Finnish Marked Beretta M34 Pistol

[lithgow]

The Finns used a wide variety of 'pocket pistols' as military weapons. Amongst these were Italian Beretta pistols of various models as Italy was a major weapons exporter, the Finns having bought equipment ranging from Carcano M38 Short Rifles to Fiat G50 'Arrow' fighters. Ordered by the Civil Guard Home Command in 1941, 400 M34 pistols in 9mm Corto/.380 ACP were not delivered until April 1943 and these were then issued to the Civil Guard for home defence. The pistol has the Sk Y markings and separate Rack Numbers in the 0100 to 0500 range on the left of the frame.

Following the 1944 treaty that ended the Finnish war against the Soviets, the Civil Guard was disbanded and their weapons handed over to the Regular Army so the weapons are also marked 'SA'. These remained in storage until most of the surplus Finnish weapons of various types were sold off in the mid 1980s. The pistol itself is in very good condition and shows the high standard of manufacture still evident in 1942.

[hydroxycool]

I have one of the 900 model 1934s which were substituted by the Italians when they were unable to complete the Finnish army's order for 4000 model 1935s.



You can see the SA Finnish army acceptance mark on the frame. Sorry for the poor quality photograph.

Also note the word BREVETTATA in the slide legend. BREVETTATA was supposedly used exclusively on model 1935s vs. BREVETTATO which was used on model 1934s. There is some speculation that BREVATTATA was used only for the 900 model 1934s that made up the shortfall in the Finnish army's 1941 order for model 1935s. To make it even more complicated, most Beretta pistols made in 1941/42 are marked with the abbreviation BREVET. (like your pistol).

Finally note the unusual abbreviation "Mo 934" on my pistol vs. the more usual "Mo 1934" on your pistol. The "Mo 934" abbreviation on war time production pistols was very short lived, apparently only being used during 1942. It was once thought that the "Mo 934" was just an error in the roll stamp. However, the current thinking is that it was not an error but rather was used to gain a little more space for the wording of the legend.

With the 500 Finnish Civil Guard model 1934s (of which your pistol is one) and the 900 Finnish Army model 1934s (which my pistol is one of) a total of 1400 Beretta model 1934s were accepted for Finnish military service in WWII.