Beretta 22LR conversion

FAQ

Why would you want it?

Simple... 22LR ammunition is dirt cheap compared to 9mm and .40S&W. The cost of the conversion seems stiff but payback is fairly quick when you figure 500 rounds of 22LR is about $10-15. It’s easy to pay $8-10 for just 50 rounds of FMJ 9mm unless you hit a sale or good by the case price. Generally .40S&W starts at $10 a box of 50 even on sale and even Winchester "White Box" will run you $20+ per hundred at Wal-Mart. With metal prices and other costs increasing, ammo prices will continue to go up. 22LR will go up but likely not as much or as fast as other calibers.

For the price of a few thousand rounds of 9mm or .40S&W you can buy the conversion, a couple extra magazines, and a couple thousand rounds, at least, of 22LR.

There is even an environmental benefit of sorts. A thousand rounds of 22LR uses far less lead than the same number of any 9mm or .40S&W lead based rounds. (They do make "green" ammunition that doesn't have lead but it isn't cheap.) A 115 grain 9mm FMJ contains approximately 3 times the lead of a 35 grain 22LR. (I rounded down to allow for the jacket copper.)

What is the Conversion’s price?

Shop around. While Beretta USA sells for list, the kit runs around $300 at retail. Even if you add extra magazines, the cost is below a couple thousand rounds of most common target loads.

What does it fit?

Per Beretta:

The Kit can be mounted on ALL SERIES 92 PISTOLS WITH STANDARD FRAME - MODELS 92SB, 92F, 92FS, 98F, 98FS and 96 as well as MODELS 92G, 96G, 92D, 98F CAL. 7.65 MM PARA and on the TARGET, BRIGADIER, CENTURION AND ELITE versions. However, the practice kit cannot be used on models COMPACT L and COMPACT L "TYPE M", and the 90-Two due to their shorter frame and slide nor on the COMBAT, STOCK, and BILLENNIUM versions due to their totally different safety systems (frame-mounted safety)

(Soure: Beretta USA, Emphasis added.)

What about other conversions in the aftermarket?

The aftermarket conversions offer different finishes, higher capacity magazines, and may cost a bit less. One thing I didn’t like was that these conversions don’t offer the safety features of the Beretta kit. I wanted the conversion to function as much like a 92FS as possible. I don’t think the other options are bad. They just weren’t what I was after.

Is it really that good?

It’s a Beretta product. Need I say more?

How does it shoot?

Very much like the "real thing." The adjustable sight can make it more accurate depending just how you use your normal top.

The pistol functions just like a 9xFS with the conversion installed but with a little less recoil. The product is purposely designed to function as much like them as possible, including all the safety features.

Can I get more/bigger magazines?

Extra magazines are available thru the store at BerettaUSA.com. You’ll need to special order them most other places. I found the price is about the same as other Beretta branded magazines at both the online store and locally. The shipping is $9 but it saves you running around to shops to order and pickup. You'll probably get them faster as well.

Beretta only offers 10 round magazines. It would be nice to have bigger but as fast as these are to reload, it really isn't as much a problem as you would think. These magazines are also legal where people are still restricted to 10-15 rounds.

Does it work with my laser sight?

External, yes but may need aim adjustment.

Internal, no and you may also have to switch back to the OE slide latch. Contact the maker of those products before use.

What you get

(Source: Edited version of the image at Beretta USA.)

1. Aluminum F/FS type slide with firing pin blocking, adjustable rear sight (elevation and windage), and decocker safety.

2. Steel Barrel

3. Recoil Spring

4. Guide Rod

5. Magazine, Steel lined Polymer body, 10 Round 22LR only.

6. Magazine speed loader.

Not Shown: Padded plastic case, cleaning brush, sight adjustment tools, and manual.

Note: The manual in many packages is wrong. It mentions additional parts. (2 more recoil springs. I forget anything else.) What is listed above is exactly what you get.

How it works

Top

Like many semi automatic 22LR pistols and rifles, the conversion is a straight blowback rig. It is installed and removed the same way as the normal top assembly. Note: Do not attempt to remove or install the slide with a Magazine in place! The magazine will bind against the conversion slide and could be damaged.

Magazine

The small ear visible sticking off the top of the left feed lip on the magazine is the ejector. It is part of why the top will bind if you try to remove it with a magazine inserted.

The roll pin visible in the magazine's long slot serves to lock the slide open after the last round. The same roll pin is also depressed with the speed loader for very rapid reloading. You push the loader tool down over the magazine and the rounds simply drop in on top of the depressed follower. This feature is why the 10 round magazine isn't as annoying as you'd otherwise think.

Rear Sight

The conversion uses the Beretta E00169 fully adjustable rear sight kit, which is an option you can buy for your regular top. The sight has two screws to adjust it up/down and left/right.

(Source: Beretta USA.)

Notes

General

The rear sight on the conversion may need some adjustment. They seem to be pretty close out of the box. If you have a CT laser, you may have to adjust the laser if you want to practice with it and the 22LR conversion. I usually just shut the laser off.

If you have a tight holster, the friction of inserting the gun into it may try to open the slide. If this happens, hold your thumb on the back of the slide to hold it in place while holstering. There's really not much you can do about this except get another holster. (Yes, the conversion will work in all molded holsters.)

Cleaning

I recommend cleaning and lubrication before initial use. The parts can pick up some crud as they sit around and some kits may have been sitting open in your local gun shop’s display case.

