Beretta U22 Neos: Intriguing modern take on the .22 LR semiautomatic pistol
The Beretta U22 Neos is a semiautomatic pistol designed and manufactured in the United States by Beretta USA in Accokeek, Maryland.
Beretta U22 Neos (4.5" barrel, black)
There are several available models of this handgun. The standard Beretta U22 Neos (pictured to the right) has a 4.5″ (114mm) barrel. Additional models include a 6.0″ (153mm) barrel as well as a 7.5″ (191mm) barrel. Currently, the 7.5″ barrel model is no longer marketed by Beretta USA; this barrel is available as an add-on accessory to the 4.5″ or 6.0″ models. The barrels are easily interchangeable by the user with a single screw. In addition, there is a deluxe model, the U22 Neos DLX, which adds an adjustable trigger for pre- and over-travel.
There are several available color options. The standard U22 Neos has a black frame with a black (blued) slide. The U22 Neos INOX has a black frame with a silver (stainless steel) slide. Several grip color choices available from Beretta include black, grey, blue, red, black with grey inserts, black with blue inserts. The aftermarket for this handgun comes through with even more grip color options, including black with red inserts and black with pink inserts.
The design of the U22 Neos is very distinctive, with a ‘futuristic’ look that is very polarizing — most people either love it or hate it. Despite this, many people who cannot stand its looks have nothing but good things to say about how it shoots, especially at its very low price point.
A rail on top of the barrel telescopes back over the bolt and incorporates adjustable sights and a scope mount. Standard packaging includes two 10-round magazines.
The design of the Neos is novel in several ways. The frame of the Neos is a simple rail and the grip is a separate, non-serialized piece. The striker is visible at the rear of the bolt when it is cocked. The magazine release is in an unusual location on the right side of the frame above the trigger guard actuated by the trigger finger of a right-handed shooter or the weak hand of a left-handed shooter. The styling of the Neos was intended to be radical and modern.
Would like to know if this Pistol will qualify for the conceal weapons Class? Also would like to know the advantages of the 6″ barrel over the 4.5″ barrel. I think you will beable to score better with the 6″, but the 4.5″ is lighter and easier to conceal. Which would you choose?
just picked one up at the pawn shop for 150. can’t wait to shoot it! i’m going to try the sub sonics in it , i hope it will cycle as well as be quiet . the triger isn’t to heavy but the pull (creep) is very long . i’m hopeing to be able to get it much crisper.it’s the model with the ajustable trigger but i haven’t found any instructions on how to do it ( i have done a few remingtons and savage triggers ) i will let you know. my boy and i are going to have a ton of fun with it!
Don, different states have different requirements for concealed carry permits. You will need to contact your instructor on what is needed for the class.
You are right about the advantages of the 6″ barrel. A longer barrel has a longer sight radius, making it easier to aim. Also, the 6″ barrel is a bit heavier than the 4.5″ barrel, and the extra weight helps with the overall balance of the gun, making it easier to shoot more accurately. Some people disagree and think that the 6″ barrel makes the gun a bit muzzle-heavy, but personally I like the way the 6″ barrel model handles. My suggestion would be to handle both at a gun store and see which one feels more natural to you. If you can shoot both back to back that would be even better. I would venture to guess that finding a local range that has both the 4.5″ barrel U22 Neos and the 6″ barrel U22 Neos available to rent will be difficult. You will probably have better luck searching on gun forums and finding people local to you that own this gun. If one guy has a 4.5″ barrel and another guy has a 6″ barrel, ask them to meet with you. Gun owners love to help get new shooters into the sport. Of course, you should pay for all of the ammunition you fire. If you can set a meet like this up, you can get to compare the 4.5″ barrel with the 6″ barrel back to back. And the guy with the 4.5″ barrel can try out the 6″ barrel from the other guy (and vice-versa). It’d be great fun for all three of you.
