The "R" stands for Raffica, which is Italian for "volley", "flurry", or "burst" (sometimes spoken "R" as "Rapid" in English).

The Beretta 93R was designed to be used by the Italian counter-terrorism forces of the national police Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza and Carabineri Gruppo di Intervento Speciale (both formed in the late 1970s in response to terrorism) but was also adopted by other police and military forces who required a concealable weapon with rapid fire capabilities.

A selector switch enables the operator to alternate between the two firing modes.

The pistol is fitted with a collapsible angled foregrip at the front end of the trigger guard to provide better stability when firing.

[12] The Beretta 93R is much more controllable compared to other machine pistols because it was designed with only a three-round burst mode as well as a ported barrel.