beretta in old safe

[atr]

I am a structural engineer and sometimes my work involves remodels of older buildings.
On a current project we discovered an old safe half buried in the basement. We pried the old door off and inside we found a Beretta Model 1934 .380 wrapped in a oily rag along with some drug paraphernalia, old ammunition and a very nice skinning knife. The Beretta was in very good shape; no rust, the slide and safety worked. The box of ammo had a price of $8.80 which dates it.
Does anyone have any idea of how much this model of Beretta is worth?
best
atr

[Dutchman]

Mine is from the 1941 Romanian contract. Its in very nice condition.

Suggest you go to Gunbroker.com and search closed auctions. That's much more realistic source of intell than some dude on the net. Like me:-).

$350-450 or not. They are pretty common in the U.S. Not rare.

Considering the origin I'd want to run the numbers with the local fuzz.

https://images20.fotki.com/v1632/photos/2/28344/157842/beretta3-vi.jpg (https://public.fotki.com/dutchman/crufflerstuff/vintage_firearms/beretta3.html)

[atr]

good suggestion about having those serial numbers checked
thanks
atr

[G W Wade]

Thought mine was a 1935, but I am not knowledgable on Beretta's. But the story is the goal. My uncle was in the Army in WW2. On return to US another soldier wanted to go out on the town. Uncle loaned him $20 with the 1935 for colateral. Guy never came back to claim. Now 60 plus years later is mine, GW

[Frosty Boolit]

A friend of mine was pulling down some crummy ceiling in his newly acquired house and a heavy sock came down on top of one ceiling panel and smacked him right in the face then fell on the floor. Inside was a small Beretta pistol. I think it was a 25acp. This never happens to me!

[Winger Ed.]

This never happens to me!

Me neither.
My Dad knew a guy that bought a house in the 50s.
He was doing a remodel a year or two later and found a unfired German MP-40 packed in grease inside a wall.
All I've ever found in a wall tear out is old newspapers.

[pete501]

Show us the knife.

[Scrounge]

Me neither.
My Dad knew a guy that bought a house in the 50s.
He was doing a remodel a year or two later and found a unfired German MP-40 packed in grease inside a wall.
All I've ever found in a wall tear out is old newspapers.

All I've ever gotten is rat droppings. Count your blessings!

Bill

[Outpost75]

The 1934 pistols in 9mm Corto and the 1935s in 7.65mm have some differences so that the barrels, slides and magazines won't interchange. Both are well made, sturdy and reliable pistols. Best reference on these in English is Italian Small Arms of the First and Second World Wars by Ralph Ricci and published by Schiffer, Ltd. For pistols in Italian service the frame marking on the left side indicates RE for Royal Army, RM for Royal Navy within a circle or shield divided into four quadrants or RA for Royal Air Force with a. Eagle surmounted by a crown. The Forestry Guards had an eagle and crown with two crossed axes. Pistols were issued with a holster and two magazines, officers being issued a brown leather holster, other military ranks a gray-green holster of either leather, or later heavy canvas. Carabinieri were issued a black holster and municipal police a white holster. Total production of the 1934 was over a million. The last guns were produced in 1980 and issued to the Guardia di Finanza and bore a letter T prefix.

WW2 era guns started with an F letter prefix, followed by a G block, the C block of numbers began in 1946. Postwar production continued through the alphabet until the H block.

WW2 era pistols in fine collector condition with full kit and capture papers bring up to $1000 at auction. Ordinary shooter - grade guns in worn, but serviceable condition these days go for $400-600 depending upon markings and condition. Postwar commercial guns in nice condition $400-500.

[atr]

outpost 75.
thanks for the information. I now know what more to look for. This pistol seems to be in very good condition.
best
atr

[Bulldogger]

Me neither.
My Dad knew a guy that bought a house in the 50s.
He was doing a remodel a year or two later and found a unfired German MP-40 packed in grease inside a wall.
All I've ever found in a wall tear out is old newspapers.

Then there's people who find dynamite in the walls. It's not always good to find more than newspaper...

[FergusonTO35]

Me neither.
My Dad knew a guy that bought a house in the 50s.
He was doing a remodel a year or two later and found a unfired German MP-40 packed in grease inside a wall.
All I've ever found in a wall tear out is old newspapers.

If he registered it during the 1968 amnesty that thing would be worth as much as a nice new truck these days.

[Thin Man]

Many years ago the wife and I bought a house that used electric "ceil-heat" panels as the heat source. One particular winter was really cold and the electric bill went way up. When Spring arrived I opened the trap door in the ceiling to see how much insulation we had over head and if more could benefit us. While shining a flashlight near that opening the beam from the flashlight bounced back at me. I reached for the source of that reflection and picked up what appeared to be a really dusty slide for a tiny size pistol, as in a child's toy. Below it was a magazine that was not so dusty with the letters "FN" in a circle at the bottom of the mag body. BINGO! I knew what I had found - a Baby Browning .25 auto which cleaned up to 80%. All of the parts were there. One grip panel was broken and the trigger and bar were out of the frame. I replaced the grips and the pistol stayed with us until I found an opportunity to trade it for a rifle I wanted.

[bedbugbilly]

If you or someone else keeps it . . .follow the suggestion to have an LEO run the serial numbers . . . given what you found with it, it might be clean or it might not be . . . and it could bite you in the hind end if it was dirty and in your possession under the right circumstances the way things are today.

[Gtek]

Having the check done by local/state and keeping documentation showing good intent one would think is a stay out of trouble for possible future whatever if found clean by "them". My home was burglarized several decades ago and several of the very detailed descriptions with the CORRECT serial numbers were ALMOST correctly installed on/in database. When they were contacted I was told they were professionals and this was done daily by them. When I ask if I had heard correctly "that you make evidence input mistakes daily?" the conversation went south rather quickly. I would definitely be hung smack center up on the fence, unless one were planning a bank/convenience store spree?

[Walks]

Back in 1968 My Dad rented a house near the Big Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Los Angeles. Part of the deal has cleaning out the junk and fixing things up. We were cleaning out the garage and I found a big old pre-war countertop radio. It lit up when plugged in. We opened the back and a Colt SAA wrapped up in oilcloth was inside. A 5 1/2" .38-40, very clean smokeless frame. Last I saw that radio was next to his basement window still working fine in 1986. The Colt was burgled by His future ex-stepson I law in 1974.
Wish I had both today.