REVIEWS
Hot .22
Stylish and innovative, Beretta's Neos should shoot straight to the top of the list of plinkin' pistols.
|
|
| Action: | Blowback semiauto |
|---|---|
| Caliber: | .22 Long Rifle |
| Capacity: | 10 |
| Barrel length: | 4 1/2, 6 or 7 1/2 inches |
| Weight: | 35.8 ounces |
| Grips: | Replaceable modular units with colored rubber inserts |
| Price: | $250 to $300 (depending on barrel length and finish) |
Beretta Neos Specifications
All major pistol manufacturers anchor the light end of their product line with a handy .22 autoloader, a so-called "plinker." With Smith & Wesson it's the Sport Series 22A and 22S, and for Ruger it's one of many variations of the Standard Auto. Browning offers as many models of the BuckMark, and Sigarms recently introduced its Hammerli-based Trailsides. But Beretta, maker of the M9 GI service pistol, went without a plinker for a number of years.
The recently introduced Neos, however, effectively plugs that hole. The pistol gets its name from the Greek word meaning "new." And the Neos is one neat gun, thanks to its ultramodern styling.
BASIC SPECS AND OPERATION
The Neos is a full-size auto weighing 35.8 ounces in its 6-inch-barrel version. The same 6-inch-barrel gun runs to 10.3 inches of overall length, with an 8.9-inch sight radius. It's 5.2 inches in height. Clearly, this is not a small pistol but rather one that is properly sized for an adult hand. Much of the weight is fairly high, in the barrel and rib. Although my test gun was a 6 inch, the accompanying literature claims there will be a 4.5-inch-barreled version. Neos barrels quickly interchange on the same lower receiver.
Like many of its contemporaries, the Neos takes advantage of the relatively low pressure of the .22 Long Rifle to operate on the basis of a simple blowback system. This means that the pistol's steel slide and recoil spring work together to keep the breech closed. Immediately after firing--when the bullet exits the muzzle--pressure drops to a much lower level. At this point residual inertia drives the slide back for extraction and ejection. This movement compresses the recoil spring, which then expands to drive the slide forward into battery, thereby loading a fresh cartridge into the chamber and leaving the striker cocked. Another press of the trigger repeats the cycle.
The magazine holds 10 rounds of .22 Long Rifle ammo. A nicely written and illustrated manual specifically excludes the use of .22 Longs and .22 Shorts; they won't work through the magazine and don't have enough oomph to cycle the action anyway.
To take down the pistol, first unload it, then remove the magazine and lock the slide to the rear. Just above and forward of the triggerguard is a push-in, spring-loaded plunger and a knurled wheel. Pressing the plunger clears a block that permits you to turn the wheel on a plane that parallels the axis of the barrel. In doing so, you are literally unscrewing a nut with a female thread that tightens against a bolt that extends downward from the underside of the barrel. When it's completely unscrewed, lift the barrel free of the slide and receiver. Then release the slide lock, and remove the slide forward from the receiver. This will leave the recoil spring in place. It fits around the striker assembly, which is in the top rear end of the receiver--an unusual location for such a part. At this point, the striker will be cocked. Hold the striker by the forward end, and press the trigger. You can now ease the striker forward and out of its position in the striker housing (it will be under tension from a coil spring surrounding it). I've seldom seen such an ingenious system that permits such detailed stripping so easily.
At this point you can look down into the receiver and see how the trigger is linked to a drawbar running along the inner right side of the receiver. Farther forward on the receiver you can see how the takedown wheel is positioned and how it works.
Reassembly is pretty much what I have already described but in reverse order. Much of the receiver is made of molded polymer, but it is metal-to-metal where major assemblies interface.
STYLING CUES
The most noticeable characteristic of the Neos is its ultramodern styling. This comes from the styling and design firm of Guigiaro, working in collaboration with American-based engineers.
Look first at the shape of the receiver. The butt section is sharply raked to the rear. It's part of an overmolded lower with sort of an oval theme in the design. There are panels on both sides of the grip that use small ovals to furnish a positive grasping surface. The triggerguard is an oval of the same general shape. In front of the triggerguard is a sweeping curve that runs all the way up to the underside of the barrel.
Like many .22 autos, the Neos barrel is round with flat side panels. But this one has a full-length sighting rib with both front and rear sights. The rib is ventilated but features a single relief cut that runs fore and aft in yet another sweeping curve. It is very unusual and contributes to a handgun with a completely different look. This modernistic touch resembles the design of an exotic roadster or a racing motorcycle. It'll appeal to some more than others, but we are seeing more of this stuff from Italian gunmakers all the time. Beretta just introduced a pistol-caliber carbine that shows the same influence.
Despite its design ingenuity, however, the Neos needs to be examined in light of its usefulness as a shooting tool.
© 2009 Intermedia Outdoors. All rights reserved.
