SouldustPro
New member
Hello fellow shooting friends-
I have an Italian made Beretta model 418 .25 semi-automatic pistol with a stamped date of 1953. It has been in a case in a file cabinet at my father's house for maybe 15-20 years in a relatively controlled environment. I had it checked out at a gun shop specializing in curios & relics, and the firing mechanism and everything else works great. The problem is that most .25 ammo does not fit into the barrel.
I disassembled the gun and cleaned the bore area, and ran a few cleaner-soaked patches through the barrel. There are no obstructions. There is a number stamped on the barrel -- 8239 on one side, and a logo with the letters "PSF" on the other side of the barrel. I purchased a box of American Eagle 25 Auto 50 Gr. TMJ rounds from the local gun shop, which is made by Federal, so it should be well-made factory ammo. What happens is that when I insert a round into the chamber, it only goes in halfway. It gets stuck. When I removed the barrel and tested it again, it was the same result. I tried a few rounds out of a box of Hornady .25 ammo, and several of them actually did fit into the bore, but not many. Remington won't fit either. Obviously to me, this seems like an issue of the bore diameter.
I took the gun to another gunsmith who told me that in 1953, the specs for bullet diameter were likely slightly different. We found that the only round that would actually fire was Magtech .25ACP. I took it to the range and fired off 8 Magtech rounds without a single issue, even after all these years (pretty good PR for Beretta, I'd say :icon_cheesygrin
Here's the question: Does this sound like a gun that should be shelved in a safe, sold to the highest bidder, or have the springs replaced and carried? Any thoughts?
I have an Italian made Beretta model 418 .25 semi-automatic pistol with a stamped date of 1953. It has been in a case in a file cabinet at my father's house for maybe 15-20 years in a relatively controlled environment. I had it checked out at a gun shop specializing in curios & relics, and the firing mechanism and everything else works great. The problem is that most .25 ammo does not fit into the barrel.
I disassembled the gun and cleaned the bore area, and ran a few cleaner-soaked patches through the barrel. There are no obstructions. There is a number stamped on the barrel -- 8239 on one side, and a logo with the letters "PSF" on the other side of the barrel. I purchased a box of American Eagle 25 Auto 50 Gr. TMJ rounds from the local gun shop, which is made by Federal, so it should be well-made factory ammo. What happens is that when I insert a round into the chamber, it only goes in halfway. It gets stuck. When I removed the barrel and tested it again, it was the same result. I tried a few rounds out of a box of Hornady .25 ammo, and several of them actually did fit into the bore, but not many. Remington won't fit either. Obviously to me, this seems like an issue of the bore diameter.
I took the gun to another gunsmith who told me that in 1953, the specs for bullet diameter were likely slightly different. We found that the only round that would actually fire was Magtech .25ACP. I took it to the range and fired off 8 Magtech rounds without a single issue, even after all these years (pretty good PR for Beretta, I'd say :icon_cheesygrin
Here's the question: Does this sound like a gun that should be shelved in a safe, sold to the highest bidder, or have the springs replaced and carried? Any thoughts?
