The Inox model Beretta Bobcats don't seem to feed as reliably as the blued models. That's been my experience, as well as that of a number of shooters who've posted in various forums. Some think it's because the Inox slide and barrel have a much rougher finish than do the blued guns. I've found that CCI Stinger rounds have a 100% reliability, but Mini-Mags generally fail to fully chamber the first round in the magazine. Lower powered rounds have even more FTFs. I decided to try and address one potential problem area by polishing the feed ramp on mine, using my Dremel Tool with a rubber abrasive tool, followed by a felt polishing tool coated with rouge.
As you can see from the photo, I managed to get a real mirror finish, and if I rub the nose of a .22 round along it it feels much slicker than the unpolished surfaces. I did the surfaces where the slide rides in the receiver, too. And yet, feeding wasn't really improved all that much. Some say the spring in the Bobcat is the culprit- it's just too strong.
I alos noticed while doing this that there's a lot of what looks like pitting above the chamber. I don't know if that is erosion from firing, or a bad finish or casting in the barrel. When I bought my Bobcat at Gander Mountain I also bought an extended warranty that has another none months to run. I may just send the gun back to Beretta and see what they think.
Update: I sent the gun to Beretta (via Gander Mountain) and it came back 20 days later with a brand new barrel and slide. I haven't been to the range to test it yet, but when I do, I'll post the results here.
Update II: The gun fed everything I tried in it- standard velocity, high velocity and hypervelocity- with no FTFs or FTEs.
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