However, with all of that said, this handgun (and all .22 LR handguns) are generally not good choices for self-defense purposes. The .22 LR cartridge simply does not have enough stopping power to quickly incapacitate a threat. There are many smaller and lighter handguns chambered in a caliber suitable for self-defense that are more easily concealed than even the 4.5″ barrel Beretta U22 Neos. 9mm is the smallest caliber generally recommended for self-defense and concealed carry. Recommending a self-defense handgun for concealed carry is not the purpose of Best .22 LR Caliber Handguns.
Pete, congratulations on your purchase! This is definitely a fun gun to shoot, and you picked it up at a good price.
As per the adjustable trigger, I found information about how to go about doing this on Beretta USA’s web site. Take a look at page 27-28 of https://www.berettausa.com/PDF/Neos.pdf .
What material is the frame made of?
Hi Viejo,
The frame of the Beretta U22 Neos is fiberglass-reinforced polymer. The parts that need to be steel, like the slide and barrel, are made of steel.
Yes, the frame is ‘plastic’, but modern plastics are extremely strong and durable. You should not worry about the durability of any firearm from a respected manufacturer, like Beretta, that happens to be a polymer-based design. The resilience of polymer handguns have been repeatedly proven over the past 2 decades.
If you are looking for a nice conceal hand gun look at the Kel-
tec P32 fits in your pocket You can pick one up new for 245.00
@justin….I believe a .22 would definitely be a good self defense round especially is you use a good round like CCI stinger/ mini mag HP. If you give a quick double tap with a 22 it’ll definitely take the fight out of someone. Low and behold if you use TRACER AMMO…. OUCH ! Ppl….do not under estimate ANY BULLET.
@justin…actual stopping power (as in foot-lbs of force vs. body mass) is not possible short of .50 BMG, maybe .50 AE…the physics just don’t work. That said, larger caliber will make a bigger hole and is a lot more intimidating, however Mossad and many other intelligence and military organizations have used .22LR for years; it is fairly accurate, and easy/cheap to shoot. I will put my Browning Buckmark up against any Glock, HK, etc in speed and accuracy. Up to 75 feet, I am guaranteed a group of 2-3″ in almost any conditions. This is due to the ease and affordability of practice. If I can put rounds 75′ downrange, in a group the size of an eye socket, I am quite confident I can drop an attacker. That said, if you are not confident in your ability to take down 250lbs of pissed off attacker, by all means use what you are comfortable with. The number one key to self defense is confidence in your weapons and abilities. As well as I can shoot with my Buckmark, I would never use it at home. Not when I have a 12ga at hand. For some anecdotal back up, I have watched my grandfather take out a 193lb black bear with a .22mag, and my wife took out an attacker’s knee with a .22LR (he had a knife and was 15′ away, a kill shot was not needed, but she was prepared to continue if he produced a gun).
In short, use what you are most comfortable with, but TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN!
As for me, I can’t wait to try out the Neos!
Tyler,
Thank you for being the first person I have seen on any handgun forum to dispel the myth of stopping power. I use a Walther P22 as a concealed carry weapon and practice failure drills from 7 to 15 yards and am confident I could put down an attacker if need be.
@Eli…hollow point .22 LR ammunition just doesn’t expand much from short barreled handguns. A .22 LR rifle is a different story, as the long barrel greatly increases the velocity of the bullet, fast enough to reliably expand. Also, tracer ammunition is not legal for civilians in many areas.
@Tyler…Just because intelligence and military organizations have used .22 LR pistols does not automatically make them the best choice for self-defense. These organizations only use .22 LR pistols when stealth is required — a suppressed .22 LR pistol can be nearly silenced when used with subsonic ammunition. If that is not a mission requirement, I highly doubt that a .22 LR pistol would be chosen for the mission.
@J.T. (and all 3)…Of course any bullet should not be underestimated. A .22 LR pistol is certainly capable of death, and is certainly capable of quick incapacitation with a direct CNS hit. Any gun is better than no gun, and if you are most comfortable with a .22 LR as your primary weapon, then certainly it is a good choice for you.
