Читать книгу Gun Digest Book of Beretta Pistols. Function | Accuracy | Performance онлайн

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The magazine release was a button recessed into the lower rear corner of the left grip panel. The safety was a cross-bolt, which was pressed to the right for “fire” from the left side of the pistol, and to the left for “safe” from the right side of the weapon.

Produced primarily in 9mm but also in .30 Luger, the gun featured the open slide concept of Marengoni. With no upper slide to snag a spent casing during its ejection arc if something went wrong, it was remarkably jam-free. The common “stovepipe” malfunction, in which a spent casing is caught in the ejection port and sticks up like an exhaust pipe, was virtually unknown with this gun. Similarly, the open top above the barrel eliminated a major area where sand and dirt could accumulate and create friction against the barrel that could jam the weapon.

This feature was almost immediately recognized and appreciated by the fledgling nation of Israel, and by the Arab states surrounding it. The Maadi Company was licensed by Beretta to build copies of the 951 for Engineering Industries of Cairo. This Egyptian-made pistol was known as the Helwan.