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