With that said, however, if you are comfortable and accurate with a larger caliber, it would be wise to use that over a .22 LR as your primary weapon. Under the extreme stress of an actual threat to your life, you will not be able to shoot anywhere nearly as well as you do when training. In that situation, I would much rather have a weapon that is much more likely to quickly incapacitate a threat with a double tap to the torso. Even if I were a superb markman who could quickly and consistently place shots into a 2″ target at 25+ yards with a .22 LR pistol, I would still much rather have a larger caliber weapon available to me.
The bottom line is that yes, all handgun calibers are underpowered. But there still exists a very large difference in effectiveness between a .22 LR and even a .380 ACP. Sure, neither have the effectiveness of a defensive rifle or shotgun caliber, but wouldn’t you want every bit of effectiveness you can handle? Go up to a 9mm, .40 S&W, or .45 ACP and the difference in effectiveness is even more pronounced.
There are many handguns that are more concealable than the Walther P22/Sig Mosquito/etc. that have superior firepower. And while I appreciate your viewpoints, I still stand by my recommendation that unless you are not comfortable with a larger caliber handgun, then a .22 LR pistol is probably not your best choice for self-defense purposes.
@Justin Agreed but it’s still better than a pointed stick (or a bit of fresh fruit.)
🙂
A little late to the party but you all have given me great insight. I am looking for a good personal protection weapon but haven’t fired a handgun in years.
With all of your insight I think I may purchase the Neos and use it for an abundant amount of inexpensive practice. I will, in the mean time, use a friends 9mm to get my CWL (Texas requires qualifying on .32 or greater), and carry the Neos until I am ready for a 9mm or 40 of my own.
Thanks to all of you.
I just purchased the Beretta Neos about 2 week ago now and I love it. I have only been able to get out twice since I bought it. I was amazed at how much I improved the second time I went out. Only one problem and that is that I want to be out everyday and when I do get out I don’t want to stop. This gun is so much fun to shoot. I would recommend this gun to anyone. It is relatively inexpensive and you can shoot off alot of rounds for very little. The first time out I put through 500 rounds and the next time 250 without a problem. As far as I am concerned this is a great gun for anyone.
I have the 4.5″ and it is fun to shoot. A inexpensive way to get into .22. I am now looking @ a Ruger MKIIIGC with a Ultra Dot 4.
One of the things you guys are forgetting is that unless you are a trained marksman you probably can’t fire off an entire clip both fast and accurately with one of the large calibers. You all agree that the stress of a self defense situation would cause you to be less accurate. Wouldn’t it be best if you could quickly and accurately place as many holes in the baddie as possible? Less recoil means lining up your shots faster and if you are a smaller body type.
@Bob:
First if you are especting to fire off an entire clip in a self defense situation expecct to spend some time in prison. Pretty much all states have en “Excessive Force” standard. Second, anyone that is using a firarm of any kind for self defense should be proficient with it or they may pose a greater threat to others than the person they are defending themselves from.
That being said I’m a huge advocate of shot placement over caliber. if you put me opposite someone who can’t his a wall and you give them a .454 and me any of my pistols I can tell you someone’s gonna have a bad evening and it ain’t me 🙂
I just bought one of these on Sunday and shot it on Monday night. Can’t get the groups any closer than grapefruit size at 25yds. Hopefully will be better on second try.
@Shark it takes a bit of time to get used to how it handles. Once you do (unless there is something wrong with the gun) this is a tack driver. Which version did you get?
I bought the 6″ barrell. Still trying to figure out which ammo works best. So far best ammo seems to be Federal 40 grain round nose. The Federal 36 grain hollow points give much larger groups.
@Shark I don’t encounter that. All the cheap ammo is equally accurate as long as I do my part. I have a cheap red dot on the rail and everything (including some ancient junk I found in the closet) that I’ve fired had grouped well.
Maybe it’s me then. LOL
I even used some Thunderbolts but had several of the 100 misfire. Won’t buy those again.
