Beretta 1935 .32 ACP

[Dravur]

I picked up an interesting pistol today. It is a Model 1935 Beretta in .32 ACP. It is in about 98% condition with very minor wear. The odd part is the grips which are tortoise shell. The story told to me was, and I have the actual documents coming to back this up, the person who bought the gun passed away and in the box with the gun was a letter he sent to Bereta in 1953 asking to buy mother of pearl grips. Beretta sent a letter back saying they did not sell them, but had tortoise shell grips with the PB medallion inserts.

At the time, the price quoted was $20 for the grips. The gun also came with a box of Yellow Box Winchester Ammo and 2 boxes of Hoppes Patches. The gun appears to be unfired but it may have been long ago, but cleaned thoroughly.

Paid $350 out the door. Did I get a decent deal?

 

[1 old 0311]

The Blue Book lists one in 98% at $350.00. In that condition, with the papers, and grips, that is a good investment.

Kevin

 

[Onmilo]

Great looking little pistol and great looking set of grips.
I think you got yourself a decent purchase.
Hang on to the ammunition and the cleaning patches.
If the boxes are full they have some collector intrest and value in their own right.
Did you get any spare magazines or maybe a holster with the purchase?

 

[Dravur]

Oddly Enough

One of the other "Gun People" in the store has a mag for this gun. He got it from a guy who had his gun stolen. He is supposed to drop it off tomorrow. I am looking for a holster for it, so if anyone knows what a correct holster would be or has one for sale, lemme know.

BTW, both the box of bullets and the patches are full boxes.

I Really like this little gun.

 

[gopguy]

The Italians used a green leather holster for these pistols. Locating one may be quite a challenge. In fact looking around the net I can not even find a photo of one. Plenty of Beretta's with the wrong holster though...

 

[EddieCoyle]

Beautiful pistol. It's built like a Swiss watch and is a great shooter. In case you decide to shoot it, I found that S&B ammo worked the best. Winchester White Box was too weak to reliably cycle the action.

Here's mine. It's a little older than yours and not as nice:




You got a great deal. Enjoy!

 

[Onmilo]

Speaking of possibly firing that pistol, I wouldn't do it with those tortise shell grips on the gun.
They are too old and too valuable and there is the possibility that they might crack or even fracture if you were to shoot the pistol with them in place.

A better option would be to buy a set of genuine, imitation, reproduction plastic grips for the gun from Gun Parts Inc. or Brownells.
use the tortise shells for lookin' at.

 

[Dravur]

Grips

Just noticed something. These grips are backed with metal that forms a lip around the grip. I was not planning on shooting it with these grips, or possibly not at all. It may end up as a safe queen. For some reason, I just like looking at it. I may have to break down and send some downrange.

 

[Essex County]

I owned one a lot of years ago. Plain Jane. I sold it because it wasn't particlarly pleasant to shoot. The ergonomics just wasn't right for my hand. I ave heard from a couple of sources that they had a strong following among RAF fliers durring the war because of their size. You have a very nice example.....Essex