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From the legendary Bartolomeo (ca. 1498 to 1565/8) to Pietro (1791 to 1853), who was the first in the family to begin expansion of the business, to his son Giuseppe (1840-1903), who supervised the transition from national to international horizons, to Pietro (1870-1957), who was able to transform the artisan business into a manufacturing concern by introducing modern production techniques, to his sons Giuseppe (1906-1993) and Carlo (1908-1984), who gave the firm its multinational character, leading the Company to success in the military and commercial markets, Beretta has always produced firearms.

Almost 500 years of working activity have enriched Beretta with enormous experience and knowledge in precision mechanics in the field of portable firearms. From the turn of the 20th century up to today Beretta's production facilities have grown from 10,000 to over 76,000 square meters. The production departments feature fully automated work centres and of course highly qualified craftsmen, a prerequisite for achieving the desired degree of accuracy and standard of quality. The design department has advanced systems for carrying out stress analysis using the finite elements method. The laboratories are equipped to carry out research into dynamics with a high stress variation rate applied to the ammunition-firearm system, metallographic tests and fatigue tests. Production and Design work together with Marketing and Sales to develop new products and meet the customers' changing requirements. Marketing and Sales also use modern information systems (Internet and Intranet) to provide the maximum backup for the peripheral organizations and to meet market requirements promptly.

Beretta production (about 1,500 pieces a day) covers almost the whole range of portable firearms: over-and-under and side-by-side shotguns for hunting and competition in different grades of finishing, autoloaders and pump action guns, express double rifles, semiautomatic pistols (chambered for calibers from .22 Short to .45 Auto), assault rifles. An estimated 90% of Beretta's production consists of sporting firearms, with more than 75% of arms produced being exported to almost 100 countries.

In the early 1990s, Beretta added to its traditional sporting guns production, a complete range of accessories and apparel for hunting, clay shooting and outdoor sports which rapidly earned a reputation for its technological content and understated elegance. The first Beretta Gallery was inaugurated in New York in 1995, followed in quick succession by ones in Dallas, Buenos Aires, Paris and Milan. The Beretta Clothing & Accessories line is sold in leading gun shops in Europe and America, and also through the Shop in Shop chain, specialized outlets designed specifically to accommodate exclusive areas selling Beretta products. In 2004 the 46 Beretta Shop in Shops worldwide are flanked by over 900 sales outlets with corners and display areas featuring Beretta products. The 2003 turnover of the Beretta Clothing & Accessories division topped 21 million euros (275,000 items of clothing and 360,000 accessories sold).

Beretta has supplied firearms to the Armed Forces and Police Forces of Italy and numerous other countries for many years. The greatest success story regarding pistols is the fact that the American Armed Forces and State Police Forces have adopted Beretta 92 series pistols. France's Gendarmerie Nationale and the "Armée de l'Air" (French Air Force) have also opted for this solution. More recently, an agreement was signed in 2002 for the supply of 45,000 92FS pistols for the Spanish Guardia Civil. The same year, about 40,000 92 series pistols were also supplied to the Turkish Police Force.

Beretta's success in the defence and law enforcement realms is matched by success in the competitive shooting sports. Beretta won its first Olympic Gold medal in clay pigeon shooting in Melbourne, in 1956. Since then Beretta victories in major international competitions have followed with frequency: medals have been won at the Olympic Games of Rome (1960), Munich (1972), Montreal (1976), Moscow (1980), Los Angeles (1984), Seoul (1988), Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996), Sidney (2000), not to mention the World Championships from 1978. At the Athens 2004 Games (XXVIII Olympiad), Beretta confirmed its aptitude to winning, by securing two gold, two silver, and two bronze. Beretta competition shotguns have won more Olympic Games, World Championships and International Competitions than any other shotgun.

Dedicated work, inventiveness, traditional methods, focus on both customers and craftsmen, as well as ongoing research, technological improvement and state-of-the-art manufacturing methods form the basis on which Beretta has built up its image and a vast range of field, competition and military firearms that have brought the company worldwide fame as the oldest gun manufacturer, set up as long ago as 1526.

President, Ugo Gussalli Beretta and his sons, Pietro and Franco, run the business.

The Fabbrica D'armi Pietro Beretta Virtual Tour is comprised of five panoramas taken inside the gun shop, trophy room and women’s and men’s clothing areas. The virtual tour is available in three formats – Fullscreen QTVR (recommended for those with a high-speed connection), QTVR medium (recommended for those with a dial-up connection) and Java (recommended for those with QuickTime), and is available in Italian and English.

Website: http://www.beretta.it/
Via Durini, 5
20122 Milano, ITALIA
Phone: +39 02 76028325 - Fax: +39 02 76394864
Email : gallery[dot]milano[at]beretta[dot]com