Beretta firearms produced in Italy carry a proof mark for the year of production.The chart below is used to identify the year by this mark.
Some I can tell are definitely C&R (model only made before '68; some are definitely not (model not made before '68).
But these I can't tell: Browning Baby .25ACP SN 452221S Browning Hi-Power 9mm SN 458Z89431 (Would this make more sense if the "Z" was a "2"? Beretta Model 70 .32ACP/7.65 SN 8933 S&W Model 41 .22LR SN A214865 Colt "Junior" .25ACP SN 48834 Any help with dates and/or sources for dates would be greatly appreciated--lawyer is not going to help and I don't have the time for an intercontinental trip to view the guns. I was able to determine that the Baby Browning was made in 1968--need confirmation from ATFE that it qualifies as C&R. The S&W isn't, nor is the Browning Hi-Power, so they go off to auction.
The Italian Proof House used a roman numeral system marking the year of his reign which began with "I" in 1922.
The first Beretta firearm using this dating system was the Model 1934 pistol (introduced in 1935), thus the year was indicated as XIII (usually marked on the slide) and refering to the 13th year of Mussolini's regime.
(Don't ask--if you really are interested in the stupidity of CA handgun legislation, do a Google search for CADOJ handgun regulations..
Trust me, I've done my homework on this, including long conversations with CADOJ....).SERIAL NUMBERS OFTEN ALLOW YOU TO DETERMINE YEAR OF MANUFACTURE Knowing the year your vintage firearm was made makes it easier to decide which gun catalog we sell will give you the best information about the company, models made and more.To help you determine the year made, find your serial number and then select a link from those below to sites that offer serial dates.Beretta USA has recently added an online search tool that will return technical information, including date of manufacture, from a Baretta USA serial number.It works for Baretta firearms manufactured after 1984.Why does Beretta treat the manufacture date of their civilian pistols as some kind of secret?