Etablissements Bernadon Martin of Saint Etienne operated from 1906 to 1912. Bernadon was the financial backer and Martin the designer; patents were granted in 1905-7 to protect small details of bolt and trigger construction, manufacture of the '1907/8 Model' beginning late in 1906.
The pistol was a blowback automatic chambered for 7·65mm Auto (·32 ACP), offering generous proportions and a fixed barrel fully exposed above the divided arms of the slide. A distinctive spring catch at the front of the trigger guard locks the slide open for cleaning. A grip safety, which had also been a feature of the early patents, was added to the second or '1908/9' model in 1908.
1910 brought Martin a new patent for a dovetail and spring catch
barrel-Bern: A 7·65mm Ordonnanzpistole 06/29, among the most distinctive of all
Luger-inspired handguns.
Bern: The 9mm Pistole W F 47 was tested briefly by the Swiss army.
attachment system, but the sales of the original designs had been poor, the company was in financial trouble and the new design was never produced. Late in 1912 the company went into liquidation.
The 1907/8 model soon reappeared as the Hermetic; it is presumed that remaining stock had been sold by the liquidators, as the stamping of HERMETIC CAL 7·65MM ST ETIENNE on the slide is badly aligned enough to suggest addition to existing pistols.
Hermetic [1907/8 model]: Maker: Etablissements Bernadon-Martin. Saint-Etienne. Type: automatic pistol (blowback). Chambering:
7·65mm Auto. Length overall: 6·00in/152mm. Weight, unladen: 24·0oz/680gm. Barrel: 3·54in/90mm, rifled. Magazine: seven-round detachable box.
BERNARDELLI (ITALY)
Vincenzo Bernardelli SpA of Gardone Val Trompia began making gun barrels in 1865, but soon progressed to sporting guns and rifles. Quantities of Mo. 1889 (Bodeo) service revolvers were made in 1929-33, but Bernardelli did not enter the pistol business seriously until after the end of the Second World War.
AUTOMATIC PISTOLS
VP Model: Introduced late in 1945, this was a small 6·35mm blowback similar to the Walther Model 9. The barrel is forged in unit with the frame and the slide is retained by a dumb-bell locking piece forming part of the frame. Releasing a small spring catch allows this unit to be forced out by the firing-pin spring, and the slide can be removed. The normal five-round magazine gave a small grip and poor hold, so an extended eight-round magazine—with its lower portion encased in shaped plastic—was available as an option.
Production continued until 1970.
Type: automatic pistol (blowback). Chambering: 6·35mm Auto. Length overall:
4·13in/105mm. Weight, unladen: 9·3oz/265gm. Barrel: 1·97in/50mm, rifled. Magazine: five-round detachable box.
Pocket Model: Introduced in 1947, this was a 7·65mm enlargement of the VP Model, using exactly the same dismantling system. The separate barrel was screwed into a lump formed on the frame;
standard barrels were 85mm long, but lengths up to 250mm were available. The method of construction allowed the rapid introduction of a slightly modified 9mm Short version. Long barrels had front sights fitted to collars which slipped over the muzzle and locked by a screw; the sights could be removed to allow the slide to slip over the barrel during dismantling.
Baby Model: The first of Bernardelli's ·22 pistols appeared with the 'Baby' of 1949. It was no more than
the 1945 VP model with alterations for rimfire cartridges. It was available chambered either for ·22 Short or ·22 LR ammunition.
Standard Model: This, introduced in 1949, was the 'Pocket Model' adapted for ·22 LR cartridges. The normal barrel length was 90mm, but, in addition to the standard 85mm barrel, others up to 250mm could be obtained with removable front sights.
Model UB: Also called the 'New Pocket Model', this was a further enlargement of the Pocket Model chambered for 9mm Browning Long or even 9mm Parabellum cartridges. Developed in hammer and striker-fired versions, few seem to have been made—which is hardly surprising considering the power of the cartridges and the absence of a locked breech.
Model 60: Dating from 1961, this was an updated Pocket Model; the frame forgings were improved to give a better angle to the grip and streamline the appearance. The gun used twin return springs—unusual in this class—to soften the recoil movement of the slide, and was available in ·22 LR, 7·65mm Auto or 9mm Short.
