Sporting arms account for three-quarters of sales; Beretta is also known for marketing shooting clothes and accessories.

[4] Val Trompia, a northern Italian river valley in the Province of Brescia, Lombardy, has been mined for iron ore since the time of the Roman Empire.

The birthplace of Beretta is in the village of Gardone, located on the banks of the Mella river in the middle of Val Trompia (i.e., between the upper and lower valley).

[6] Under the guild system, the knowledge of gun barrel fabrication that had been bequeathed to Jacopo (1520/25 – ...) by his father Bartolomeo (1490 – 1565/68)[9] was then passed down to Jacopo's son, Giovannino (1550 – post-1577), and then to his grandson Giovan Antonio (1577 – post-1649),[10] and it continued to be passed down in this manner until guilds were abolished by Napoleon after his conquest of the Venetian Republic in 1797.

[6] The same family has owned Beretta for almost five hundred years;[11] it is a founding member of Les Henokiens, an association of bicentenary companies that are family-owned and operated.

Beretta manufactured rifles and pistols for the Italian military until the 1943 Armistice between Italy and the Allied forces during World War II.

[5] During that time, the quality of the exterior finish of the weapons diminished—-late-war specimens were much inferior to both the pre-war and mid-war weapons—-but their efficacy remained excellent.

[14][15] After the war, Beretta continued to develop firearms for the Italian army and police force, as well as the civilian market.

The model Beretta 92FS was the primary side arm of the United States Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force, designated the M9 pistol.