beretta m35 1944 .32acp

[chuck303]

hers this neat old relic, awesome to shoot although i do not like to, my ww2 beretta model 35 or "m35" according to Whittington's records it was included in a delivery of 65,000 Beretta M1934/35 pistols delivered to the German Army Headquarters in Italy between Aug 1944 and Feb, 1945. Those serial # were 534000/599000.- "mine has #'s in that range"
After the 8 September 1943 armistice between Italy and the Allies, the Germans saddled Beretta with three engineers from Germany. Moreover the factory was garrisoned by the SS... Weapons of that time, even the ones produced for the Germans, bore the punch mark 4UT
(Quarto Ufficio tecnico di Controllo Armi e Munizioni--4th Technnical Control Unit
an C. Still, in Axis Pistols, page 107, states,
"It is likely that almost all of the 4/UT, ...were used by the German Army". He also includes two other variations in this statement, "1944 dated and blank slide Model 1935".
Ugo Menchini, in Pietro Beretta Le Automatiche, regarding an M1934, page 255, states,
"In late 1940 there appears an oval including the punch mark IVU. It refers to the 4th technical Control Unit of the FAG, where inspection was carried out."
Note that, while they seem to represent the same inspectors, the "IVU" is not
the same mark as the "4UT". The IVU would be found on the pre RSI model M1934, and the 4UT would be found on the RSI model M1935.
These are the reasons why I believe that it is likely that all of the 4UT Berettas were RSI pistols.
great bore, crisp action no rust at all on the inside parts,minor rust pitting on one side of slide, half cock feature, perfect grips, lanyard.
great piece of history and a fun shooter.

[COLT 1911A1]

Great one, chuck303...Outstanding research too...It appears to be 'in the white' or is chromed ?
Take care, Thanos.

[chuck303]

shucks man i am unsure, i got it from a vet who still tinkers with guns and he tried to perma blue it.
if you guys have seen that stuff around its terrible and rubs off in a day or two with moderate carry.
honestly i could wipe it off with my finger after a minute.
but all of these m35's show late war machinery and tooling marks.,
the steel is not ground or polished at all, it makes me think it was just stainless.
some of the gents i buy guns from just tinker with em , but it looks ok to me.
thanks for checkin er out, its a very neat ol heavy wartime piece.
has a great crisp action and great bore, it was well cared for i know that.
no holster or lanyard. but who knows what it was issued with originally...

[kanister]

The IVU and the 4UT were the same office, but under Italian management the IVU, before the surrender of Italy, and German the 4UT, so after september, 8 1943.
The more the end of the war approached the finish of these guns was worse, but they worked well equally.

[chuck303]

Ahh thank you for the info , manni get abit from here and there.
It's good to know all these things , thanks !
Has machinery marks under the muzzle and some milling marks
Works great, the topside ejector is Somthin to kinda watch out for
As the effin brass flings right in your face lol
Quite loud and snappy, it's so heavy though feel bad for the guys that lugged them around.
But that's why it's still here I suppose it was meant to last

[vintagearms]

Hi. I just acquired the same model, but one that was a lot more flea-bitten than yours. It had cracked and yellowed white Franzite grips that I was able to restore pretty nicely with ceram-coat acrylic paint. It also is lighter than the blued models I see, but I believe it originally had some blue that's worn off over time. I'm going to think about refinishing it for a long time before maybe taking that step. I might just clean it up and keep it nude except for protective oil.

It's tough finding magazines for it. I was wondering if anyone here knew whether the 32acp magazines for the Model 1915 or 1919 were compatible with the 1935? From what I've gathered so far on the web, they're either perfect matches except for the butt plate, or else either a bit too short or long to feed probably.

I also bought a 948 which is a slightly later 22LR version.

Both of these guns are beautifully designed and well-built. I can see why the Germans wanted them, and how Beretta gained such a great reputation.

[kanister]

Some pictures of your beauty?

[vintagearms]

Some pictures of your beauty?

Like I said it's a bit flea-bitten. There were a few big cracks in the grips with separation. You can guess where they were in the pics. I did a quick clean-up of the gun but need to give it a good work-over when I have more time.




You'll notice it has no military markings. Before it arrived I mistakenly thought the grips said "Pranzite" which translates to "take lunch" -- based on that I thought it was probably a police captain or bureaucrat's pistol. But I found out they're Franziti which was a company that made grips.

BTW, I found a source for after-market magazines and they seem like very nice people.
After I get them I'll post a shooting report.

Pistol Magazine from JoCo Clips and Mags

I love the weight and feel of this gun. I have big hands and for a small gun it fits nicely.

[kanister]

Your gun was produced between december 1944 and jannuary 1945 and these grips are not standard.
I think that they are post war refinishment: I may be wrong but the Franzite Company was established in Chicago.

[vintagearms]

Your gun was produced between december 1944 and jannuary 1945 and these grips are not standard.
I think that they are post war refinishment.

Thanks. I know it's not a great collectors piece but I got it at an amazingly low price (less than $200 incl shipping). I have other guns that are in better shape. The Beretta 948 I have is in very good shape with original grips. I'll post pics later.

I also have this Astra 600 which is a pretty nifty WW2 era gun commissioned by the Nazis but never delivered.