Cleaning the magazines is a bit of a pain but fortunately it looks like they shouldn't need much of that. They can only be taken apart by removing a roll pin so you’ll be temped to use some other method of cleaning. I don’t know the best way off hand. Anything you use in them could get between the metal liner and the polymer shell, which could make for a mess. Make sure anything you use is plastic safe.

Keep in mind that because this is a straight blowback system, it will tend to throw dirt thru the entire pistol. More so than normal locked barrel designs. (Users of other blowback semi automatic rifles/pistols should already be familiar with this.) After using the conversion heavily you should consider doing a careful cleaning of the bottom half of the pistol. Especially before putting the normal top back on it.

Ammo

This product uses .22 Long Rifle ammunition only. Do not attempt to use magnum, long or short rounds.

The conversion seems to function pretty well on the cheapest loose pack stuff people can throw at it. Like many Semi Auto guns you should probably avoid Sub Sonic loads as these often will not cycle properly if at all due to the low chamber pressure generated by Sub Sonic products.

If you want something a little better, the "brick" packed stuff can be had in the same price range and probably takes less abuse during shipping etc. Even the most expensive 22LR is way cheaper than 9mm or .40S&W so feel free to experiment.

Malfunctions

I don't have many malfunctions on the conversion. I'm shooting the cheapest ammo I can find so I have little doubt this is more likely ammo quality than problems with the conversion.

Fail To Fire

If you FTF, just do the normal wait to eject with the pistol pointed in a safe direction for a minute or two. Just in case it goes late. I've never seen that happen but no sense taking chances. Then... Cock the hammer and hit it again. If it still won't fire, you've got a dead round.

Something to remember is that while the conversion is listed as fitting on a D model, it is designed to run on F/FS/G models. If you have installed a "D" hammer spring in those models, light hits on the 22 rim may increase since the D spring reduces hammer force in both SA and DA as well as trigger load during the DA cycle.

On .22LR I generally lean toward ammo as the cause when there is an FTF. My tube feed semi auto and bolt action rifles have the same fail to fire rate on cheap loose box ammo. But hey, you buy this stuff because it's cheap and a few FTF are annoying but don't really cost anything.

FTF could be a light hit on the primer but with rim fire rounds, primer problems can be fairly common. Either the round didn't get primed or the primer has a gap and you found it. Remember that when you are turning out stuff for about 2-3 cents per round there is only so much quality control you can do. The ammo makers aren't intentionally turning out crap, but some duds will probably get by.

Ejection direction

This isn't a malfunction per se. Since it may seem like one, I thought I'd mention it here.

The 22LR seems to eject almost randomly compared to 9mm and .40S&W. The Beretta conversion builds the ejector as the top of the magazine. The reality is that 22LR is so small that just being dragged back over the next round seems to make it pop out before hitting the ejector. It can pop out anywhere between about 11:00 and 3:00 positions. Most will eject to the right but not all.

This does take a tiny bit of adjustment but since 22LR has so little mass, it's not a big deal. It does however reinforce why you should be wearing safety glasses when shooting as every once in a while a round may come back over the pistol.

Ejection problems

Warning: If a round fails to eject, make sure that it was not a "squib" and that the barrel is clear before firing the next round! Squibs are rare but you have to watch for them any time this happens. If you fire into a blocked barrel, ugly things are likely to happen. Especially with a blowback cycled firearm.

Every so often I get a round that simply doesn't eject. Usually they are not jams or stove pipes. Some don't even kick out of the chamber or drop back into the chamber because they didn't eject far enough. (No easy way to tell so it could be either one...)

I think this is mainly down to some inconsistent loading and maybe some damage to the cheap loose box stuff. I don't worry about it much. Again, I can get the same sort of oddness when shooting the cheap stuff in my rifles.

The worst thing that happens with these is you pull the trigger on a dead case. Although you'll usually also find the gun is in DA from not kicking the hammer back enough, sometimes it will get just enough bump to be in SA but not eject the case.

Problems loading magazines or slide does not lock after last round fired

Warning: If the slide does not lock open after the last round, inspect the slide and inspect/clean/lube the locking lever before making any adjustment to the magazine(s)!!!! Slide lock failure is a common result of dirty/defective hardware in all full frame Beretta pistols regardless of caliber.

Assuming the loading aid provided in the kit is not damaged or defective... Unlikely but possible.

The roll pin in the long slot may be seated too far into the follower. This usually only affects loading but may keep the slide from locking open as well. The loading aid is actually a bit more sensitive to pin position than the slide lock.

The bottom edge of the tip of the pin should be even with the second rib on the magazine, the one just to the rear of it in the image above.

To fix this problem, remove the lower roll pin from the magazine and pull out the liner, follower, and spring. Slide the follower to the bottom of the liner. Use a small punch to tap the pin back thru the follower a tiny amount. Slide the parts back into the magazine shell and use a small punch to make sure the pin holes in the case and liner are aligned. Check the height of the pin relative the second rib. The bottom edge of the pin should be even with that rib. If it is too high/low adjust until it is even.

Range Tip

You’ll probably want to take the conversion and your normal top half to the range. To make that a bit easier, locate some Velcro cable ties. The kind that is covered both sides with fuzz and hooks work best. Use one of these to hold together whichever slide you aren’t using at the moment. Wrap the strap around the assembled top to hold the beach end of the recoil spring etc in place. That will hold the whole thing in ready to mount condition. You can switch tops in seconds that way.

Packed this way you can get both tops and the 22LR accessories into many pistol cases. That makes transportation pretty easy.

You probably should disassemble the conversion kit between uses so the recoil spring is unloaded.

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