Fabbrica d’Armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A. is an Italian company born of the dream and capability of a renaissance craftsman. Thanks to the courage, vision and skills of its lineage, its name has earned international status for its high-tech content, performance and for the Italian style that distinguishes its products.
Passed down through 15 generations of the Beretta family, the company was already active in 
Gardone Valtrompia in the 1400s and its work has been documented since 1526.
First came the legendary Bartolomeo (from before 1498 to 1565-8). Then Pietro (1791-1853), who was the first to bring the Beretta name into the family, started the works to expand the business. His son Giuseppe (1840-1903) opened new international horizons and in turn the latter’s son Pietro (1870-1957) transformed the artisan business into a manufacturing concern by introducing modern production techniques. Under the guidance of Pietro’s sons Giuseppe (1906-1993) and Carlo (1908-1984), the firm became a multinational and achieved brilliant success in the military and sporting sectors. Beretta has always produced weapons.
In the last decades, with Ugo Gussalli Beretta at the guidance of the company, the firm has opened a headquarter in the United States, the main gun market, awarded the largest military contract in modern history by letting the 92FS pistol to become the official sidearm of the US Armed Forces and starting a product diversification that brought the company to act on the market as the main player together with a clothing line, accessories and leisure.
Almost 500 years of business have enriched Beretta with enormous experience and knowledge which allowed it to develop specific and superior technology in the field of precision mechanics. Throughout time, the company eventually became larger and larger. The covered surface area of the factory rose from 10,000 m2 at the beginning of the 1900s to its current size of over 110,000 m2.
The production departments feature fully automated work centres and highly qualified craftsmen, a prerequisite for achieving the degree of precision and high quality contemplated by its design projects. The design department has advanced systems for calculating pressure by using the finite elements method. The laboratories are equipped for research in impulsive-dynamics applied to the weapon-ammunition system, for metallographic analyses and fatigue tests.
Production and Design work together with Marketing and Sales to develop new products and meet the customers’ requirements.
Marketing and Sales also use modern IT systems (Internet and Intranet) to provide the maximum backup for the peripheral organisations and promptly meet market demand.
What We’re Known For
Industriousness, inventiveness, traditional methods, attention to the needs of its customers and its craftsmen, as well as ongoing research, technological improvement and state-of-the-art manufacturing methods are the foundation on which Beretta has built its image. Since 1526 its competition and military firearms have brought the trademark of this historical gun manufacturer.