@shark Could be lol. Od that you had any misfires. The striker on mine hits so hard that a misfire is about impossible. Course I don’t use Thunderbolts as they are over priced crap. Goldens, American Eagle hollow and round and junk Remington have all fired with only one failure to fire that just happened the week before last. That was an American Eagle HP 36 Gr. One failure out of over 700 rounds is pretty good for any .22. Especially one that is a sub $300 gun.
Love the look of this gun very uniqe the more I read about it makes me one step closer to buying it anyone tell me the advantges of having the 7.5 barrel?
@Martin.
The advantage to greater barrel length is accuracy and increased sight radius (the distance between the rear and front sights. That being said it’s hard to find anything but the base 4.5 inch barrel anywhere. Even replacement barrels are pretty much impossible to get. Some sources claim that they have been discontinued, a claim I tend to agree with as they can’t be ordered from Beretta. The exception to this is that you can now get the carbine conversion kit (I’ve handled a Neos with this kit at a gun show and it is sweet.)
really how did it handle
It’s nice and light with good balance. The unusual grip angle of the Neos actually feels realy good in the carbine configuration. I might pick the kit up if there’s one at the fall gun show here.
O were r u from
I’m in Oregon.
I seen a 7.5 u22 at a pawn shop for cheap I was supeised looks in good shape it is going 4 185 used
That’s a pretty good price. I’d go for it 🙂
I recently bought NEOS and love it, except that for some reason it doesn’t feed the next round; you have to tap it to seat the round; tried a couple different brands of ammo and had the same problem (CCI, Blazer were all I had access to at that moment.)
Is there anyone out there that has experienced anything like this? I’m a pretty seasoned shooter, but also had a super expert there to shoot it, as well as a buddie’s 13 year old beginner son. All had the same problem.
I’d appreciate any feedback; also, I’m in California; any FREE AMERICANS wanna send a lifeline? haha.
Steve
If it’s brand new it may just need a brick or so through it to break in (had this exact issue with a P-22 that now performs flawlessly.)While I haven’t seen this with my NEOS the fit from the factory could be tight enough to cause this. It’s possible that it’s the ammo though I haven’t fired any of your listed brands so can’t say. You could also check the magazine for a rough finish that could do this also.
I have read so many forums on the neos. I am here to say that unless you are shooting well over 100 yards barrel length will not matter. I rented one with a 4.5 inch barrel and a buddy had the 6 inch barrel and we went to the range and plinking and I left better groups with the 4.5 than I did the 6. He did as well. Both times we were at 50 yds. Now I own one and use it mostly for a snake killer when I go creek fishing. The 4.5 makes a great holster weapon and I actually like it as a concealed carry. Very light and thin which is good in the states with imprint laws. I dont have to worry in Arkansas though. Very good gun and recommended for anyone who likes to use a lot of rounds! Federals will do the trick.
I will receive my new neos tomorrow. Cant wait. Anyone looking for an accurate and truthful review after Aug. 5, just leave a comment and I will reply ASAP. I have experience with the 4.5 inch and 6 inch barrels. First day, I plan on emptying a box of 550 federals through it.
I have a 6inch U22. Can I fire magnum cartridges through it? If so which do you recommend? If it is not possibel or recommended to fire magnums, is there a conversion kit (my feired told me that I could swap out the barrel) – is that so? Thanks !
While I can’t find anything expressly saying not too I’d say that it’s not recommended as the cartrige for the WMR is slightly larger in diameter (as is the bullet) and likely to not work well in the Neos. There is currently no conversion kit available for this to be done.
Thank You Dharma
@Colin, @Dharma
.22 Magnum (.22 WMR) cartridges are both longer and wider than .22 LR cartridges. It won’t even chamber.
Use only .22 LR ammunition in your Beretta U22 Neos as outlined in the manual.
Thank You Justin.
Can you recommend anything in particular (velocity/grains/manufacturer/etc)?
@Colin
Unfortunately it is going to require some trial and error to find which ammunition works best in your 6″ U22 Neos. Fortunately, due to the fact that .22 LR ammunition is so cheap, it’s not going to cost that much to do so.
