Call me Ahab

posted by Caleb on Jun 10

Today’s vidcast is on my 1935 Beretta; one of many sub-caliber pistols to see service during World War II.

On a side note, I apologize for the feet - my usual vidcasting table was hijacked for nefarious purposes (read: cat on my table).

You can view all of my vidcasts at the Call me Ahab Youtube channel, which seems to have fixed the crazy audio problems I used to have! Next week I’ll be in California, so a vidcast might be a little difficult, but I’ll see what I can do.

posted by Caleb on Jun 2

Speaking of collectible Berettas, at the 1500 there was a fully transferable Beretta 38A for the low-low-buy-it-now sum of $14,000.  I figure that’s only about half of what one of our cars cost, so it’s totally affordable; plus I’d then have a 9mm submachine gun for shooting…uh…squirrels or something.

In terms of collecting Berettas, any of their submachine guns constitute the Holy Grail of Berettas as far as I’m concerned.  One of these days I’ll figure out a way to convince my wife that spending 14 thousand dollars on a gun is a totally worthwhile investment.  “But honey, it will only appreciate with time!”

posted by Caleb on Jun 2

I went to the Indy 1500 this weekend in the hopes of scoring a ‘34 Beretta in .380 ACP, and had an outside hope of grabbing a 1951 Beretta, mostly because I’m love with the idea of a single-stack, single action 9mm Beretta.

I had thought the show was going to be a bust until right before I left, when I spotted a ‘51 in a guy’s case, which I snatched up right away.  At the time, I figured it was “just another M951″, and went home quite happy.  It wasn’t until I got home and was looking at it side-by-side with my Jetfire that I realized this wasn’t just any old ‘51 Beretta.

When looking at it next to the Jetfire, all of a sudden my brain clicked into gear; I realized that my new 1951 had a heel-type magazine release, instead of the push-button type that was standard on most ‘51 Berettas.  I then noticed that the barrel seemed a little longer than it should have been, which was mental trigger number 2.

The only members of the 1951 family that had a heel type mag release were the 1951E-series, the “E” indicating that they were issued to the Egyptian army.  My pistol’s serial number is correct for it to be part of the E-series as well, and it even has the slightly shorter frame which makes the barrel appear to be longer than on the standard ‘51 models.

I am a little sad though - the 1951E models also had a lanyard ring where the mag release would have been on the rest of the 51’s, as you can see in the pictures, the grip panels cover up where the lanyard ring should be on this model of Beretta.  I popped the grips off, and sure enough could see two little faint marks of where the lanyard ring had been cut off the gun at some point in its life.

My specimen was made in 1955, and from what I can tell has not been fired very much.  The magazine is aftermarket, and the grips are not original to the gun, however the mechanicals are in magnificent condition.  I have to wonder what kind of journey it took to get into the United States, especially considering that it’s not wearing any import stamps.  I also wonder about the history of the gun - who cut the lanyard ring off?  Did some Egyptian officer decide he wanted different grips on the gun?  Did the original grips get damaged, and the lanyard ring have to be cut off to install replacement grips from a non-E model ‘51?  Questions like this are why I love C&R collecting.

As a collector’s piece, it doesn’t have the kind of value that it would have if it still had the original grips, magazine, and lanyard ring, but it makes an interesting addition to my collection.  It should also make a pretty decent shooter as well; like most single action Berettas, the trigger is wonderful with a crisp letoff and very little creep.  Hopefully I’ll get a chance to take it out blasting this weekend.

posted by Caleb on May 23

From John Snow at The GunShots:

Beretta says its sub-compact versions of the PX4 Storm pistols are going to start shipping on June 1. The pistols come in either 9mm (13+1) or 40 S&W (10+1) and list for $600 and $575 respectively.

Did someone say “sub-compact 9mm Beretta”? Maybe I can get John to send me their test pistol for uh…further testing and carrying.

Sidebar note: I’ve added a new category for posts, labeled “Beretta”, since I plan on doing some Beretta specific content here in the future.

posted by Caleb on May 13

I mentioned yesterday that I had picked up a Beretta 950 Jetfire from Gander Mountain, it’s a little pocket sized .25 ACP. Beretta has been making pocket pistols in .25 ACP since the early 1900s, in fact, I have one of their early 1919 models - sort of the great grandfather to the Beretta 950.

The Beretta 950 is a single action, semi-automatic magazine fed pistol; like most pocket guns it’s blowback operated. Because it’s chambered for .25 ACP, it lacks an extractor, although the Beretta style open slide usually allows for positive ejection of spent cases. While pre-1968 models lack an external safety, mine does the safety which allows me to carry the little pistol cocked-and-locked.

Of course, you want pictures. Click for a fullsize picture.

With the pocket holster, it just drops right into a jeans or trouser pocket, and can basically go anywhere that there aren’t metal detectors or pat searches. Sure, the .25 ACP isn’t a manly super-blaster of a cartridge, but when I can’t carry the 9mm or the .45, it certainly beats going around unarmed. Sort of by way of compensation for the tiny, tiny bullets, the 950 does have an eight round magazine, plus one round in the tip-up barrel/chamber - giving you nine rounds of .25 ACP.

The biggest appeal of this gun to me, aside from the fact that it says “Beretta” on the gun, is that it really is a spectacular deep concealment piece in terms of ease of carry. I’ve never made any bones about the fact that I’m a small of stature, and being able to be carrying a 9 round pistol plus an 8 round reload without even a hint of a “print” is a nice feeling.