The Beretta 93R is an Italian

selective-fire Selective fire is the capability of a weapon to be adjusted to fire in semi-automatic, fully automatic, and/or burst mode. The modes are chosen by means of a selector switch, which varies depending on the weapon's design. Some selective-fire we ...

machine pistol A machine pistol is an autoloading pistol capable of fully automatic fire. The term can also be used to describe a stockless handgun-style submachine gun. The term is a calque of ''Maschinenpistole'', the German word for submachine guns. Ma ...

, designed and manufactured by

Beretta Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta (; "Pietro Beretta Weapon Factory") is a privately held Italian firearms manufacturing company operating in several countries. Its firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and milita ...

in the late 1970s for police and military use, that is derived from their semi-automatic

Beretta 92 The Beretta 92 (also Beretta 96 and Beretta 98) is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and manufactured by Beretta of Italy. The Beretta 92 was designed in 1975, and production began in 1976. Many variants in several different calibers c ...

. The "R" stands for ''Raffica'', which is

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

for "volley", "flurry", or "burst" (sometimes spoken "R" as ''"Rapid"'' in English).

History

The Beretta 93R was designed to be used by the Italian counter-terrorism forces of the national police ''

Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza The ''Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza'' (NOCS) ( en, Central Security Task Group) is the police tactical unit of the Polizia di Stato, one of Italy's national police forces. It operates under the command of the ''Direzione Centrale della P ...

'' and Carabineri '' Gruppo di Intervento Speciale'' (both formed in the late 1970s in response to terrorism) but was also adopted by other police and military forces who required a concealable weapon with rapid fire capabilities.Thompson (2012) p.12–13Fowler, Anthony (2007). ''Pistols, Revolvers, and Submachine Guns'', p. 136. The pistol is a development of the

design.

Mechanics

The Beretta 93R is mechanically similar to the

. It can be selected to fire either a three round burst or single fire. A selector switch enables the operator to alternate between the two firing modes. The pistol is fitted with a collapsible angled foregrip at the front end of the trigger guard to provide better stability when firing. A folding steel

buttstock A gunstock or often simply stock, the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock, a buttstock or simply a butt, is a part of a long gun that provides structural support, to which the barrel, action, and firing mechanism are attache ...

can be attached at the heel of the grip.McNab, Chris (2004). ''The Great Book of Guns'', p. 145. The Beretta 93R is much more controllable compared to other machine pistols because it was designed with only a three round burst mode as well as a

ported barrel A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter recoil and unwanted ...

Users

* * Jones, Richard D. ''Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010''. Jane's Information Group; 35th edition (January 27, 2009). . *

References

External links

Modern Firearms
* {{Beretta firearms 93R 9mm Parabellum machine pistols Machine pistols Military equipment introduced in the 1970s