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.
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