I posted my question in the beretta forum, and found out some informtation, but was hoping that someone on the ar-15 forum would be able to provide a little more information about my post.  Thank you so much for looking this post.One of my friends is selling a 1934 and have been doing some research on them. The one he has was made in 1939. It also has the marking RE on one side that from my understanding means it was made for the army. My question is the other side has a marking that reads "F.A.G." with a crown above it. The blueing on the gun is about 80 percent. I also wondered how much do you think is to much to pay for the pistol becuase I am really intrested in it. He told me $150, but by all means, give me all the information and opinions you can. Thank you for all your help on this matter.

The Beretta M34 is a good gun. There are a few issues that make these older Beretta guns less desirable as a CCW. This is a SA gun. I wouldn’t leave a round in the chamber with the hammer down. Leaving a round in the chamber in these older guns sets you up for a ND. Carrying with the chamber empty requires racking the slide to chamber the first round before you fire it. That’s not a big deal as long as you have both hands free.

When the last round is fired there’s no slide lock. The slide is held back by the edge of the magazine. It takes both hands to remove the mag. If you don’t hold the slide when you try to remove the mag after the last round is fired, the slide goes forward. With slide pressure on the magazine, it tends to booger up the feed ramp when you try to remove it without holding the slide.

Bottom line is that it’s a good gun for the era it was made in. I have been looking for a WWII era M34. If you decide you don’t want it, let me know.

Brian

Buy it.

Yes, the R.E. means Italian Army.  I'm not familiar with "F.A.G." with a crouwn.  I'll try to do some checking if I have time.  Regardless, it's well worth the $150 if it looks good and there's nothing wrong with it.  The 1934's have been going up in price lately, but they aren't going crazy.  A gun like you describe is probably in the $200-250 range.  It's a good time to get one, as it's only a matter of time before collectors drive the price up on these gems.  

The 1934 is a very solid gun, and is overbuilt for the .380 round so they tend to last forever.  Workmanship is great on them, even the wartime production ones.  They're simple, reliable and tend to be very accurate, even with those crappy sights.  For a small gun, it fits your hand quite well and is very comfortable.  Wolff sells a replacement sping pack, and it's worth installing if you're going to shoot it.  As a blowback, it's a good idea to replace at least the recoil spring in a 70 year old gun just in case.  

As 73stick notes (welcome BTW and great first post!), I'd hesitate to carry it with a round up the spout.  The safety is not the best desgin, both in ergonomics and how safe it really is.  I'd echo his thoughts on carrying it chamber empty.

They're nice guns, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better .380 even after all these years IMO.  It's a nice piece of work.

Yes, thank you for all your answers.  I acutally have been a member for over a year, but this is my first post beacuse of the informtation I seek can usually be found with the search feature.  I live in Maryland so there is no chance of ccw.  Even if there was, I have plenty of other pisotls to chose from, the beretta  would be more of a conversation peice.  I was thinking about taking it to my grandfather to look it over becuase he was in WW2 and might have some kind of information on this particular firearm.  Thank you for all help, and hope you find out some of the info on the markings stamped on the gun.

P.S.--concerning ccw, i could actually get a liscense through where I work since I am a liscnesed security guard in maryland and my company issues firearms to some sites we are at.  The problem is, I go to college full time so there is no point of going through the hassel with all the paper work and stict rules regarding ccw in my state until my schooling is finished.  I thank you two very much for all your help on the 1934 and hope to hear some more great information soon.

FWIW, here's a very nice one I sold from a friend's estate last year, original holster and all:










It brought $195, probably could have gotten a little more if I'd had more time (it was in great shape).  Great shooting little older pistol - I almost bought it for myself...

Quoted: FWIW, here's a very nice one I sold from a friend's estate last year, original holster and all: i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/HardShell/RWB%20-%20Handguns/DSC00592.jpg i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/HardShell/RWB%20-%20Handguns/DSC00591.jpg i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/HardShell/RWB%20-%20Handguns/DSC00589.jpg i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/HardShell/RWB%20-%20Handguns/DSC00590.jpg It brought $195, probably could have gotten a little more if I'd had more time (it was in great shape).  Great shooting little older pistol - I almost bought it for myself...

Mine looks a little worse, than that one and there was no holster or anything.  I paid $200 for it and I'm more than happy with it.  It shoots dead on.  I was VERY suprised at how accurate the thing is.  

F.A.G. stands for "Fabbrica d'Armi Gardone".  Mine doesn't have that marking, though it does have the "Crown RE".

The last gunshow I saw three Romainian contract Beretta 1934's going for $250 each, and they were mismatched numbers (not unusual on these guns), and had a gigantic import stamp on the barrel.  I know I'd buy your buddy's 1934 for what he wants without even thinking about it.

I had a chance to look over the gun.  He told me he would hold it for me, for a couple of weeks till I was sure about purchasing it.  I found out that the slide and frame match, but the barrel is a diff number.  Also, it does not come with a mag, so any ideas where to purchase one at.  I am pretty sure i will buy the  1934 after all the comments that everyone has left though.

Auctionarms.com usually has one for sale. There are a few mag  web sites that sell an after market mag that holds 7 instead of the original 8 rounds. They usually run about $33 plus S&H. The M34 came in two calibers. The mags do not interchange. The .380 versions have a cast looking finger mag extension and the .32 versions have a stamped steel flat looking finger extension.  Good luck! Sounds like a great buy.

I found this mag @ gunclips.net on sale for $29.95

http://www.gunclips.net/be197rdgunma.html