History:
Along with several other fine European pistols, the Model 950B was caught in 1968 by the new U.S. importation restrictions, and was banned because of its small size. Then, in 1978, the J. L. Galef company and Beretta arranged for production of the small Beretta at the Firearms International factory in Accokeek, Maryland, a facility that later became Beretta U.S.A., Incorporated. By the time this occurred, a important change had been added to the pistols. There was now a manual sear-block safety, located at the top rear corner of the left grip panel.
The new American-made pistols were designated Model 950 BS, the added "S" obviously a reference to the manual safety.
Tooling and supervision for the production of the Model 950 BS in the Maryland facility was supplied by the Beretta factory, and the quality and features of the pistols are the same as those made in Italy.
The Model 950 BS pistols retained the trade names and grip styles of the earlier guns, with the .22 Short version still known as the Minx, and the .25 Auto as the Jetfire.
The pre-1968 pistols are easily identified by their Italian proof marks and the absence of a manual safety.
Technical Data:
SYSTEM: self-cocking pistol with inertial system, tip barrel and external hammer
CARTRIDGES : 8
CALIBER : .25 ACP
BARREL LENGTH : 60 mm , 6 grooves right hand twisting
WEIGHT EMPTY : 380 g
TOTAL LENGTH : 116 mm
TOTAL HEIGHT : 90 mm
TOTAL WIDTH : 23 mm
TRIGGER : Single Action
SIGHT : fixed
SAFETY : hammer safety-rest, safety lever
FINISH : alloy frame blackened/blued
GRIPS : black plastic