Beretta
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| Private | |
| Industry | Firearms |
| Founded | 1526 |
| Headquarters | Brescia, Italy |
| Products | Firearms, weapons |
| Parent | Beretta Holding |
| Website |
Official Website Official US Website Official Defence Website |
Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta [ˈfabbrika ˈdarmi ˈpjɛtro beˈretta] (literally, "Pietro Beretta Arms Factory") is a privately held Italian firearms manufacturing company operating in several countries. Its firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, criminal, law enforcement, and military purposes. Sporting arms account for three-quarters of sales; Beretta is also known for marketing shooting clothes and accessories. Founded in the 16th century, Beretta is the oldest active manufacturer of firearm components in the world. In 1526 its inaugural product was arquebus barrels; by all accounts Beretta-made barrels equipped the Venetian fleet at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. In 1650 the company invented the breech-loading cannon, and Beretta has supplied weapons for every major European war since.
Beretta's sister company, Beretta USA Corp., located in the United States, manufactured and delivered over 600,000 M9 pistols to the United States Armed Forces starting in 1985. It lost the contract in 2017.
Val Trompia, a northern Italian river valley in the Province of Brescia, Lombardy, has been mined for iron ore since the time of the Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages, Val Trompia was known for its ironworks; after the Renaissance it came to be a center for the manufacture of weapons. By the mid 16th century Val Trompia had forty ironworks, supplied by fifty mines and eight smelters. The birthplace of Beretta is in the village of Gardone located on the banks of the Mella river, in the middle of Val Trompia (i.e., between the upper valley and lower valley).
The Beretta forge was in operation from about 1500, although the first documented transaction is a contract dated October 3, 1526 for 185 arquebus barrels, for which the Republic of Venice was to pay 296 ducats to Maestro di Canne (master gun-barrel maker) (Italian). The original account document for the order of those barrels is now stored in the (Italian) in Venice. By the end of the 17th century, Beretta had become the second largest gun barrel maker in Gardone.
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Wikipedia