1. Beretta Serial Number Date Of Manufacture
2. Beretta Shotgun Serial Numbers Manufacture Dates

The Beretta Model 1934 is a compact, semi-automatic pistol which was issued as a standard service firearm to the Italian armed forces beginning in 1934. It is chambered for the 9 mm Corto, more commonly known as the .380 ACP.

Serial number, date code, year, if each is present, then any pertinent information like import markings or a description of the pistol. I've compiled a fairly decent list of serial numbers and their related dates of import and/or manufacture, and hope this helps those who may be looking for such answers/information. An M1934, serial number 606824, was used by Nathuram Godse in the 1948 assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The pistol, manufactured in 1934, was carried by an officer during Italy's invasion of Abyssinia and subsequently taken by a British officer as a war trophy.

History and usage[edit]

• The first Beretta pistols were made in 1915, and by the end of the 20th century Beretta had become one of the world's major premier handgun manufacturers. In 1977 Beretta-USA was established, with a manufacturing facility located in Accokeek, Maryland. In 1985 the US armed forces adopted Beretta's Model 92 pistol as their standard sidearm.
• Beretta Age Lookup To find the year of proof of your Beretta Shotgun you’ll need to find the Date Code. This will either be Roman Numerals for earlier guns or two letters for later guns. The position of this varies from gun to gun but is usually hidden from view without breaking the gun down.
• They included their date of manufacture in both the Julian Calendar and Fascist-era based Roman numerals. Similar guns produced immediately after the war can be marked Brevettata, but more often as Brevet. Beretta Model 418. The 418 was the final model produced and very successful.

Armi Beretta SpA of Gardone Val Trompia has a history in firearms manufacturing reaching back to 1526, when they were established as a maker of barrels. But it was not until 1915 that, responding to the needs of the military during World War I, they produced their first pistol, the model 1915. Beretta has become one of the world's largest pistol makers and the model 1934 (M1934) was their most numerous product in the World War II era.

It was designed and purpose-built for the Italian armed forces. In the early 1930s, the Italian army was impressed by the Walther PP pistol. Beretta did not want to lose a big military contract to their German competitor and designed the M1934 for the Italian Army which accepted it in 1937. This model was followed by the M1935, which was similar to the M1934 in most respects, except that it fired a .32 ACP (7.65 mm Browning) cartridge.

Pistols made during the Fascist Era are marked with their year of manufacture in two forms: the conventional Julian date in Arabic numerals and the date in the Fascist Era in Roman numerals. The Fascist calendar commenced on 28 October 1922, so a pistol from 1937 may carry either 'XV' or 'XVI' as its Fascist year. Pistols taken by the armed forces usually exhibit acceptance marks stamped into the frame on the left just above the grip: 'RE' (Regio Esercito) for the army, 'RM' (Regia Marina) for the navy, or 'RA' (Regia Aeronautica) for the Air Force, always in the form of an Eagle wearing a Royal Crown for the Royal air force. Police pistols may be marked 'PS' (Pubblica Sicurezza). The Romanian military, at the time an Axis power, also purchased model 1934 (and 1935) pistols. The calibre marking appears as 9 mm Scurt (short in Romanian) rather than 9 mm Corto.^{[1][self-published source?]} Romanian Army M1934's differ from Italian M1934's in that the Romanian pistols use the Russian sight picture, where the Italian pistols use the standard sight picture used by Western armies.

An M1934, serial number 606824, was used by Nathuram Godse in the 1948 assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The pistol, manufactured in 1934, was carried by an officer during Italy's invasion of Abyssinia and subsequently taken by a British officer as a war trophy. It is not known how it came to India, but Godse was given the unlicensed firearm by a co-conspirator.^[2]

Design[edit]

Fitted with the characteristic Beretta open slide, the M1934 has a very reliable feeding and extraction cycle; the elongated slot in the top of the slide acts as the ejection port. It is made with relatively few parts and very simple to maintain. The M1934 is very robust in construction with a long service life if properly maintained.^{[citation needed]}

9mm Corto (.380 ACP) is less powerful than most other military service pistol cartridges, such as 9mm Parabellum or .45 ACP. The magazine capacity is only 7 rounds. When the empty magazine is removed it no longer holds the slide back. The slide will come forward and close the gun unless it is held open by application of the safety, a separate operation, and this slows down the reloading of the pistol.^{[citation needed]}

Service[edit]

