Beretta 93R

About the Beretta 93R

The Beretta 93R is an Italian selective-fire machine pistol designed and manufactured by Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta in the late 1970s. The 'R' in its designation stands for 'Raffica,' Italian for 'burst,' reflecting its signature three-round burst fire capability. Developed primarily for Italian counterterrorism and special operations forces during the turbulent 'Years of Lead' period in Italy, the 93R is based on the Beretta 92 platform but extensively modified with a longer ported barrel, heavier slide, folding foregrip, detachable folding shoulder stock, and a muzzle brake to manage recoil during burst fire. The weapon uses a short-recoil operated action with a vertically cammed locked breech and a fire selector allowing semi-automatic or three-round burst modes. Chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum, it feeds from a proprietary 20-round magazine while retaining compatibility with standard 15-round Beretta 92 magazines. The cyclic rate during burst fire reaches approximately 1,100 rounds per minute, delivering three rounds in rapid succession before the mechanism resets. Production ran from 1979 to 1993, and the 93R remains one of the most iconic machine pistols ever produced.

The 'R' in 93R stands for 'Raffica,' Italian for 'burst.' Developed during Italy's turbulent Years of Lead as a response to rising political terrorism, the 93R gave Italian counter-terrorism units a concealable weapon with devastating burst-fire capability. It remains one of the most iconic machine pistols ever produced.

Beretta 93R specifications

The Beretta 93R was preceded by the Beretta 951R, an earlier select-fire pistol design based on the Beretta M951. The index '93' designates '9mm, 3rd model' in Beretta's naming convention. Early production models featured a ported barrel with three exhaust notches on either side of the muzzle acting as a compensator, though this feature was removed in later production. The folding metal foregrip attaches at the front of the trigger guard and the detachable steel shoulder stock clips onto the rear of the grip, converting the pistol into a more controllable carbine-like configuration. The stock weighs approximately 270 grams and extends to 368mm when deployed. The fire selector is mounted on the left side of the frame, with a single dot indicating semi-automatic and a three-dot cluster indicating burst fire mode. Civilian-legal transferable examples are extremely rare in the United States, with possibly as few as seven known specimens. The weight listed (1,170g) includes an empty magazine.