Beretta U22. This again I feel goes back to Beretta needs to work on the crown of this handgun. Maybe we can get one of the 22 Hot Rod shops to take on the project for us and see what they can do to make this gun a hot shooter.
I found this pistol to be a great starter pistol but overpriced for the feature and function that it lacked. At $199.00 I would have been tickled with the Beretta Neo 22LR but at the $300 I paid for it was highly overpriced and I would suggest readers put up an additional $100 and moving to the Ruger slab side competition model. Sadly there is no room for Dealers to sell them at that price so don’t even try asking. For Beretta I would suggest custom colors (Blue, red, yellow, green), A better fixed-sight system, some magazine changes and deeper crowning that will control muzzle rise and increase accuracy. For Beretta dealers I would recommend going ahead and mounting a red dot on your display pistol and sell them as a package. I don’t want to see Beretta give up on the 22LR but its hard to make a BAD shooting 22LR so when you price one as a top shooter expect us in the market place to put that expectation on your product.
Author: GunMuse Date: Thursday Sep 23 2004 11:04:07 am
