Beretta 950 Jetfire

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beretta 950 Jetfire
Beretta 950 Jetfire and 8 round magazine
Type	Pistol
Place of origin	Italy, United States
Production history
Manufacturer	Beretta
Produced	1953-2003
Specifications
Weight	280g/9.9oz
Length	120 mm (4.7 in)
length	60 mm (2.3 in)
Width	23 mm (0.9 in)
Height	87 mm (3.4 in)

The Beretta 950 Jetfire is a semi-automatic pistol designed and manufactured by Beretta since 1953. It builds on a long line of small and compact pocket pistols manufactured by Beretta for self-defense. Based on very early Beretta models, the weapon is intended to be a very simple and reliable pocket pistol. [1]

1 Specifications
2 Intended market
3 Design advantages
4 Limitations
5 Technical data
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Specifications

The Beretta 950 Jetfire is a simple blowback pistol with a single action trigger mechanism and tip-up barrel. It is fitted with a frame. The frame is made out of aluminium alloy, the slide and barrel are carbon steel.

Early models (Pre-1968) do not have a safety.

[edit] Intended market

The Beretta 950 Jetfire is a backup, self-defense pistol that appeals to women, undercover agents and police officers.

[edit] Design advantages

Simple and small, very easy to conceal. Last resort pistol. Inexpensive, very easy to maintain. Well built, able to be reliably fired very quickly, magazine swap reload is fast and simple. .25 ACP is a centerfire cartridge, which in many circumstances has been shown to be less prone to misfire than the rimfire .22 cartridge, a type used by other holdout pistols of similar size. The flip top design helps the user to check to see if a round is chambered and can be chambered but not cocked. It can be very easily worn in an ankle holster. The 9 shot capacity (8 round magazine + 1 chambered) gives it sufficient fire power. If rounds are placed well, then it makes up for the small caliber.

[edit] Limitations

The traditional .25 ACP cartridge is not very powerful, though still potentially lethal. The safety system is very basic. The accuracy of the pistol is only adequate at short ranges. Its small grip makes it prone to bite (the slide can cut the top of the shooters hand when fired)