The Beretta Model 1934 is an Italian compact, semi-automatic pistol which was issued as the service pistol of the Royal Italian Army beginning in 1934. As the standard sidearm of the Italian army it was issued to officers, NCOs and machine gun crews. It is chambered for the 9mm Corto, more commonly known as the .380 ACP.
History and usage
Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro 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 Beretta 1934 (M1934) was their most numerous product in the World War II era. It was offered in .380 ACP, since it was a popular caliber among several European countries' armies, and since the Italian Army showed a specific interest in the German Walther PP pistols.
The first contract for the pistol was made by the Ministry of the Interior, that bought 5,000 units for the Italian Police.
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. Romanian Army M1934s differ from Italian M1934s 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 1937,
Design
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.
- – under designation Pistole 671(i)
- – Royal Italian Army
- − Widely used by Italian Army officers and the Polizia di Stato as late as 1988
- − People's Movement for the Liberation of Azawad
- − Romanian Royal Army
- Yugoslav Partisans − captured pistols
- − Yugoslav People's Army
Production
From 1934 to 1992, about 1,080,000 units were produced globally.