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Old Beretta .380

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Flattop5

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I just dug this gun out of mothballs and decided to post pictures of it: a model 1934 Beretta .380. It was made in 1941. It's heavy for a .380, but fun to shoot.

It's a very reliable gun. This pistol has never jammed. Ever. If you can find one for a good price, BUY IT. Make sure it has an extra magazine as they are hard to find (and they often don't fit your gun, since pre-war and post-war versions vary slightly; apparently, post-war versions are fatter). The holster is for an East German Makarov, but it fits the model 1934 wonderfully :)
 

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Had one. Liked it well, save for the very heavy trigger pull.
 
I must like the 1934 Beretta .380 since I have seven of them. The 1934
dosen't get the attention in the US that some other classic .380s do
for a variety of reasons but it is recognized as the best blowback auto
design ever by some knowledgeable authors. The fat magazines you
refer to may be the large number of surplus magazines imported some
years ago along with a batch of Romanian contract guns that were
imported and sold. I bought a few of the magazines and they do
usually require a bit of filing or dremel work, especially on the floorplate, to properly fit. And as mentioned the trigger pulls are
heavy. It's a rugged heavy duty pistol designed for military service
and police use, not a target range.
 
What a coincidence. Just yesterday I took mine out of the bowels of my safe after a long time. I only have four autos and one is a 1943 era .380 with a bare left side of the slide. There might be a Nazi connection there but I don't know. I saw this video yesterday, too, about this fine solid little gun. After my friend's mom died he found this gun in her nightstand loaded, chambered, cocked, and with the safety off. I think I paid $275 for it.



1934 Beretta - Guns & Ammo

 
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I love mine.

0411151450a.jpg
 
alwslate said:
I must like the 1934 Beretta .380 since I have seven of them.
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Hey, I 've got a great idea. It seems just plain wrong for you to have to care for all 7 of those guns (cleaning them, oiling them, storing them). What a big hassle. Why not send me a couple of them? That way, you wouldn't be so burdened with all that gun care. What do ya say? Sound good?? :D



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Flattop5 said:
Hey, I 've got a great idea. It seems just plain wrong for you to have to care for all 7 of those guns (cleaning them, oiling them, storing them). What a big hassle. Why not send me a couple of them? That way, you wouldn't be so burdened with all that gun care. What do ya say? Sound good?? :D



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Hmmmm....well since you've been keeping yours mothballed
and not getting much use I thought you might want to send
it to me! After all seven is an odd number and if I had yours
that would even things out nicely for me! You see?
 
Thanks! I don't have nearly as many as I once did. This 1934 is a birth-year gun, so I kinda felt like it was meant to be. It's a really nifty design, for sure.
 
Flattop5 said:
since pre-war and post-war versions vary slightly; apparently, post-war versions are fatter
Click to expand...

By the way, please pardon my directness but this is just flat wrong - my 1966 takes pre-war, wartime and postwar mags just fine and I've never read anything in 30 years of caring about these that suggested that parts are anything but interchangeable.

There are dimensional differences between the Beretta 1935 in 7.65 (.32 ACP) and the original Beretta 1934 in 9mm Corto (.380), however - perhaps that's what you're hearing.
 
I too need to get mine out the safe and add some photo.My32 cal has much sentimental value. My Father-in-law the weapon years ago before he passed. He carried the weapon during the 60's when in the Air Force in Germany.

He did some work with CID and carried the pistol. Can't put a value on that part of history
 
cbore said:
I too need to get mine out the safe and add some photo.My32 cal has much sentimental value. My Father-in-law the weapon years ago before he passed. He carried the weapon during the 60's when in the Air Force in Germany.

He did some work with CID and carried the pistol. Can't put a value on that part of history
Click to expand...

If he was in the USAF, wouldn't he have been OSI, not CID? That's an Army job.
 
Erich said:
By the way, please pardon my directness but this is just flat wrong - my 1966 takes pre-war, wartime and postwar mags just fine and I've never read anything in 30 years of caring about these that suggested that parts are anything but interchangeable.

There are dimensional differences between the Beretta 1935 in 7.65 (.32 ACP) and the original Beretta 1934 in 9mm Corto (.380), however - perhaps that's what you're hearing.
Click to expand...


Well, I bought 2 magazines for my model 1934, and neither one fit. They were way too tight (i.e., too fat). I finally found 2 that fit. I did notice that the ones that didn't fit were BLACK, while the ones that did fit were BLUE.



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Flattop5 said:
Well, I bought 2 magazines for my model 1934, and neither one fit. They were way too tight (i.e., too fat). I finally found 2 that fit. I did notice that the ones that didn't fit were BLACK, while the ones that did fit were BLUE.



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Were your purchased magazines factory? The 1934 and 1935
Berettas are in that category of pistols that just about have
to use original magazines. In all the years that I have owned
some of these guns I have seen a variety of aftermarket
magazines and none are really fit to own. Quality of all of
them that I have ever seen is well below factory level. The
Romanian surplus magazines are a bit snug but they will fit.
The floorplates on mine are too thick however and required
a little thinning of the area that fits into the mag catch. I
don't know who made them but overall quality seems equal to
originals.
 
They were factory magazines with a steel finger rest. They did not fit. Maybe they were military contract magazines. I have heard of other people having similar problems with model 1934 mags. In fact, I have some of those "parts" magazines in a drawer somewhere. Gave up trying to make them fit. Too much trouble.





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