Telling Them Apart — Models, Markings, Finishes and the Recall Check

Which Neos is in the photograph: a measurement that reads the barrel length off any square side view, the markings and where they live, blued against Inox at matched scale, the five things that make a DLX, and how to tell a recalled pistol from a corrected one when Beretta's own check is barely legible

Figure 1 — Blued against Inox, both photographed by Beretta from the left and scaled here to the same overall height so that both differences are true at once. Beretta never published a matched pair: the blue… — Figure 1 — Blued against Inox, both photographed by Beretta from the left and scaled here to the same overall height so that both differences are true at once. Beretta never published a matched pair: the blued pistol in its catalogue photographs is the 4.5-inch and the Inox is the 6.0-inch. On the Inox the barrel and slide are stainless while the top rail stays black, which is the whole visual signature. Beretta studio photographs, recovered from beretta.com through the Internet Archive; composite built for this dive. Editorial reference use.

5.1 What Actually Needs Telling Apart

Four questions come up about a U22 Neos, in roughly this order of consequence:

Has it had the 2010 recall work? This is a safety question, not a collecting one.
Which barrel is on it? 4.5, 6.0 or 7.5 inches — and the barrel is removable, so the gun in a photograph is not necessarily the gun as it left the factory.
Is it a DLX? The deluxe version ran only from 2003 to 2007 and is the scarcer gun.
Blued or Inox, and is that grip original?

Everything in this volume is directed at answering those from a photograph, from across a counter, or from the pistol in hand.

5.2 The Measurement That Reads the Barrel Length Off a Photograph

Figure 2 — The three barrel lengths at one scale, drawn to Beretta's own published dimensions. The overall height is 132 mm on every one of them, so the ratio of length to height is fixed by the barrel: 1.70,… — Figure 2 — The three barrel lengths at one scale, drawn to Beretta's own published dimensions. The overall height is 132 mm on every one of them, so the ratio of length to height is fixed by the barrel: 1.70, 1.98 and 2.27. The 7.5-inch pistol appears in no freely licensed photograph located for this dive and is therefore drawn rather than photographed.

Every U22 Neos is 132 mm / 5.2 inches tall, whichever barrel is fitted; Beretta’s specification table gives one height figure for all three lengths.¹ The overall length is not fixed: 224, 262 or 300 mm. So the ratio of overall length to overall height is a direct reading of the barrel, and it survives any photograph taken square-on, at any distance, with no scale in the frame.

Table 1 — The Measurement That Reads the Barrel Length Off a Photograph

Barrel	Overall length	Overall height	Ratio
4.5 in	224 mm	132 mm	1.70
6.0 in	262 mm	132 mm	1.98
7.5 in	300 mm	132 mm	2.27

Measure from the rearmost point of the grip to the muzzle, and from the top of the rear sight to the bottom of the magazine floorplate. The three answers are a quarter apart, which is far more separation than a photograph’s error.

🔴 Applied to Beretta’s own catalogue photographs, the method returns a fact Beretta never stated. The company published studio side views of a blued pistol and of an Inox and labelled neither with a barrel length. Measured, the blued gun returns 1.71 and the Inox 2.01 — so Beretta’s blued studio pistol is the 4.5-inch and its Inox is the 6.0-inch. Those two are the images reproduced throughout this dive, and every caption that names a barrel length in this series names it on that basis.

Two cautions go with the method.

It reads the barrel that is fitted, not the barrel the gun was sold with. The Neos’s whole selling point is that its barrel comes off in twenty seconds. A 7.5-inch gun in a photograph may be a 4.5-inch gun wearing a spare, and there is no way to tell from the outside. See the markings section below, which makes this worse rather than better.

It needs a square side view. A three-quarter photograph foreshortens the length and not the height, and the ratio collapses toward the short gun. All the three-quarter views in this dive were excluded from the measurement for that reason.

5.3 Blued Against Inox

The difference is exactly what Beretta says it is and no more: “the Inox models differ only in that the barrel and slide are made from stainless steel.”² The specification line is the same for both — “Alloy steel, matte finish, stainless or blued” — for barrel and slide alike.¹

What the plate at the head of this volume shows, and what a photograph makes obvious once it is pointed out, is that the rail does not change colour. On an Inox the long top rib stays black over a bright barrel, so the pistol reads as a silver gun with a dark stripe down its spine rather than as a stainless gun. The grip module is black polymer on both.

