History Beretta Firearms

 Beretta Firearms - History

Fabbrica d’Armi Pietro Beretta is an Italian firearms manufacturer. Their firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and military purposes. It is also known for manufacturing shooting clothes and accessories. Beretta is the oldest active firearms

Beretta has been owned by the same family for some five hundred years. The Beretta company was established in 1526, when gunsmith Maestro Bartolomeo Beretta of Gardone Val Trompia (Brescia, Lombardy, Italy) was paid 296 ducats for 185 arquebus barrels by theArsenal of Venice. The bills of sale for the order of those firearms are in the firm’s archives.

In 1918, the Beretta Model 1918 was the second submachine gun the Italian army fielded. Beretta  Beretta Firearms and Beretta pistols for the Italian military until the 1943 Armistice between Italy and the Allied forces during World War II. With the Wehrmacht’s control of northern Italy, the Germans seized Beretta and continued producing arms until the 1945 German surrender in Italy. In that time, the exterior finish of the weapons was much inferior to both the pre-war and mid-war weapons, but their operation remained excellent. The last shipment of Type I rifles left Venice for Japan in a U-boat in 1942.

After World War II, Beretta was actively involved in repairing the American M1 Garands given to Italy by the U.S. Beretta modified the M1 into the Beretta BM-59 rifle, which is similar to the M14 battle rifle; armourers consider the BM-59 rifle to be superior, in some ways, to the M14 rifle, because it is more accurate under certain conditions.

AFTER THE WAR,  BERETTA FIREARMS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP FIREARMS FOR ITALIAN ARMY AND POLICE AND FOR CIVILIAN MARKET.

In the eighties, Beretta enjoyed a renewal of popularity in North America after its Beretta 92 pistol was selected as service handgun for the United States Army under the designation “Beretta M9 pistol”.

Beretta acquired several domestic competitors (notably Benelli and Franchi) and some foreign companies (notably in Finland) in the late eighties.

Overview

Today, the company is owned and is run by Ugo Gussalli Beretta (a direct descendant of Bartolomeo) and his sons, Franco and Pietro. (The traditional father-to-son Beretta dynasty was interrupted when Ugo Gussalli Beretta assumed the firm’s control; uncles Carlo and Giuseppe Beretta were childless; Carlo adopted Ugo, son of sister Giuseppina Gussalli, and named him a Beretta.)

Beretta is known for its broad range of fire arms: side-by-side Beretta shotguns, over-and-under shotguns, hunting rifles, express rifles, assault rifles, Beretta submachine guns, lever and bolt-action rifles, single and double action Beretta revolvers and semi-automatic Beretta pistols. The parent company; Beretta Holding, also owns Beretta USA, Benelli, Franchi, SAKO, Stoeger, Tikka, Uberti, and the Burris Optics company. The modelBeretta 92FS is the primary side arm of the United States Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force, designated the Beretta M9 pistol. In 1985, Beretta was chosen after a controversial competition to produce the M9, winning a contract for 500,000 pistols. A condition of the original agreement was domestic fabrication of the M9. The Beretta USA factory, in Accokeek, Maryland, manufactures military, police, and civilian pistols.

Product lines

Beretta Semi-automatic pistols

Beretta M1915

Beretta Big Daddy Dennis

Beretta M 1934 / Beretta M 1935

Beretta M 1951

Beretta M-100

Beretta 70 series (Jaguar)

Beretta Cheetah

Beretta 8000 Cougar

Beretta 90

Beretta 9000

Beretta 92

Beretta 90two

Beretta M9 pistol

Beretta 93R

Beretta 96A1

Beretta Px4 Storm

Beretta U22 Neos

Beretta 418

Beretta 21 Bobcat

Beretta 3032 Tomcat

Beretta 950 Jetfire

Beretta Nano

Revolvers

Beretta Stampede

Beretta Laramie

Shotguns

Beretta 1201FP

Beretta DT-10

Beretta Silver Pigeon

Beretta AL391 Urika and Teknys

Beretta SO4, Beretta SO5 and Beretta SO6

Beretta Xtrema

Beretta Xtrema 2

Beretta Model Aseries

Beretta UGB25 Xcel

Beretta Urika

Beretta Urika 2

Beretta RS 202-M2

Beretta LTLX7000

Beretta Extrema2

Beretta Tx4

Beretta A400

Beretta A300

Rifles and carbines

Beretta BM-59

Beretta Cx4 Storm

Beretta Rx4 Storm

Beretta 501 (sporting rifle)

Assault rifles

Beretta AR70/90

Beretta AS70/90

Beretta ARX 160

Submachine guns

Beretta Model 1918

Beretta Model 38

Beretta Model 3 – a postwar modification of the 38/42

Beretta M12 series

 Beretta 92fs INOX

Beretta 96A