I spent several hours at the Beretta facilities in Val Trompe. I had a meeting with Riccardo Zanardelli (Firearms Communication and trade Marketing Manager) and then a tour with Jarno Antonelli (Defense and Law Enforcement Specialist) who was very passionate and knowledgeable of all aspects of firearm production at Beretta. I unfortunately did not have sufficient time to play with the ARX 160 A1 at the Beretta range under the mountain at the rear of the plants. But I was very impressed with the rifle. It weighs in at 3.1 Kg, very light. It did have a nice two step trigger. It has a pin free disassembly plus a barrel release latch for quick changing of the barrel/gas system. Jarno took it apart in seconds and put it back together in seconds! It is a fully ambidextrous firearm. It has an ejection selector for right or left ejection plus the cocking lever flips over to either side with the bolt open. The barrels are hard chromed internally and made in house by cold hammering. All parts except for the plastic is made in house.
A picture of the ARX160 A1 in the hand of an Italian Pararescue member
Disassembled AR160X A1
One of the many cold hammering barrel forming machines in the VERY noisy barrel making facility
Some 92 pistol barrels
A small part of the blueing and chroming facility. Note that the air in the area was fresh! There were no leaks or stains anywhere!
Beretta uses both mechanical air filtration as well as natural in many locations in the different manufacturing facilities.
All lettering and markings are done by laser
Beretta has spent over 120 million Euros in the past three years to reinvent its manufacturing facilities. There are no longer any dark floors or areas. There is more natural light and staff that continuously cleans the space.
For example, a machine will take a steel forging from a rack, machine it into a frame or slide, test the tolerances of the finish product and then place it into a rack that will be sent to the assembly area. It does 16 frames or slides at one time.
At the most, a slight buffing is required of the cnc machined parts
A Beretta 92 pistol assembly station
Henry
A picture of the ARX160 A1 in the hand of an Italian Pararescue member
Disassembled AR160X A1
One of the many cold hammering barrel forming machines in the VERY noisy barrel making facility
Some 92 pistol barrels
A small part of the blueing and chroming facility. Note that the air in the area was fresh! There were no leaks or stains anywhere!
Beretta uses both mechanical air filtration as well as natural in many locations in the different manufacturing facilities.
All lettering and markings are done by laser
Beretta has spent over 120 million Euros in the past three years to reinvent its manufacturing facilities. There are no longer any dark floors or areas. There is more natural light and staff that continuously cleans the space.
For example, a machine will take a steel forging from a rack, machine it into a frame or slide, test the tolerances of the finish product and then place it into a rack that will be sent to the assembly area. It does 16 frames or slides at one time.
At the most, a slight buffing is required of the cnc machined parts
A Beretta 92 pistol assembly station
Henry