• Algeria^[3]
• Kingdom of Italy – Royal Italian Army
• Nazi Germany – under designation Pistole 671(i)
• Finland – 1,400 examples imported from Italy, used by home front troops from 1943.^[4]
• Libya^[5]
• Mali: People's Movement for the Liberation of Azawad^[6]
• Kingdom of Romania - Romanian Royal Army^[7]
• Yugoslav Partisans (captured pistols)^[8]

Production[edit]

From 1934 to 1992, about 1,080,000 units were produced globally.^{[citation needed]}

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^http://www.worldwar2.ro/arme/?language=ro&article=274
2. ^Gandhi, Tushar A. (2012). Let's Kill Gandhi. Rupa Publications. ISBN9788129128942.
3. ^'World Infantry Weapons: Algeria'. 2015. Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
4. ^'Revolvers & Pistols, part 4'. 22 April 2018.
5. ^'World Infantry Weapons: Libya'. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016.
6. ^Small Arms Survey (2005). 'Sourcing the Tools of War: Small Arms Supplies to Conflict Zones'(PDF). Small Arms Survey 2005: Weapons at War. Oxford University Press. p. 166. ISBN978-0-19-928085-8.
7. ^Mark Axworthy (1992). The Romanian Army of World War II. Illustrated by Horia Serbanescu. Osprey Publishing. p. 48. ISBN1855321696.
8. ^Scarlata, Paul (1 October 2017). 'Yugoslav Part II: World War II small arms: an assortment of small arms from friends and foe alike'. Firearms News.

Beretta Serial Number Date Of Manufacture

External links[edit]

When was my rifle made?

After 1921, Remington employed a “date code” system which consists of a series of letters identifying the month and year of manufacture. This date code is typically 2-3 letters hand stamped on the jacket head (refer to the photograph below for location). The first letter in the code represents the month, the second (and sometimes third) letter represents the year. It is not uncommon for these letters to be stamped sideways.

When a rifle was returned to Remington for a repair, the factory would stamp a repair code. These codes read the same as the date code, but were followed by a “3”. It is not uncommon to find the “3” stamped backwards. For those rifles manufactured prior to 1921, rifles not found with a date code, or rifles found with ONLY a repair code, these will be dated best by using the serial number list at the bottom of the page.

Determining month of manufacture (FIRST LETTER)

B – January

L – February

A – March

C – April

K – May

P – June

O – July

W – August

D – September

E – October

R – November

X – December

Determining year of manufacture (SECOND AND/OR THIRD LETTERS),

M – 1921 D – 1935

N – 1922 E – 1936

P– 1923 F – 1937

R – 1924 G – 1938

S – 1925 H – 1939

T – 1926 J – 1940

U – 1927 K – 1941

W – 1928 L – 1942

X – 1929 MM – 1943

Y – 1930 NN – 1944

Z – 1931 PP – 1945

A – 1932 RR – 1946

B – 1933 SS – 1947

C – 1934 TT – 1948

UU – 1949 WW – 1950

These are the last serial numbers for each year of production for the Model 8

Year – Serial – Total

1906~2266 2266

1907~7754 5488

1908~12439 4685

1909~17168 4729

1910~21889 4721

1911~26489 4600

1912~30063 3574

1913~33041 2978

1914~35187 2146

1915~36938 1751

1916~38469 1711

1917~39918 1449

1918~40917 999

1919~42009 1092

1920~44825 2816

1921~45938 1113

1922~47297 1359

1923~48826 1529

1924~50136 1310

1925~51519 1383

1926~53160 1641

1927~55878 2718

1928~58741 2863

1929~61467 2726

1930~64024 2557

1931~65465 1441

1932~66360 895

1933~66867 507

1934~67676 809

1935~68841 1165

1936~69581 1010

1937~69485 96

1938~69488 3

1939~69490 2

* Despite these production totals, rifles as high as 69929 have been observed

These are the last serial numbers for each year of production for the Model 81

Year – Serial – Total

1936~1675 1675

1937~4895 3220

1938~6862 1967

1939~8872 2010

1940~12623 3751

1941~17748 5125

1942~21575 3827

1943~21579 4

1944~21694 115

1945~23809 2115

1946~30525 6716

1947~37104 6579

1948~43778 6674

1949~51187 7409

1950~55581 4394

Beretta Shotgun Serial Numbers Manufacture Dates

* Despite these production totals, rifles as high as 57949 have been observed