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GunsAmerica Exclusive: Beretta’s 500-Year Factory Tour Will Floor You by Garrett Negen

We stepped inside Beretta’s living headquarters in Gardone Val Trompia to see 3,000 historic firearms, cutting-edge Industry 4.0 lines, and a subterranean range that dives two hundred meters into the mountain.

Beretta headquarters in Gardone Val Trompia Italy exterior of factory and museum

Beretta’s Living History In Gardone Val Trompia

By any reasonable metric, Fabbrica d’Armi Pietro Beretta occupies rare ground in the firearms world. Founded in 1526, Beretta is the oldest continuously operating gunmaker on earth, and after touring the company’s Italian headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Gardone Val Trompia, it is clear that history here is not something preserved behind glass alone. It is something still very much alive on the factory floor.

A Museum That Rebuilds The Firearms Story

The tour begins upstairs in Beretta’s private historical collection, a room housing roughly 3,000 pieces. This is not simply a gallery of old guns. Alongside complete commercial and military firearms are prototypes, experimental designs, and examples from other manufacturers. The goal is ambitious: to reconstruct the broader history of firearms development, not just Beretta’s.

Beretta museum gun library with 3000 firearms in Gardone Val Trompia Italy — The Beretta library of firearms contains around 3000 pieces.

The collection is carefully divided. One side focuses on sporting and hunting arms, the other on military and service weapons. Contents of the collection range from simple, utilitarian designs to some of the most ornate firearms ever produced. Early matchlock and flintlock examples showcase black powder ignition systems, while experimental multi-barrel guns and unconventional firing systems demonstrate the significant trial and error that went into early firearm development.

Damascus barrel making examples at Beretta museum showing spiral forge welded construction — Examples of the Damascus barrel-making process.

One recurring theme is Beretta’s reputation for barrel making. Historically, Beretta barrels, alongside Belgian examples, were considered among the safest and most reliable in Europe. The traditional Damascus spiral method, requiring only iron, wood, water, and an immense amount of skill, relied on twisting, hammering, and forge-welding layered steel into barrels strong enough to withstand early black powder pressures. Several examples of single, double, triple, and even four-barrelled firearms illustrate the experimentation that defined the era.

Fine Guns Taken Seriously

One cabinet stands apart, showcasing what Beretta refers to as “intensified arms,” high-end firearms that exist far beyond industrial or military production. A matched pair of 12-gauge shotguns gifted to Cavalier Ugo Gussalli Beretta on his seventieth birthday exemplifies this philosophy.

Matched pair of Beretta 12 gauge shotguns engraved and inlaid with multi color gold — A stunning pair.

Both guns are stocked from the same walnut blank, engraved by a British artist, and inlaid with five different types of gold: white, yellow, blue, green, and brown. The engraving reflects the owner’s tastes: one receiver depicts the Beretta Gallery of New York and American waterfowl scenes, while the other features portraits of his favorite dogs and a personal likeness.

Luxury Beretta shotgun pair with rosewood and walnut case craftsmanship detail — The workmanship displayed in both the guns and the case is exemplary.

Containing these shotguns is an equally remarkable gun case, built from rosewood and walnut by a craftsman connected to the British royal family. It includes hidden drawers, integrated cleaning tools, and craftsmanship that rivals the firearms it was built to house.

Not every piece in the collection is practical. One exhibition gun, adorned with diamonds, was intended to showcase the skill of Beretta engravers and jewelers. It was fired briefly until diamonds began popping out of their mounts. The gun now remains purely an object of art, insured for roughly €270,000.

Beretta 92 style pistol covered in 1193 diamonds totaling 90 carats exhibition piece — 1193 diamonds. 90 carats in total.

Military Cabinets And Modern Icons

The collection transitions naturally into military history. Mausers, Enfields, Mosin-Nagants, and some of the first fully automatic designs line the cabinets. Among them are pistols made for foreign dignitaries, including gold-plated examples destined for Middle Eastern royalty, later redesigned when it became clear that gold’s softness and heat conductivity compromised functionality.

One cabinet houses Lugers and their accessories, while others highlight Beretta pistols that many American shooters know well, including early predecessors to the Model 92 and M9 platforms. A particularly telling example comes from a Swedish shooting school, which returned a functional Beretta pistol after 500,000 rounds.

Beretta gun cabinets packed with historic pistols rifles and pull out drawers — Every cabinet contains dozens of historic firearms. Even the drawers pull out to reveal additional layers.

There are also cultural touchstones, film props, Olympic competition guns, and rare markings that trace Beretta’s evolving logos. The famous three-arrow emblem, still in use today, was adopted in the mid 20th century with the blessing of Italian poet and nationalist Gabriele D’Annunzio. The symbol, originally a naval motif, represents disabling a ship’s controls, breaching the hull, and ultimately sinking it, an image D’Annunzio felt fitting for a firearms manufacturer.

An Industrial Ecosystem With Range

Beretta’s history is not limited to firearms. Displays include motorcycles produced in the mid 20th century, small aircraft engines, experimental watercraft, and advertising artifacts spanning decades. These ventures underscore the company’s broader engineering curiosity and willingness to innovate outside its core business.