Type: automatic pistol (blowback). Chambering: 7·65mm Auto.
Length overall: 6·50in/165mm. Weight, unladen:
24·2oz/685gm. Barrel: 3·54in/90mm, rifled. Magazine: eight-round detachable box.
Model USA: This variant of the Model 60 was designed to satisfy the US 1968 Gun Control Act. In addition to the standard frame-mounted safety catch and magazine safety of the Model 60, the USA version added a Walther-style slide-mounted unit which locked the firing pin.
Model 68: A replacement for the VP Model, this incorporated largely cosmetic changes. The slide is more rounded and the grip a trifle better
angled; a loaded-chamber indicator pin protrudes from the rear of the slide, and an optional extended magazine promoted a better handhold. The Model 68 and the VP went out of production in 1970.
Baby Model 68: As the name suggests, this was the Baby with the 1968-vintage cosmetic improvements.
Model 69 Tiro Standard: This adaption of the Model 60 was designed to meet the International Shooter's Union regulations for competition shooting. It had an extended barrel, an extended slide doubling as a muzzle counterweight, and fully adjustable sights.
Model 80: This was simply a new name for the Model USA when distributed by Interarms.
P-018: Bernardelli's first locked-breech pistol appeared in 1982, though full production was not reached until 1985. The breech lock relies on the familiar Browning cam to disengage barrel lugs from the slide. The appearance is somewhat angular but compact, and the lock is double-action. A firing-pin lock is released only during the final movement of the
trigger, and a fifteen-round double-row magazine is provided. The standard calibre
is 9mm Parabellum, but the P-018 has also been chambered for 7·65mm Parabellum and 9mm Largo cartridges.
Type: automatic pistol (recoil operated). Chambering: 9mm Parabellum. Length overall:
8·39in/213mm. Weight, unladen: 35·6oz/1,010gm. Barrel: 4·80in/122mm, rifled.
Magazine: sixteen-round detachable box.
P-018-9: Also called 'P-018 Compact', this is a reduced-scale P-018 with a fourteen-round magazine.
Bernardelli: 6·35mm Model 68.
Bernardelli: 9mm P 018.
Bernardelli: 69 TS chambers ·22 LR.
P-060-A: Announced in the mid-1980s, this is a double-action blowback pistol with hammer-drop safety, available in ·22 LR, 7·65mm Auto or 9mm Short calibres. In short, it is an updated and re-christened version of the Model 60.
REVOLVERS
Bernardelli revolvers are generally based upon Smith & Wesson practice, with side-opening cylinders; some later models dispense with the ejector-rod lug beneath the barrel.
Pocket or VB Model: This appeared in the early 1950s in ·22 rimfire or ·32 centre-fire chambering. As the name suggests, it had a two-inch barrel and an ejector support lug underneath the muzzle.
Martial: Sharing the Pocket-model frame, this had a 127mm barrel and grips which extended ·5in below the butt frame to provide a better hold. Martial revolvers were chambered for either ·22 LR or ·32 S&W Long cartridges.
Special or VB MR: Introduced in the 1950s as the Special, on the same frame and butt as the Martial, this is distinguished by a 178mm barrel and fully adjustable target sights. It was only made in ·22 LR chambering. It was later re-named the VB MR (Miri Regolabile—'adjustable sights') and provided with a barrel rib.
New Pocket Model: Also called the VB Tascabile, this is a variant of the original Pocket Model with a 64mm tapered barrel. Lacking the under-barrel lug for the ejector rod, it was available in ·22 LR or ·32 S&W Long variants.
VB Revolver: Type: solid frame revolver. Chambering: ·32 S&W Long. Length overall: 10·43in/265mm. Weight, unladen:
19·9oz/586gm. Barrel: 5·91in/150mm, rifled. Magazine: six-chamber cylinder.
