Infantry Weapons

Beretta

Also known as
  • Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta
  • Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A.
  • Pietro Beretta
  • Beretta Holding

Beretta is an Italian small-arms manufacturer from Gardone Val Trompia, represented here as a relationship-only support record for Beretta-built weapon pages. The company traces its documented arms-making history to a 1526 barrel order for the Venice Arsenal, while current catalog links cover individual Beretta systems such as the BM59 rifle and 92/M9 pistol family.

Beretta, Small-arms manufacturer reference, Infantry Weapons
Image source: Beretta 92FS image
Profile / Specs

Profile

Origin
Italy
Built by
Beretta
Type
Small-arms manufacturer reference
Service note
16th century-present firearms manufacturer
Designed
Company history documented from 1526
Produced
1526-present company lineage

Specifications

Entity type
Firearms manufacturer reference
Documented origin
1526 barrel order for the Venice Arsenal
Historic base
Gardone Val Trompia, Brescia, Italy
Catalog role
Relationship-only support page for Beretta-built small arms
Linked catalog systems
Beretta BM59 rifle; Beretta 92 pistol
Representative product lines
Pistols, rifles, shotguns, tactical and law-enforcement firearms
Manufacturer Scope

Beretta is broader than any single firearm in the catalog. For this page, the useful scope is manufacturer context: the Gardone Val Trompia origin, the documented 1526 barrel order, continuing family-led arms production, and the specific Beretta-built systems already represented as separate weapon records.

Record type

Relationship-only manufacturer support page.

Headquarters context

Gardone Val Trompia, Brescia, Italy.

Catalog boundary

Conflict-use rows are intentionally empty here because direct conflict claims should attach to individual Beretta weapons, not to the manufacturer reference.

Source labels used here: Beretta Since 1526; Beretta Holding History.

Cataloged Beretta Systems

This support record keeps Beretta's manufacturer identity separate from conflict-use claims. Direct conflict evidence belongs on the individual weapon pages below, where each system has its own sources, variants, and conflict rows when documented.

Catalog weaponConnectionSource-backed context
Beretta BM59 rifle, Battle rifle, Infantry WeaponsBeretta BM59 rifleBeretta rifle familySpecialist BM59 sources describe Beretta engineers adapting the M1 Garand lineage into a 7.62x51 mm NATO, magazine-fed selective-fire rifle that reached Italian service in 1962.
Beretta 92 pistol, 9x19 mm semi-automatic service pistol, Infantry WeaponsBeretta 92 pistolBeretta pistol familyBeretta's 90 Series materials identify the 92/M9 family as a long-running semi-automatic pistol line, and GAO documents the 1985 U.S. Army award for Beretta 9 mm pistols.

Source labels used here: BM59: The Italian M14; Small Arms Review BM59; Beretta 90 Series; GAO Beretta 9-mm Pistol Procurement.

Timeline

Beretta Key Events

  1. Venice Arsenal barrel order

    Beretta's official history traces the company's documented beginning to Bartolomeo Beretta of Gardone selling 185 harquebus barrels to the Venice Arsenal.

    Sources: Beretta Since 1526, Beretta Holding History

  2. Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta name

    Beretta's history credits Pietro Antonio Beretta with registering the Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta company name while expanding barrel and firearm orders.

    Sources: Beretta Since 1526

  3. BM59 reaches Italian service

    Specialist BM59 sources describe Beretta's Garand-derived BM59 as entering Italian military hands in 1962 after late-1950s engineering work.

    Sources: BM59: The Italian M14, Small Arms Review BM59

  4. M9 selection

    Beretta's 90 Series page and a U.S. GAO procurement review both tie the Beretta 92/M9 family to the 1985 U.S. standard-sidearm award.

    Sources: Beretta 90 Series, GAO Beretta 9-mm Pistol Procurement

Media

Beretta Videos

Related Weapon Systems
Arsenal AR-M9 / AR-M9F, 5.56 x 45 mm Kalashnikov-pattern assault rifle, Infantry WeaponsInfantry WeaponsArsenal AR-M9 / AR-M9F5.56 x 45 mm Kalashnikov-pattern assault rifleThe Arsenal AR-M9 and folding-stock AR-M9F are Bulgarian 5.56 x 45 mm Kalashnikov-pattern assault rifles built by Arsenal JSCo for export and military users. Open-source arms researchers documented fixed-stock AR-M9 rifles with UAE-trained pro-government Yemeni resistance fighters at Al-Anad Air Base and an AR-M9F with a Sudanese coalition soldier in Yemen, placing the family inside Gulf-backed coalition equipment flows during the 2014 Yemen Civil War.
45 Automatic (45 Auto), Rimless centerfire pistol cartridge, MunitionsMunitions45 Automatic (45 Auto)Rimless centerfire pistol cartridge45 Automatic (45 Auto) is SAAMI's recognized name for the .45 ACP cartridge developed around John Browning and Colt's early self-loading pistol work and adopted by the U.S. Army with the Model 1911 pistol. This relationship-only page covers the cartridge as a standardized handgun and submachine-gun round, with SAAMI and C.I.P. dimensions, U.S. military ball-cartridge context, current commercial loads, and a sourced compatibility link to the Glock 21 family.

Sources

Beretta Since 1526Publisher: Beretta | Note: Supports Beretta's 1526 barrel-order origin, Gardone Val Trompia background, family-production history, and Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta naming context. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Beretta Holding HistoryPublisher: Beretta Holding | Note: Supports the 1526 Venice Arsenal order, Gardone origin, and Beretta Holding historical context. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Beretta 90 SeriesPublisher: Beretta | Note: Supports the Beretta 90 Series pistol family, M9 adoption context, and current 92/M9-family relationship. | Accessed: 2026-07-13GAO Beretta 9-mm Pistol ProcurementPublisher: U.S. Government Accountability Office | Note: Supports the April 1985 Army award to Beretta U.S.A. for 9 mm pistols in the U.S. standard-sidearm procurement. | Accessed: 2026-07-13BM59: The Italian M14Publisher: Forgotten Weapons | Note: Supports Beretta BM59 engineering context, including Beretta engineers, late-1950s development, and 1962 Italian military service timing. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Small Arms Review BM59Publisher: Small Arms Review | Note: Supports the BM59 as a Beretta Modello 1959 rifle and its 1962 Italian military deployment context. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Beretta 92FS imagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Rights-clear CC BY-SA 3.0 / GFDL source for the representative Beretta 92FS image. | Accessed: 2026-07-13