Posted on 10/14/2016 10:38:14 AM PDT by C19fan
The October 2016 edition of Maxim celebrates Beretta’s 500th year of firearm manufacturing. Known among twenty-first century hunters for its shotguns and among concealed carry permit holders for its compact, potent pistols like the PX4 Storm, the Italian gun maker has a rich heritage that includes “crafting guns for everyone from Napoleon and Winston Churchill to Ernest Hemingway and James Bond.”
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.
I can’t do no 500 years, man!
What was their first model?.......A bow and arrow?....
MAXUM? Will they have beautiful guns being held by buxom women?
According to the movies Q made Bond get rid of the Beretta, paraphrasing more suited for a woman's purse, for the Walther.
Bond should not be allowed to have guns. He loses at least one in every movie not to mention all the wrecked vehicles.
Those look like Japanese Tanegashima guns. The image site for “arquebus” has lots of them presumably because they are matchlocks like European guns which were much heavier and required a rest to fire from.
But lessee now, 500 years ago it was 1516 A.D. The successor to the matchlock, the wheellock had already been invented, some claim by Leonardo de Vinci. By then wheellock guns were already considered dangerous assassins’ weapons since pistol versions could be concealed and fired instantly (no match & faster lock time than the flintlock which succeeded it).
So the Holy Roman Emperor tried to ban them. Fat chance, Beretta was already turning out fine wheellock weapons. Five centuries are not that ancient in firearms evolution.
Bond’s first gun was a Beretta Model 418 in .25 cal, “with its taped magazine and sawn barrel” as Fleming described it. He was directed to turn it in for a Walther PPK in .32 ACP “which has an entry like a brick through a plate glass window”.
You’re right about Fleming’s gun knowledge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies
Pretty cool, good on Berretta. I got curious and looked up the oldest companies, food and alcohol do pretty well no matter the culture. I guess Japan has a lot of the very oldest ones still around.
Freegards
I own a Bersa copy of the PPK 32acp. With modern ammo, would not want to face someone using that Bersa 32 ... nearly no recoil so follow up shots are usually right on target.
Years ago I tried .32 ACP Winchester Silvertip hollow points in my Walther PPK. An improvement but not quite .380.
Now I have a Polish P-64 in 9mm Mak. Compact & powerful enough (all steel, too). P-64’s go for $250 on gunbroker.com.
Upgrade to a CZ82, if you can find one.
Match lock probably ....
My own personal favorite Beretta was the Model 70 and or 71 in .22 rimfire. Massad liked em as well.
http://www.momentsintimeantiques.co.uk/resources/DSC_0413~2.jpg.opt898x505o0,0s898x505.jpg
I call mine the jewish Q-Tip.... gets ear wax out of bad guys really quick.
Thank you. I stand corrected
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