The rest of the gun — receiver, grip, trigger, safety, magazine — is visually identical. The magazine is stainless on both; Beretta calls it “single stack, 10-round stainless-steel” without qualification.³

5.4 The Markings, and Which Part Carries Them

From Beretta’s own photographs, at full resolution:

On the left flank of the barrel unit, in two roll-marked lines:

MOD. U22 NEOS – CAL. 22LR – MADE IN USA BERETTA U.S.A. CORP. ACCOKEEK, MD

On the left side of the receiver, in a small rectangular panel immediately above the barrel nut and forward of the trigger: the serial number.

On the right side of the receiver, in two lines:

WARNING: READ MANUAL BEFORE USE, RETRACT SLIDE TO SEE IF LOADED. FIRES WITHOUT MAGAZINE

Figure 3 — Beretta's own photograph of the markings, made for the 2010 recall site to show owners where to find the serial number. The model, calibre and maker lines are on the barrel; the arrow points to the… — Figure 3 — Beretta's own photograph of the markings, made for the 2010 recall site to show owners where to find the serial number. The model, calibre and maker lines are on the barrel; the arrow points to the serial, which is on the receiver below it. Beretta Customer Support illustration. Editorial reference use.

🔴 The consequence is worth stating plainly: on a U22 Neos the model and “MADE IN USA” markings are on a part the owner is invited to unscrew, and the serial number is on a different part. The receiver is the firearm and the receiver is what the serial identifies. The barrel carries the model name. Fit an accessory barrel and the pistol wears that barrel’s markings, which is harmless in itself but means a marking is not evidence of the gun’s configuration, and a photograph of the barrel’s roll-mark identifies a barrel rather than a pistol.

⚠ Whether the carbine kit’s 16-inch barrel carries the same “MOD. U22 NEOS” marking could not be determined; Beretta’s product photographs of the kit are not at a resolution that shows it, and no close-up was located.

5.5 The DLX: Five Differences, and Only Two You Can See Across a Counter

Beretta’s manual lists exactly five DLX features, and the list is shorter than most accounts of it.¹

Table 2 — The DLX: Five Differences, and Only Two You Can See Across a Counter

Difference	Visible without handling?
Slide engraved with the U22 Neos logo	Yes. “As a final touch, the DLX slide is engraved with the elegant and contrasting U22 Neos logo.” This is the single best tell
Textured soft rubber grip inlays, coloured to complement the finish	Yes, but see the caution below
Trigger adjustable for pre- and overtravel	No — the overtravel screw is small and behind the trigger
Three replaceable colours of front and rear sight, black, white and red	Only if a non-black blade is fitted
A set screw added at the front sight to ease blade removal	No

Two further constraints narrow the field before any of that:

A DLX has a 6-inch or a 7.5-inch barrel. There was no 4.5-inch DLX.¹⁴ A 4.5-inch gun with coloured grip inlays is therefore not a DLX.
The DLX ran 2003 to 2007.²

⚠ And the caution that matters, because it is the trap: after the DLX was discontinued in 2007, Beretta “occasionally produced standard Neos pistols with colored grip inlays as dealer exclusive models.”² Jeff Quinn reviewed a pink one in 2008 and a Davidson’s exclusive with purple grip inserts and a purple rail in 2014.⁵⁶ Coloured inlays alone do not make a DLX. The slide engraving does, and so does the barrel length, and the two should agree.

5.6 Coloured Grips and Dealer Exclusives

Beretta sold replacement grips in red, grey, blue and black at $29.00, and DLX grips with rubber inlays at $36.00.⁷ The grip is one bolt and a multi-purpose tool, so grip colour on a used pistol says nothing about how it left the factory. The 2014 Davidson’s exclusive went further and included a coloured rail, which is not a grip and is not a swap most owners would make.⁶

For a buyer, the practical order is: read the slide engraving, then the barrel length, then the grip — not the other way round.