Restored vintage Beretta motorcycles displayed at headquarters — Some of the staff ride restored Beretta motorcycles to work on occasion.

That same mindset defines modern Beretta Holding. Today, the company operates as an integrated ecosystem encompassing firearms, optics, ammunition, and accessories. Brands like Tikka, Sako, Steiner, Norma, RWS, and others allow Beretta to offer complete end-to-end solutions, particularly attractive for military and law enforcement contracts.

The scale of the Gardone facility reflects this. The interconnected campus spans over one million square feet, with machining, assembly, warehousing, and administrative spaces linked by tunnels, bridges, and corridors. Firearms move from one stage to the next without ever leaving company property.

Tucked away in one of these corridors was an early ’90s American car, a Chevy Beretta. While Beretta did not intentionally partner with Chevy, it worked out that way in the end. Apparently, GM had brought the Beretta to market without ever consulting with Beretta Italy, which owned the naming rights. After learning of the American automobile, the Beretta family reached out to General Motors, and a deal was made for the use of the name. This deal included the delivery of one Chevy Beretta to Gardone Val Trompia, Italy, and a $150,000 donation to cancer research.

Chevy Beretta gifted to the Beretta family parked inside the Gardone facility — The Chevy Beretta was given to the Beretta family by General Motors.

Competition Guns And The Olympic Legacy

Beretta’s dominance in competitive shooting is impossible to ignore. A wall of medals traces Olympic success back decades. From platforms like the 680 and 682 to modern icons like the DT11, Beretta competition guns have accumulated more Olympic medals than any other brand.

The development process is deliberate. Features refined with elite athletes eventually filter down into production models. Balance systems, adjustable stocks, and recoil management technologies all evolve through this feedback loop before reaching civilian shooters.

The Factory Floor Blends Old Skill With New Systems

Inside the manufacturing buildings, the contrast between tradition and technology is striking. Beretta operates an Industry 4.0 environment, with predictive maintenance systems monitoring oil levels, machine wear, and production status in real time. Screens track performance continuously, allowing issues to be addressed before they disrupt production.

Beretta M9 slide forgings on the production floor in Gardone factory — M9 forgings on the production floor.

At the same time, many critical steps remain firmly human. Barrel production alone involves drilling, honing, polishing, brazing, and burnishing, much of it requiring trained eyes and hands. While machines can create straight barrels, aligning and brazing over and under sets still depends on skilled workers visually checking alignment.

Beretta treats environmental and worker safety with equal seriousness. Air quality sensors monitor chromium levels, on-site medical staff conduct regular health checks, and Beretta proactively reports issues to local authorities. It is a level of self-regulation that reflects both modern standards and long-term investment in the surrounding community.

Greenery and trees inside Beretta production areas showing clean factory environment — One example of the constant greenery throughout the production areas.

One of the most surprising features of the production floor had nothing to do with manufacturing. It was actually the sheer number of trees and plants within the facility. The idea is that if the factory is healthy for a tree, the factory is healthy for an employee.

History Under The Mountain

Perhaps the most striking moment of the tour comes as we near the mountainside. During World War II, Beretta moved key machinery into tunnels carved directly into the rock to protect operations from bombing. Workers continued production underground while the valley above was under attack.

Subterranean tunnel entrance to Beretta test range at Gardone facility — Entrance to the subterranean range.

Those tunnels still exist today, repurposed for ammunition storage and ballistic testing. The range we used plunged two hundred meters straight into the mountain. There, we fired a variety of Beretta’s new production hunting rifles and competition pistols, as well as a full-auto Beretta PMX, which recently won a contract with the Italian Military.

Beretta underground range two hundred meter tunnel used for ballistic testing — It is crazy to think this tunnel was once the prime production area of a firearms factory.

A Living Legacy With Family At The Helm

Today, Beretta remains a family-led company, with multiple generations actively involved in leadership and operations. The continuity is not symbolic; it is structural. Decisions made centuries ago about craftsmanship, self-sufficiency, and long-term thinking still shape how the company operates.

Walking through Beretta’s Italian headquarters is not just a factory tour. It is a reminder that while materials, machines, and markets change, the core principles behind a well-made firearm, precision, durability, and respect for the craft, remain timeless.

Beretta logos and branding through history displayed at Italian headquarters — What an amazing experience. The hospitality of Beretta Italy is greatly appreciated.

For shooters accustomed to seeing the Beretta logo on a slide or receiver, this visit puts everything into context. The guns we handle today are not isolated products. They are the latest chapter in a story still being written, one forged, quite literally, over five centuries.

Be sure to check out Beretta’s Website for more information on the company’s history or to browse their extensive catalog of firearms.

