Beretta

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This article is about a firearm manufacturer; for the car, see Chevrolet Beretta.

Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta is a major Italian gun manufacturing company. Its weapons are used extensively by civilians, police and militaries around the world. Beretta is among the world's oldest corporations, and has been owned by the same family for nearly 500 years. The Beretta company was established historically in 1526, when gunsmith Mastro Bartolomeo Beretta, of Gardone Val Trompia (Brescia, Italy), received 296 ducats as payment for 185 arquebus barrels sold to the Arsenal of Venice. The paperwork for that order still exists in the company's archives.

Today, the company is owned by Ugo Gussalli Beretta, a direct descendant of the original Bartolomeo, and is run by him and his sons, Franco and Pietro. (The traditional Beretta dynasty — father to son — was broken when Ugo Gussalli Beretta took over. His uncles Carlo and Giuseppe Beretta had no children. Carlo adopted Ugo, the son of sister Giuseppina Gussalli, to give him the Beretta name.)

Beretta is known for its broad product range that includes side by side shotguns, over and under shotguns, self-loading shotguns, hunting rifles, express rifles, assault rifles, sub-machine guns, lever action rifles, single action revolvers, double action revolvers and pistols. Parent company Beretta Holding also owns Beretta USA, Benelli, Franchi, SAKO, Stoeger, Tikka, and Uberti, and is a partner of Fabrique Nationale de Herstal. Beretta products have a reputation for being well made, durable and reliable.

Beretta is famous for the 92FS 9mm Parabellum pistol, which has seen much exposure in action movies, such as the Lethal Weapon and Die Hard series. The gun also features in the lyrics of many rap or R&B songs, such as the R. Kelly Trapped in the Closet singles (although in the video he is holding a .45, so it is possible that he says "Beretta" simply because of the name value). That gun has at various times been the official sidearm of several first world armies.

In 1918, the Beretta Model 1918 was the second submachinegun to be fielded by the Italian army.

In 1985, Beretta was chosen during a controversial selection process to produce the M9 9mm Parabellum sidearm for the United States military, winning a contract for 500,000 units. There have been many follow-up orders. A condition of the original agreement was that U.S. military pistols be manufactured domestically. The Beretta USA plant in Accokeek, Maryland makes finished pistols from raw materials for the military, law enforcement, and civilian markets.