5.7 The Recall Check, and Why It Is Harder Than It Should Be

This is the identification that matters most, and it is the one Beretta made hardest.

The recall covered “Beretta .22 caliber NEOS semiautomatic pistols” generally, with the note that “some pistols are not subject to recall”; the remedy was a replacement firing pin assembly, and Beretta offered three ways to tell an affected pistol from a corrected one.⁸⁹

5.7.1 In the firearm — look at the back of the receiver

Beretta’s recall notice describes what a corrected pistol shows:

“The new firing pin assembly can be identified either by a circle on the back of the firing pin that includes a red dot in the center, or by a vertical line (either version is suitable for your continued use).”⁸

Figure 4 — Beretta's own in-the-firearm check, reproduced at the size Beretta published it. The rear face of the receiver, with the firing pin's end in the centre. Left, the old style, which must be sent for … — Figure 4 — Beretta's own in-the-firearm check, reproduced at the size Beretta published it. The rear face of the receiver, with the firing pin's end in the centre. Left, the old style, which must be sent for service; centre and right, the two corrected versions. Beretta Customer Support illustrations. Editorial reference use.

⚠ Judge those three images for yourself, because this dive’s assessment is that they are barely adequate. All three show a small bright oval with a red dot; the circle that is supposed to distinguish version 1 and the vertical line that distinguishes version 2 are at the limit of the resolution Beretta published, and the lighting differs between the three frames. Beretta evidently thought so too, because the same page offered a video and a serial-number lookup as alternatives.⁹ The serial-number lookup no longer exists, and the support site now returns a browser-verification page rather than content.¹⁰

The practical reading of Beretta’s own words: a corrected pin shows a mark around the red dot — a ring or a line. A pin with nothing but the plain end and the dot is the old style. Under a bright light and a loupe that is a fair test; from a listing photograph it is not a test at all.

5.7.2 By disassembly — look at the shoulder

The reliable check is the one that takes the pin out, and Beretta published the procedure (Volume 4):

“As depicted to the left and above, the New Style firing pin has a much sharper cut in the shoulder in the front area of the firing pin. If your firearm contains this type of firing pin, you do not need to send it in for service.”⁹

Figure 5 — The two firing pins side by side, as Beretta photographed them. The difference is in the forward half: on the new part the shoulder where the round body steps down to the flat tang is a sharp, squa… — Figure 5 — The two firing pins side by side, as Beretta photographed them. The difference is in the forward half: on the new part the shoulder where the round body steps down to the flat tang is a sharp, square cut, and on the old part it is a long shallow ramp. Beretta Customer Support illustrations. Editorial reference use.

That difference is obvious with the two parts in hand and obvious enough with one part and these photographs. It is the check to use.

5.7.3 What not to do

“Do not experiment with your Neos pistol to see if it has the potential safety issue.”⁸

Beretta’s own instruction. The failure mode is a discharge with the safety applied or while applying it.

5.8 Model Codes

Beretta’s own catalogue codes, with the page they were read from and its date. No code not printed on a Beretta page is listed, and the meaning of the FC suffix is not stated on any page located and is not guessed at here.

Table 3 — Model Codes

Code	Model	Price	Page date
JU2S6	U22 Neos, 6 in	$275.00	18 July 2011
JU2S45B	U22 Neos 4.5	$325.00	1 March 2023
JU2S45BFC	U22 Neos 4.5	$325.00	1 March 2023
JU2S60B	U22 Neos 6.0	$325.00	1 March 2023
JU2S60BFC	U22 Neos 6.0	$325.00	1 March 2023
JU22CK1	U22 Neos Carbine Kit	$249.00	28 December 2010
JBU22S45X	Barrel, Inox, 4.5 in	$99.00	24 May 2016
JGU22P	Grip, red / grey / blue / black	$29.00	24 May 2016
JGU22R	DLX grips	$36.00	24 May 2016
JMU22	Magazine, 10 rounds	$24.00	24 May 2016
UD5A0729	Multi-purpose tool	$24.00	24 May 2016
UD6A0283	Front sight set of five	$35.00	24 May 2016
UD6A0277	Owner’s manual, pistol	$6.50	24 May 2016
UD6A0307	Owner’s manual, carbine kit	$6.50	8 May 2016

⚠ No serial-number-to-date table was published by Beretta and none was found. A Neos cannot be dated from its serial with any source available here.

