Beretta Brev. 950-6.25 "1953"

[hw3tnt]

I have an older Beretta Brev.950-6.25 and dont know exactly what the pistol is about. Do yall know what the Brev. means on the slide? The markings on the frame has a star in a circle stamped before the 1953 and below that is PSP. Above the 1953 looks like a box with a X in it 'maybe 2 rifles crossed like a shield' I cant tell. The serial number is 64075B. Slide says made in italy. Grips are black with BERETTA on the top and a silver emblem on bottom about the size of a dime with PB on it.
I dont know if its a 950 jet or what it is. Any one have any ideas about this pistol at all? Is it safe to carry? Maybe a value? Rifling is good but entire finish looks to have been sanded. Thanks for your help. BIGNICK MVC-022S.JPG

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[RJay]

If I RC you have a 950 Jet Eire in .25ACP. The 950 B was in 22 Short, The markings are proof mark and date. Breve ( Brevete Sp? ) means patent applied for

[Bill DeShivs]

Early 950 Jetfire .25.
Great little guns.

[Deaf Smith]

Yea, early one. No stinking manual safety. Just simple as can be. Cock it to fire, uncock it to carry. Reliable as all getout!

Deaf

[carguychris]

Originally Posted by hw3tnt

Is it safe to carry?

Yes— at least reasonably so—provided this is done with the hammer all the way down.

Contrary to popular misconception, the half-cock position on these pistols is meant strictly as a safety feature DURING COCKING, and NOT for carry. The pistol has an inertial firing pin, i.e. the firing pin is too short to touch the primer when the hammer is resting against the slide. The firing pin is designed to be driven forward by the hammer's inertia (hence the name) in order to fire the round. If the pistol is carried on half-cock and dropped onto a hard surface, and it lands on the hammer, the impact could break the sear and the firing pin could be driven forward hard enough to fire. Hence, the pistol should NEVER be carried in this manner.

With ANY inertial firing pin, there is a chance that the pistol may fire if it's dropped on the muzzle hard enough to drive the firing pin forward with its own momentum. However, the 950 is so lightweight that the chances this will happen are vanishingly remote.

Lastly—at the risk of playing Captain Obvious —the pistol has NO safety features once cocked, so you should practice safely thumbing the hammer down with the chamber unloaded. IMHO this is best done by placing the support-hand thumb in front of the hammer while gently pulling back with the firing-hand thumb as the trigger is pulled.

Originally Posted by RJay

The 950 B was in 22 Short

The 950B was an improved version with internal spring changes and a restyled barrel and slide. The 950 and 950B were both offered in .25 Auto (aka .25 ACP or 6.35 Browning) and .22 Short. The .22 Short version was sometimes marketed as the "Minx" rather than the Jetfire, but it's my understanding that this name was used inconsistently.

[hw3tnt]

It must have been dry fired a lot. I can see the base of the firing pin is sloping down where the hammer hits it. If I push the firing pin in by hand all the way, it will stick , sometimes when I fire it , it will stick. I haven't worked on guns much but it looks like I could tap the firing pin pin down and pull it out with pliers. does the firing pin need to be pushed in a little before I tap the holding pin out of the slide? Is there a catch or anything or is it straight forward, just tap it threw and out the bottom? Thanks a lot folks !! BigNick

[Bill DeShivs]

You can also tip the loaded chamber up before lowering the hammer.

Tap the retaining pin out from the bottom of the slide. The firing pin will spring out when the retaining pin clears, so keep your thumb or finger over it.
Any burrs should be removed, and the firing pin hole cleaned out well with WD 40 and Q-tips.
When reinstalling the retaining pin the rear of the firing pin must be held flush with the slide.

[hw3tnt]

Thanks again. One last question? When I push the lever for the barrel to pop up most of the time the slide hops up off track . Could something worn out or missing that I might be able to repair? Ive looked at it closely and see nothing wrong The slide wants to be aggravating to get locked back down sometimes. I know its hard to answer without seeing this in person but I do appreciate your help. Thanks BigNick

[Bill DeShivs]

Make sure there is a light coat of oil on the breech face.

[carguychris]

Originally Posted by Bill DeShivs

Make sure there is a light coat of oil on the breech face.

Given that the finish appears to have been clumsily sanded, it could be that the breech face needs to be polished as well.

[hw3tnt]

Pin came right out and seems to be made of soft steel. easy to file the burr off. Would it be ok to roll the pin around so the hammer would have fresh metal to hit? Seems to me this would work but Im not even close to being a gun smith . I think there was 64yr of dirt in the hole the pin slides in but it cleaned up nicely. I thought your name was familiar. BillThe Knife does beautiful work! Thanks for the help Big Nick

[hw3tnt]

Ill check that to. Is 3in1 oil ok? Thanks.

[Bill DeShivs]

You can move the pin around a little.
Should you need a new firing pin, I make them.

[hw3tnt]

I have a old SW mod 1 or mod 2 break barrel double action pistol 38cal. About 1900 date I'm told. It needs a cylinder stop. I cant see one looking down in where it goes and a gun repair guy told me it cant be fixed. Now I like your style (I can make one ). That statement goes a long way with me. I think he says it cant be fixed because he doesn't have a box of replacement parts laying around I would like to send this to you when I get it back and let you look at it. I will send you a pic when I get it back then you can think about it anyhow. Do you know about the cylinder stops? Thanks Big Nick

[Bill DeShivs]

I only make parts for a few guns now, but any competent gunsmith should be able to fabricate parts!

[James K]

Anything that one person has made another person can copy/make. The problem is three-fold. The first is that the job simply may not be reasonably possible with typical home tools (think 8 cylinder engine). The second is that the job can be done with shop tools, but the person who can do it may not wish to do so simply because the work is difficult and the expected return is not sufficient. Many gun parts fall in this category; making a bolt for an M1 Garand would be an example - possible, but not exactly easy. The third is that while a part for one gun can be made and a customer might be wiling to pay the bill, other work would have to wait. Even if the customer is willing to hire the gunsmith exclusively for, say, a month, other customers will be unhappy and the smith is unlikely to be able to regain lost business.

Just FWIW, I once made a cylinder stop for an S&W Safety Hammerless. Anyone who wants to do the next one can have the job, with my best wishes.

Jim

[hw3tnt]

Well guys I feel that if I had a stop piece to look at and trace, I could take my dremmel and hand file and fashion one out of some flat metal. Maybe not, but I do have the want to fix it problem in my brain. I can take it apart I guess and take a look. Jim it sounds like it is a problem to do it but I'm not giving up yet. It looks to me like I could buy the stop. Maybe I should go to that SW group and see what I can find. Thanks for yall taking time to answer my questions and if you hear of a stop or gun for parts keep me in mind, Im in no hurry. Big Nick