Beretta Jetfire opportunity; thoughts?

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searcher451

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OK, the local FFL dealer has a nice-looking, made-in-Italy .25 caliber Beretta Jetfire in the shop; he's asking $250. It's in quality shape, though it's clearly been fired. One mag, no case, just the gun. Does anyone have any experiences, good or bad, with the Jetfire that they can pass along? Is it reliable or accurate to 15 yards?

Any thoughts and information you can pass along will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
the cartrige is highly marginal for SD. the .22lr actually has a better record of transfering power...the advantage of the .25 ACP is that it feeds more reliably

i've always wanted a Jetfire...just because Modesty Blaise used one. my only .25 pistol in an old Colt Pocket auto
 
Good pistols. The .25acp tends to penetrate better and be more reliable while the .22LR tends to cause more tissue disruption (coming out of a very short barrel like the Berreta Jetfire and Bobcat). The .22LR is cheaper and comes out the barrel at a slightly higher velocity. I like stingers the best.
 
One of the few pistols I wish I never sold.

Highly reliable.

25 acp was designed for tiny pocket pistols. 22lr was designed for a rifle. If you buy it, I recommend Aguila FMJ ammo.

It has a small tendency for hammer bite, and the sights are useless.
 
I just don't see how you could justify stooping to .25 Auto when you could get a .32 or .380 Kel-Tec P3AT for the same price.

I think the P3 is lighter too...?
 
I had one long ago, in .22 short. I don't think Jetfires (the old ones anyway) came in LR, only short.

Cute gun with the tip up barrel, but essentially useless for self defense. I remember talking to a defendant who shot a supermarket security guard 5 or 6 times with a .25, then the guard took the gun away from him and beat the crap out of him & later came to court to testify about the incident.

Another time saw someone shot in the forehead with a .22. It didn't penetrate, just entered the scalp and followed the curve of the skull and exited out the back of the scalp. He also came in to testify.

Those were eye openers & I sold that gun.
 
I normally take mine when I go to Florida or Arizona. Easily concealable and has one more round than the .22LR. It always fires but I've never gone over 7 yards with it. At that distance it's pretty accurate.
 
I just don't see how you could justify stooping to .25 Auto when you could get a .32 or .380 Kel-Tec P3AT for the same price.
Click to expand...

Because the Beretta has class.

i think the biggest knock on the beretta is that it doesn't have an extractor
Click to expand...

I have never had a failure to extract with mine.

For just the gun and one mag, $250 is probably high, depending on actual condition. The frames are aluminum, and the anno tends to wear. The slide is blued, and holds up much better.

I bought mine for $60 a few years back with the gun, 2 mags, factory box, manual, and Italian language catalog from 1968.

See of you can get a look at the proof mark so we can see what year it was made.
 
Thanks for the comments, gentlemen; always appreciated.

No question that a .25 is underpowered for self-defense. I would get the gun as a good example of a quality curiousity, though it's possible that it could become strictly a back-up piece. The fit and finish are excellent; I would rate it at 97%+. It's also likely that the dealer will take less than the asking $250 price; how much less depends on how much he wants to sell it and how much I want to buy it, I guess. :)

The gun has two proofmarks on the left-hand side of the tang. The first is a circled star with some sort of cross-hatched design in a box immediately below. The second is another circled star with the letters PSF immediately below. To the bottom of that is an X X I stamp. I'm not well-versed on Berettas; any thoughts on those?
 
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I LOVE my Beretta 950 Jetfire. Great little guns.
I paid $156 for mine at a local gun shop. It's always been reliable, never a problem with "no extractor", easy to load, easy to shoot. I've put many hundreds of rounds through mine (S&B, Aquila, & CCI Blazers).
I own a dozen or so various .25acp pocket guns, the Jetfire is my favorite.
It also gets a lot of shooting time in my basement: .25 caliber airgun pellets loaded into a 25acp case with primer only for propellant. The tip-up barrel makes it a fun single shot for at-home practice.
Oh yes...as for the "stooping when you can get a Kel-Tec"...I also have a Kel-Tec ;)
Jack
 
Highorder: That's awesome. Thanks for the information and the link. Looks like I'll have head back to the gun shop today and put on my wrangling boots.
 
Secured the gun for $225 and am happy with both the price and the pistol in question. It's a nice little piece in superb shape and will fill a gap between the Bobcat and the Tomcat. Thanks again for weighing in. :)
 
I've owned a Beretta 950BS in .25 ACP, and another in .22 Short, for a couple of decades. Both have been reliable. They're fun to shoot, and come from a time when they were the smallest pistols around.

People who have little hand strength or who have limited dexterity, find them useful, as the tip-up barrel makes loading them easy. Neither, in today's world of mythical 250 lb. weight-lifters on meth, are deemed self-defense weapons. The .22 Short was a gun designed to deter dogs, while the .25 ACP was actually supposed to deter humans, and actually did.

Enjoy the little fellow.:)
 
I have a M1934 made in 1940, italian army issue. I'm sure someone has something older, though:D
 
The Beretta 950 Jetfire is a great little gun handicapped by it's cartridge. I bought one because someone gave me 800 rounds of .25acp ammo. When all the ammo is shot up, I'll sell it.
That being said, $250 for a used Jetfire is about twice the price it should be. I saw some on the buy, sell handguns board for $100.
 
Phil: It's possible that the price is creeping up on these guns. There's an Italian-made Jetfire on GunsAmerica right now for $599; it comes with the box and goodies. There's a USA-made Jetfire advertised there as well, with box, for $325. The one I got is a Made in Italy version, pre-'68 ban with no import marks, and in excellent shape. Tell you what: If you have an Italian version that's in good shape, I'll give you $125 for it when you finish up your ammo. :)
 
I have 2 of the jet fires 1 is Italian version and new in box orher made in USA.
I have used a jet fire in a parking garage Guy had a folder and wanted my money He got to look at a Beretta 25 He was gone Road runner couldn't have caught him.
Pistol did its job .
 
Took the Jetfire to the local range this weekend and ran 100 rounds of Winchester white box through it. It performed flawlessly: no coughs or hiccups or misadventures of any kind. And it was surprisingly accurate from 10 to 15 yards. All in all, I'm quite pleased with it and happy to have it.
 
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