BERETTA OLIMPIA Thoughts? Mag solution?

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northerndad

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Hey Folks,

This year, my eldest son is going for a good quality used .22 rifle with his christmas money (he got $ from family instead of gifts this Covid year). We found the BERETTA OLIMPIA's on TradeEx and are super interested - but... the mag! Only 5 rounds! We've been trying to find a source with the 10 round mags but no luck so far. SO - thoughts on the rifle? Any intel on modifying mags to fit? Thanks!

Any thoughts on this rifle appreciated. If you have a better suggestion for a rifle (not much on EE right now), we are open to that, too. He prefers to shoot bolt action rifles (has shot thousands of rounds through his Norinco .22), but enjoys plinking with semi-autos too. So this Beretta seems pefect.

Thanks!
 
I have the comercial version (tradeex) and military version (with a short barrel),with 10 rounds. For the money is a steal, if this Beretta will be made today, will retail for 600-700$.
 
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I have had one for a few years now, it's a very well built rifle, like a tank. Fit & finish is good. Although I haven't tried a wide assortment of ammo, the accuracy has been acceptable, between 1/2 inch to an inch at 50 meters. It is quite a heavy rifle, I don't know that I would want to carry it in the field all day. The field strip process is ingenious and unique. It is somewhat difficult to scope, proper mounts/ rings can be difficult to source (See Rimfire Central), As mentioned, some Weatherby mags do work/ interchange, but they are also difficult to source and expensive. All in all, I really like the rifle, the action seems to cycle smoother than any other semi-auto I own and the triggers on the ones I have tried are better than most factory semi-autos today. I have considered buying one of the poorest ones from Tradex, cutting the barrel back to say 18 1/2", drilling and tapping and mounting a scout scope, just from something a little lighter and handier. If he doesn't mind a few challenges and likes something unique and of quality, I think your son would love it.
 
I've got the Walther Model 2, on which this strange action was based. My dad bought it in Cork, Ireland, in 1930, along with the simple scope. I learned to shoot with it, first as a single shot bolt-action, then with the magazine and then, as I grew old enough to do chores and run errands, with the semi-auto action. It's now ninety years old, and has had a gazillion rounds down it, but it's part of my life, and I love it to bits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTQT-JEKqQU
 
Old original magazine cost, most people don't want to pay
They haven't made Gevarm's, Beretta Olympia, Weatherby22,Hakim 22's etc in over 30 years
Triple K makes a Gevarm 8 round mag for $85.00 US
Triple K makes a Beretta Olympia 5 round magazine for $44.00 US
These are copies some work very well some don't
They don't make the gevarm 20 or the Beretta 10

Q
 
tacfoley said:
I've got the Walther Model 2, on which this strange action was based. My dad bought it in Cork, Ireland, in 1930, along with the simple scope. I learned to shoot with it, first as a single shot bolt-action, then with the magazine and then, as I grew old enough to do chores and run errands, with the semi-auto action. It's now ninety years old, and has had a gazillion rounds down it, but it's part of my life, and I love it to bits.
Click to expand...
Beautiful gun! Beautiful.
 
jes said:
I have had one for a few years now, it's a very well built rifle, like a tank. Fit & finish is good. Although I haven't tried a wide assortment of ammo, the accuracy has been acceptable, between 1/2 inch to an inch at 50 meters. It is quite a heavy rifle, I don't know that I would want to carry it in the field all day. The field strip process is ingenious and unique. It is somewhat difficult to scope, proper mounts/ rings can be difficult to source (See Rimfire Central), As mentioned, some Weatherby mags do work/ interchange, but they are also difficult to source and expensive. All in all, I really like the rifle, the action seems to cycle smoother than any other semi-auto I own and the triggers on the ones I have tried are better than most factory semi-autos today. I have considered buying one of the poorest ones from Tradex, cutting the barrel back to say 18 1/2", drilling and tapping and mounting a scout scope, just from something a little lighter and handier. If he doesn't mind a few challenges and likes something unique and of quality, I think your son would love it.
Click to expand...

Awesome summary, thank you, I am fairly sure he will go for it. If we could get more 5 round mags that would be OK too.
 
They also make one for the Walther, but the last time I looked they were out of stock and unsure when more would be made - the price was, I recall, not too bad. I then found one on the usual site for $120 + $40 shipping anywhere in the world.

I felt justified in giving that one a miss.

So I'm using the original magazine, and although I bought a replacement mainspring about twenty years ago, the FTE was due to a low-power box of MoD whitebox ammunition found in a house that I was given to shoot off by my FEO. I keep the new one as a just-in-case...
 
The real problem with some countries in Europe is , they don't ship to Canada.
One needs to have a contact there to buy them and ship them
I have found some magazine's, not cheap, but they are factory for various 22 rifles
 
can14 said:
Old original magazine cost, most people don't want to pay
-
Triple K makes a Gevarm 8 round mag for $85.00 US
Click to expand...

A number of years ago, I sold a few originals Weatherby-Beretta magazines. They went rather quickly for $100US/each.
- Unless they made some major change to their quality control, I wouldn't recommend Triple-K mag to anyone I care about.

If it uses the same magazines are the Weatherby-Beretta 22lr semi. You might want to scoot over the RimfireCentral. There's a thread (or two) about making Beretta 21a magazines to work.
 
Hi there everyone. I'm new at this site, so this is my first post. Just purchased a Beretta olimpia from Great North Guns. 485$ to my door. Can't wait to get it and shoot it. Looks like there is mags for about140$ a pair( 2 magazines)of ten rounds on ebay. They ship from Pennsylvania, not sure if they will ship here in Canada.
 
I have had one for a few years. I also bought it from Tradex. It's a nice, accurate target gun. Mine has the heavy barrel so it would be heavy to carry as a hunting gun. Quality hardwood stock and very accurate. I have never had an issue with function with any ammo that I have tried. From what I have read Beretta made them to try to compete with Anschutz target guns. I don't have much input into mags but scope mounts are hard to find because the cut grooves are very short and an odd distance apart. I seem to recall 14mm but I would have to look it up. I finally found one on Amazon of all places but I heard that you can order them from Italy.
All in all I think they are a lot of gun for the money.
 
You can modify a Mossberg Model 702 Plinkster magazine to fit the Beretta Olympia. The Plinkster mag is slightly larger than the Beretta mag. You will have to sand the top two inches of the mag with emery cloth to allow it to fit into the mag well of the Olympia. The steel on the mag is thin so procede slowly and remove metal evenly. Once it fits, you have to file a small groove on the back of the mag. The top of this groove is 3.3 cm down from the top of the mag. The groove is about 0.5 mm deep. You can use your existing mag to determine the location and size of the groove. The Plinkster mag is available at Canadian Tire and costs about $25. I have modified two of these mags and they have worked perfectly in all my Beretta Olympias and Super Sports.
 
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