Beretta model 1934 9mm corto - bullets tumbling when fired

G

Greg_TX

New member
My dad has one of these, and it looks to be in good shape as far as I can tell, but the last time we were at the pistol range he was having problems with the rounds tumbling. Even at 20 feet he was getting ragged holes in the target. I checked the gun, and the only thing I noticed was that the barrel had a lot of oil in it, but the rifling looked okay and the barrel wasn't fouled. All shots were with new factory rounds. I shot a magazine through it and it was the same for me.

I know it's an old pistol, and I have no idea how many rounds have gone through it, but this seemed like an odd problem to have that close to the target. Ideas?
 
The only thing that came to mind was that you were reloading the rounds too hot. But you said they were factory new. So the only suggestion I have is to have the barrel bore scoped by a gunsmith. I don't think excessive oil would do it.
 
Don't just have the barrel scoped, have it slugged as well.
There seems to be 2 different schools of thought on the proper size bullet to fire from a 9mm Corto (.380 ACP). 1 school says use use .355 diameter bullets and the other says use .356.
Try finding some European made ammo for the gun as a test.
Fiocchi still imports some of its ammo from Italy. If you can get your hands on a box or 2 of that, see if the gun shoots better. A box of Santa Barbara 9mm Corto, if you can find it, would really make the gun rock. But that ammo is no longer being made according to my former supplier.
 
Hi, Greg,

The other posters chose to ignore the part where you say all the ammo was new factory, and are talking about determining the correct bullet size for reloads. Slugging the bore means pushing a lead slug through it to determine the bore size. Scoping a barrel means using a device called a borescope to actually examine the inside of the barrel.

As to your problem, I know it sounds stupid but I have to ask if you are using .380 ACP ammunition, the U.S. equivalent of 9mm Corto? If the ammo is correct, I can only suggest trying another brand and see what happens.

FWIW, I have a couple of those Berettas and they are quite accurate for a small pistol.

Jim
 
I'll have to check what he has - as hard as it is to find .380 ammo, it may be a while before we can compare different brands. I let him shoot my .40 for a while and he liked it - at least the bullets went straight. :D
 
The only thing that came to mind was that you were reloading the rounds too hot. But you said they were factory new.
Click to expand...

Thats what I posted Keenan. For all he knows, if he's a new shooter, the bore could be pitted. That's why I suggested bore scope. :)
 
We stripped it at the range and everything looked fine as far as we could tell. I stopped by to today and brought it home, ran some solvent patches through the barrel and gave it a 15-minute bath in an ultrasonic cleaner. It looked practically new after that, so I'm wondering if maybe it's the ammo. He was shooting nice groups with mine, so it probably wasn't him.
 
Mine was very accurate. Only thing with it was the last round that held the slide back was always weak.
 
I have a Berretta 1934 and it shoots fine except the casings land on top of my head.

My only thought was an ammo problem if the barrel is okay. I can't image .32acp working in a .380 though. Is there any damage to the muzzle?
 
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