mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-Had a bit of a dry spell the last 3-4 months. Sometimes I was a single bid short (which really hurts) and others I got blown out, not even in the game. Then got a break starting with a tiny NC auction last week. In it were some interesting lots with poor descriptions. The kind of stuff you had to lay eyes on, no keyword search was gonna get the job done. And one lot in particular labelled "Brevetto 1945 - 9mm".
-The item in question was a rare Beretta Model 1915 chambered in 9mm Glisenti. One of only about 15K built during WWI, production was done for the Army in three batches of 5K each. SN on this one placed it early in the last batch. Probably late 1916 or early 1917. I remember writing in an earlier thread where I scored a nice Beretta 1922 and mentioned that if you ever ran across a 1915 in 9mm Glisenti buy it. Well I took my own advice and bid live to be sure I got it. Values on the few of these to come to market in the last 5 yrs have run from a low of $750 to a high of $1500. There was no strong competition and I was thrilled to get it for hundreds less than my line in the sand.
-The 1915 is the first semi automatic pistol produced by Beretta. A simple blow-back design (which is all that's needed for the weak 9mm Gilsenti cartridge), it's much larger than you'd think. It's the grandpa of the 1934, 1951 and 92F. What's very unusual are the two safety levers. One on the left side that does double duty as a trigger safety and take down latch. The other is on the rear of the slide and blocks the hammer (this is an internal hammer design, much like the Colt "Hammerless" 1903/1908). If either safety is engaged no bang.
-It's a slick design and I can see why it would be preferred to the Model 1910 Glisenti which is very wonky and had to cost much more to produce. Nearly all of the 15,300 built went to the Army with the balance of 300 sold on the commercial market. The survival rate for these couldn't have been high, you just don't see them some to sale. This is the 3rd I could find to sell in the last 4 yrs (RIA and Morphy). Simpson currently has two listed for sale at $1500 & $900.
-Ian @ Forgotten Weapons has a nice video on Youtube about the 1915 showing the take down and operation. It has to be the easiest pistol I've ever handled for take down. So simple and clever.
-The item in question was a rare Beretta Model 1915 chambered in 9mm Glisenti. One of only about 15K built during WWI, production was done for the Army in three batches of 5K each. SN on this one placed it early in the last batch. Probably late 1916 or early 1917. I remember writing in an earlier thread where I scored a nice Beretta 1922 and mentioned that if you ever ran across a 1915 in 9mm Glisenti buy it. Well I took my own advice and bid live to be sure I got it. Values on the few of these to come to market in the last 5 yrs have run from a low of $750 to a high of $1500. There was no strong competition and I was thrilled to get it for hundreds less than my line in the sand.
-The 1915 is the first semi automatic pistol produced by Beretta. A simple blow-back design (which is all that's needed for the weak 9mm Gilsenti cartridge), it's much larger than you'd think. It's the grandpa of the 1934, 1951 and 92F. What's very unusual are the two safety levers. One on the left side that does double duty as a trigger safety and take down latch. The other is on the rear of the slide and blocks the hammer (this is an internal hammer design, much like the Colt "Hammerless" 1903/1908). If either safety is engaged no bang.
-It's a slick design and I can see why it would be preferred to the Model 1910 Glisenti which is very wonky and had to cost much more to produce. Nearly all of the 15,300 built went to the Army with the balance of 300 sold on the commercial market. The survival rate for these couldn't have been high, you just don't see them some to sale. This is the 3rd I could find to sell in the last 4 yrs (RIA and Morphy). Simpson currently has two listed for sale at $1500 & $900.
-Ian @ Forgotten Weapons has a nice video on Youtube about the 1915 showing the take down and operation. It has to be the easiest pistol I've ever handled for take down. So simple and clever.