Sometimes you will have a pistol that will function reliably with just about anything you throw at it, but sometimes you will have one that is rather picky and will only play nice with a certain brand and type of ammunition. But there are some general guidelines to point you in the right direction for a semi-automatic .22 LR pistol like the Beretta U22 Neos.
Start with high-velocity .22 LR ammo, and only switch to something else (hyper/ultra-velocity or standard velocity) if you don’t find something that works after trying a few different brands of high-velocity ammo.
Stick with 40 gr. round nose ammunition or 36 gr. hollowpoints at first.
Start cheap and work your way up if the cheap stuff doesn’t function reliably. But don’t go *too* cheap. While your gun may work fine with super-cheap ammo like the Remington Thunderbolt or Winchester Wildcat, from my experience you will often get a large percentage of “duds”. My Ruger Mark II feeds and ejects Remington Thunderbolt with no issues, but I usually have 5 or more duds every 100 rounds — it will feed reliably, they just won’t fire even after 2 or more tries.
I would start off with something like Winchester Super-X or the Federal “value pack” you find at Wal*Mart. If neither of these work well in your gun, you may need to move up to CCI Mini-Mag or similar.
@justin good recommendations of the rounds for the Neos. My experience is that the Neos will fire any high velocity .22. With nearly 1500 rounds through mine I’ve had one dud (ten year old bulk ammo I found in a closet) and one stove pipe. Basically the striker on that gun is so beefy that the round has to be degraded to the point where putting it in a bonfire is about the only way it’s going off 🙂
@Colin, What justin said. I’ve use American Eagle HP and round in the 40 gr and 36 gr and they work flawlessly in my Neos. Even the bulk lead from Remington has worked with no failures. Put a cheap red to on the rail and you’ve got a great target gun that can be rapid fire heaven (last range session I tore a three inch hole with about 150 rounds in rapid fire.)
red to is meant to be red dot 🙁
Justin/Dharma you guys are great. I very much appreciate you sharing your experience and guidance. Thanks !
does anyone know if there is a rail system that can be put under the neos so that i can mount a laser sight under there?
@Ryan I can’t find anything currently. Rather than a laser you can try an inexpensive red dot. Once I got mine dialed in it became a tack driver.
Any suggestions on a red dot? Have never owned or even used one. Are they as precise as a scope? Are they subject to be ‘off zero’ for no apparent reason like cheaper scopes? There’s nothing worse than picking up a scoped gun that shot great, was sat in the corner of the closet, and for some reason a year later it’s 4″ high and 2″ right. Thanks.
@Steve C
Think of a red dot as a laser designator that doesn’t go down range. It is an optic tube (for the low cost ones) that uses an internal reflective coating so that you can see where the laser is. There is no magnification and, here is the kicker, as long as the dot is zeroed in you can have both eyes open to hit your target. I have a low cost Tasco on my Neos (about 40 bucks) and have taken it of and re-attached it multiple times with no loss of accuracy. Keeping that in mind they will never be as precise as a scope as there is no magnification. What they do is get you on target quickly and easily. The accuracy comes from how fine the adjustment is and how clean the dot is. For plinking the Tasco I have is great once zeroed. I would never put it on a competition gun or a combat rifle. For that you are looking at a $250.00 plus sight minimum for a pistol. For a combat rifle that is more in the $1200.00 range. I don’t know if that answered your question but it’s a start. Let me knkow if you need any clarification.
After 4000 rounds thru my old 92FS, I switched to .357 Magnum, S&W Mod686. I saw the 9mm bounce off the brake rotor disk. 5.56mm NATO went thru both discs (ventilated). .357 Magnum went thru one. Now my primary self-defense handgun is my Mod686 w/ 2.5″ barrel chammered with Corbon 125gr JHP. It will stop up to a grzzley bear.
i am going to give my kal tec p32 for a u22 is that a good trad or not you tell me?