Beretta Factory Tour Fast Facts

Founded	1526
Museum Collection	About 3000 pieces
Factory Size	Over one million square feet
Diamond Exhibition Gun	1193 diamonds, 90 carats, insured at €270,000
Swedish School Test	Beretta pistol returned functional after 500,000 rounds
Tunnel Range	Two hundred meters into the mountain
Chevy Beretta Deal	$150,000 donation to cancer research and one car delivered

Pros And Cons Of The Beretta Factory Experience

Pros: Deep, hands-on look at 500 years of craft; rare access to competition and military icons; Industry 4.0 insights; unforgettable tunnel range.
Cons: Overwhelming volume of artifacts in one visit; some exhibition pieces are art only; access is limited and scheduled.

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Henry Ziegland The Unluckiest Guy in the World By Will Dabbs, MD

This is the only known surviving photograph of Henry Ziegland. He is standing on the right alongside his brother Jacob. Public domain.

Henry Ziegland was born in 1861 in Honey Grove, Texas. He came of age on the Ziegland family farm. Young Henry was a man of the earth. However, his formative years were chaotic.

Young Love

Henry inherited the family spread upon his parents’ deaths. In 1878, the young man began dating Miss Sharla Karis. Some historical accounts of this story refer to her as Maisie for some reason. The two young people were smitten.

In what was quite radical for the day, they shacked up together on Henry’s farm without the benefit of marriage. Three years later, they moved into Sharla’s old house, and Henry gifted the family land to his brother Jacob.

Five years after they met, Henry developed cold feet and walked out on Sharla. The poor girl was heartbroken. In a fit of depression, she took her own life. Sharla’s brother James was incensed by this.

His sister had been done wrong, and he was going to make things right. Arming himself, James tracked Henry down and found him tending his horses in the barn on his old family farm.

Prisons are not typically filled with psychopaths. They are populated by people who have poor impulse control. James Karis was not born a monster. He was simply angry. His judgment clouded by rage, James approached Henry and attempted to shoot him through the head.

For any normal person, taking a human life is an anxiety-producing event. James wobbled at the last minute, and his round simply grazed the cheek of his intended victim.

Henry realized what was happening and wisely feigned death. The errant bullet passed out of the barn and embedded itself in a nearby tree. James, believing his diabolical mission complete, then shot himself in the head and died. Henry regained his wits and went on to make a full recovery.

Wheelguns from the early 20th century were oftentimes not terribly powerful. However, they nonetheless yet remained quite dangerous.

What are the Odds?

Two decades later, Henry had moved on from the sordid events of that day in the barn. He still resided on the plot of family land that had figured so prominently in his courtship with poor Sharla Karis.

Eventually, however, the big tree outside the barn had outlived its usefulness. Henry enlisted the assistance of his brother Jacob to remove the offending broadleaf.

It was 1903, the same year the Wright brothers first took flight. It would be another 26 years before Andreas Stihl patented the first man-portable, gasoline-powered chainsaw.

Henry and Jacob chopped down the tree with an axe until they grew weary of it. That’s when the two boys decided to do the manly thing and seek out some dynamite.

Tools versus Toys

I mourn the passing of high explosives in respectable American society. There was a time not so long ago when you could buy explosives with little more than a driver’s license and an excuse.

Blowing stuff up is one of the few marketable skills I retain from the military. I once purchased a whole pile of Kinepak and det cord and used it to clear a dozen beaver dams off of my rural farm.

No kidding, pre-9/11, I bought the stuff out of the trunk of a man’s car in the parking lot of a rural church. Tragically, you can’t do that anymore. When folks complain about testosterone levels dropping precipitously among American males, that’s probably why.

Back in 1903, nobody thought anything about being able to walk out of the local hardware store with a crate of dynamite — cash and carry. You didn’t have to show a driver’s license because, back then, driver’s licenses weren’t a thing.

Nowadays, you have to show ID to buy duct tape at Wal-Mart (no kidding, the chronically exhausted clerk explained that some idiots were taking duct tape, rolling it into little cylinders and smoking it to get high. Holy snap …)

Technical Details

The effectiveness of an explosive is determined by how quickly it burns. Propellants like black powder have a combustion velocity of around 2,000 feet per second. By contrast, C4 high explosive conflagrates at 26,550 fps.

Traditional dynamite of the sort that Henry Ziegland might have used burns closer to 24,000 fps. This characteristic is called brisance. An explosive’s brisance reflects its capacity to shatter stuff.

Henry and Jacob packed the base of the tree with dynamite, primed everything, and lit the fuse. They then stepped back to admire their handiwork.

As anyone who has ever watched those horrifying Tannerite mishap videos on YouTube will attest, it is actually the stepping back a safe distance bit that is the most critical part of the enterprise.

Things Go All Pear-Shaped…

When the explosive charge went off, it duly shattered the thick tree trunk. Incredibly, James Karis’s old bullet, nestled inert within the tree for more than two decades, was energized a second time. The errant projectile flew through the air, struck Henry Ziegland in the left temple, and killed him on the spot.

It seemed that, 20 years after his murderous attack, Sharla’s brother James did indeed complete his mission. He ultimately killed Henry Ziegland, the world’s unluckiest man, from beyond the grave.

Any ideas out there about what kind of rifle this is? Asking for a friend

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