5.9 Tell Them Apart: the Table

Table 4 — Tell Them Apart: the Table

Feature	Where to look	4.5 in	6.0 in	7.5 in	DLX	Inox
Length-to-height ratio	any square side view	1.70	1.98	2.27	1.98 or 2.27 only	unchanged
Overall length	with a rule	224 mm	262 mm	300 mm	—	unchanged
Sight radius	front to rear sight	189 mm	227 mm	265 mm	—	unchanged
Weight, unloaded	on a scale	900 g	1,025 g	1,114 g	—	unchanged
Slide engraving	the slide’s flank	plain	plain	plain	U22 Neos logo	plain
Barrel and slide colour	side view	—	—	—	—	stainless; rail stays black
Grip inlays	grip panels	—	—	—	coloured rubber, but see the caution	—
Front sight set screw	at the front sight	absent	absent	absent	present	—
Firing pin end	back of the receiver	ring or line = corrected; plain = old
Serial number	left side of the receiver, above the barrel nut	identifies the gun
Model marking	left flank of the barrel	identifies the barrel

5.10 What Is Not a Tell

The Weaver rail. Every U22 Neos has it, on every barrel. It is not a DLX feature, an Inox feature or a late feature.
The magazine. Ten rounds, single stack, stainless, on every model. It does not identify anything.
The grip colour. One bolt, $29, sold by Beretta in four colours.
The barrel length by itself, as evidence of what was in the box. Barrels were a catalogue accessory at $99.
The chamber plug and cable lock. Every pistol shipped with them; their presence or absence says something about the box, not the gun.¹
The ambidextrous safety. Standard from the beginning. American Rifleman records that the pistol “shipped from the factory with an ambidextrous safety” as a standard feature, not an option.⁴

References

Beretta U.S.A. Corp., U22 NEOS Instruction Manual, Accokeek, MD, cover code UD6A0277-04/04, interior pages dated 4/23/04; Internet Archive capture of 26 December 2022 of beretta.com/assets/12/29/Neos_Manual.pdf , accessed 2026-09-19. Specifications p. 19; DLX features p. 18; accessories p. 18. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
“Beretta U22 Neos”, Wikipedia, revision 1370411866 of 21 August 2026, retrieved as wikitext 2026-09-19, for the Inox description, the DLX production dates and the post-2007 dealer-exclusive coloured grips. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Beretta, “U22 Neos”, beretta.com/en-us/u22-neos/, Internet Archive capture of 1 March 2023. ↩
Guy J. Sagi, “Beretta’s U22 Neos: A Legacy Gun Not Forgotten”, American Rifleman, 22 February 2023, retrieved 2026-09-19. ↩ ↩²
Jeff Quinn, “Beretta’s New Pink U22 Neos .22 Long Rifle Auto Pistol”, GunBlast.com, 17 June 2008, retrieved 2026-09-19. ↩
Jeff Quinn, “New Exclusive Kahr CW380 & Beretta U22 Neos Semi-Automatic Pistols from Davidson’s”, GunBlast.com, 25 August 2014, cited from the Wikipedia article’s reference list. ↩ ↩²
Beretta U.S.A. online store accessory pages, Internet Archive captures of 8 and 24 May 2016, and of 28 December 2010 and 18 July 2011 for the earlier codes and prices. ↩
Beretta U.S.A. Corp., “Recall Notice – Beretta Neos Pistols”, PDF at berettasupport.com/neos/RecallNotice.pdf, Internet Archive capture of 22 September 2010. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Beretta Customer Support, “Visual Characteristics of the U22 Neos Firing Pins”, berettasupport.com/neos/neos_identification.htm, Internet Archive capture of 18 September 2010. ↩ ↩² ↩³
A direct request to berettasupport.com/neos/faqs.htm on 2026-09-19 returned a browser-verification page rather than content; the serial-number lookup at that site has no working capture after 2010 and returns nothing today. ↩