BERNEDO (SPAIN)
Little is known of Vincente Bernedo y Cia of Eibar other than that the company entered the pistol business during the First World War and lasted until the end of the 1920s. Work began with the usual Eibar type 7·65mm blowback, but progressed after the war to the more original Bernedo or 'BC', a 6·35mm automatic with a half-length slide and breech block with a completely exposed barrel ahead of it. The barrel was fixed to the frame by a transverse pin held by a spring catch; the pin can be easily removed without tools to allow the barrel to be lifted out for cleaning. The slide is marked PISTOLET AUTOMATIQUE BERNEDO PATENT NO 69952, and the grip carries a circular motif with V BERNEDO CO embossed around it. The gun did not sell in large numbers and is now rarely found.
Bernedo [Eibar type]: Type: automatic pistol (blowback). Chambering: 7·65mm Auto. Length overall: 6·10in/155mm. Weight, unladen:
20·6oz/585gm. Barrel: 3·39in/86mm, rifled. Magazine: seven-round detachable box.
BERSA (ARGENTINA)
Fabrica de Armas Bersa SA of Ramos Meija has been selling pistols in the Americas since the 1970s, acquiring a reputation for good quality at a competitive price.
Model 644: A blowback pocket automatic chambered for ·22 LR rimfire ammunition, this resembles Bernardelli designs of the late 1960s. A hammer-fired single-action, it is the basic model upon which the rest of the Bersa line depends.
Type: automatic pistol (blowback). Chambering: ·22 LR rimfire. Length overall: 6·57in/167mm. Weight, unladen: 28·0oz/795gm. Barrel:
3·50in/89mm, rifled. Magazine: seven-round detachable box.
Model 622: This is derived from the Model 644, but has a lengthened barrel carrying the front sight to provide an inexpensive target pistol.
Model 97: This is an enlarged version of the M644 chambering 9mm Short cartridges.
Picolla: A smaller version of the 644 pattern, this handles the ·22 Short cartridge.
Model 223: Introduced in 1984, this modern-looking double-action ·22 LR automatic has an eleven-shot magazine. Variant models 224 and 225 differ in purely minor respects:
the final digit represents the barrel-length in inches.
Model 383: This updated version of the Model 97, with double-action lockwork and a nine-shot magazine, fires the 9mm Short cartridge.
BERTRAND (BELGIUM)
Manufacture Generale d'Armes et Munitions Jules Bertrand was one of the many small manufacturers operating in Liege prior to 1914, turning out cheap revolvers in the 1890s and graduating to equally cheap automatic pistols at the turn of the century. German occupation in 1914 put an end to his business.
Continental: Bertrand's principal automatic pistol design was a 6·35mm blowback differing slightly in the trigger mechanism from his earlier 'Le Rapide'. The barrel is forged with the frame, and a separate breech block is controlled by a return spring in a tunnel above the barrel. The pistol is marked CONTINENTAL on the slide, but the grips are those of Le Rapide, and it looks as if the new pistol was simply the old pattern with a few minor changes. Note that 'Continental' was used by a number of other makers.
Le Novo, Lincoln: These were 6·35mm or ·320 Velo-Dog revolvers, similar to others produced in and around Liege under the same names. Bertrand's product can be distinguished only by the 'JB' monogram on the grips.
Le Rapide: The original Bertrand 6·35mm automatic pistol, this was the predecessor of the Continental—from which it differed largely in the trigger mechanism. The slide is marked MANRE. GRL D'ARMES ET MUNITIONS CAL BROWNING 6·35 LE RAPIDE and the grips are embossed with LE RAPIDE and the 'JB' monogram.
Type: automatic pistol (blowback). Chambering: 6·35mm Auto. Length overall: 4·72in/120mm.
Weight, unladen: 14·5oz/410gm. Barrel: 1·97in/50mm, rifled. Magazine: six-round detachable box.
Bernardelli: VB revolver.
Bersa: ·22 rimfire M644.
Bertrand: 6·35mm Le Rapide.
BICYCLE (VARIOUS)
1: A five-shot top-break double action ·32 S&W revolver manufactured by Harrington and Richardson, c.1895.
2: A ·22 rimfire single-shot pistol, styled like an automatic, made in France by an unknown company c.1910.