So I ordered a surplus Italian police issued Beretta M1951 from kygunco.com about 10 days ago, with the holiday weekend and The Rona it finally shipped today. Between work and  NICS I probably won't even have it in my hands for a couple weeks. Seems like a standard single stack 9mm semiauto. Anything else I should know about it? I've never purchased a surplus firearm before. I probably would want to switch out the grips pretty soon so would like to also look for those and order it before I get it. Any suggestions? 

https://www.kygunco.com/Product/View?ItemNo=155376

Thanks boys and gals!

So it'll be at the FFL tomorrow. Excited to check it out and fill out NICS on Friday, still don't know when I'll be able to pick it up but would love to order anything I would need for it in advance if anyone has suggestions.

I was able to go today and fill out NICS. Here she is, I’ll probably pick her up next Tuesday and do a full take down. I definitely need new grips. 

 

 

Congratulations!  She is a pretty lady @70 years old!  The new grips and a nice bath will do wonders for her!

Thank you! It'll be nice to get her home and clean her up. There's definitely a lot of holster wear but I doubt it was fired much. I haven't really decided if I wanna leave her worn with new grips or try and redo her slide etc. 

I will tell you this right now - BUY NEW LOCKING BLOCK - do not shoot the gun until such time as you source a new one and install it.

If the locking block is stressed after many thousands of rounds and is not changed, when an ear of it breaks off - it will lock that gun like a drum.

 

Change it while you can.

3 minutes ago, USRifle30Cal said:

I will tell you this right now - BUY NEW LOCKING BLOCK - do not shoot the gun until such time as you source a new one and install it.

If the locking block is stressed after many thousands of rounds and is not changed, when an ear of it breaks off - it will lock that gun like a drum.

 

Change it while you can.

While searching for random parts I saw locking blocks. Do you think these police trade ins were actually fired enough to warrant changing it?

6 minutes ago, InFamous said:

While searching for random parts I saw locking blocks. Do you think these police trade ins were actually fired enough to warrant changing it?

Some were military too right?  Why take a chance - it is cheap insurance while you can get them...

Just now, USRifle30Cal said:

Some were military too right?  Why take a chance - it is cheap insurance while you can get them...

This is supposed to be Italian Police surplus. No mention of military as far as I know. 

There's 2 on Ebay for $67, I'll look at it when I take it apart once I take it home next week. Thank you for the suggestion, I 100% appreciate it. Like I said I've never purchased a surplus firearm before so any info is extremely helpful. 

10 minutes ago, InFamous said:

This is supposed to be Italian Police surplus. No mention of military as far as I know. 

From Classic Arms Description:

 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

The Beretta M1951 is a 9x19mm ( 9 mm Parabellum / Luger ) semi-automatic pistol, developed during the late 1940s and early 1950s by Pietro Beretta S.p.A. of Italy. The pistol was produced strictly for military use and was introduced into service with the Italian Armed Forces and security forces as the Modello 1951 (M1951), replacing the Modello 1934 pistol. All come complete with a 1-8 round magazine. May not come with original Beretta OEM Mag but each will have a magazine and the vast majority will be OEM.

 

 

6 minutes ago, InFamous said:

There's 2 on Ebay for $67, I'll look at it when I take it apart once I take it home next week. Thank you for the suggestion, I 100% appreciate it. Like I said I've never purchased a surplus firearm before so any info is extremely helpful. 

https://www.handgunforum.net/xf/threads/beretta-1951-locking-lug-broke-agian-after-23-rounds.163697/

 

 

 

I get that, but if you click the link from where I purchased it, they say it's police trade in. Not military. Either way it's good to know that the locking block can fail on these. 

So I guess I'll be spending another 50% of what the gun cost me on grips and potentially new locking block LOL

 

Since the gun so low priced. Would it be worth it or possible to send to Wilson combact or somewhere and have it done up. 

Would be the nicest kick ass old Beretta out there. Or is that to far fetched?

1 hour ago, Bklynracer said:

Since the gun so low priced. Would it be worth it or possible to send to Wilson combact or somewhere and have it done up. 

Would be the nicest kick ass old Beretta out there. Or is that to far fetched?

I think I'm gonna buy darker walnut grips, see how it looks from there and maybe try and restore it myself. Or I may just leave it alone cause the holster wear does give it character. 

I ordered these grips yesterday. I'm hoping they give me the look I want. Still trying to decide if I want to fully restore it or leave it with the wear. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/402408252126

 

2 minutes ago, InFamous said:

I ordered these grips yesterday. I'm hoping they give me the look I want. Still trying to decide if I want to fully restore it or leave it with the wear. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/402408252126

I think they will look great on that pistol!

Thanks brother, I love these grips. I didn't wanna spend it on a cheap surplus but these were the ones I wanted. 

That gun has history we probably can't imagine.  That wear is also called character! Often, such character adds to the value and look of the gun. I would replace the grips and enjoy shooting and owning a piece of history!

7 minutes ago, InFamous said:

Thanks brother, I love these grips. I didn't wanna spend it on a cheap surplus but these were the ones I wanted. 

Nice.

3 minutes ago, JohnnyB said:

That gun has history we probably can't imagine.  That wear is also called character! Often, such character adds to the value and look of the gun. I would replace the grips and enjoy shooting and owning a piece of history!

That's what I'm thinking too. I actually like the wear on it. I'll post pics with the new grips and go from there. 

 

1 minute ago, Bklynracer said:

Nice.

Thanks man. 

I picked up one of the police trade in 92s and have to say, it's a blast to shoot.  I thought about one of these as well

Not a bad deal for $300 plus transfer and NICS.

 

She’s home and all cleaned up. 

I can't wait for the new grips to come. 

 

I wouldn't even change the grips. It took 70yrs to look like that. I would leave it alone.

1 minute ago, diamondd817 said:

I wouldn't even change the grips. It took 70yrs to look like that. I would leave it alone.

The amount of grossness that came off of those grips when I took them off to clean them, and the amount of grossness that is still in them....yeah...that's a negative LOL! I really do like the walnut grips I bought. 

Got the new grips, also test fired it but only a couple mags. Functioned flawlessly. 

Grips look great, I agree with @JohnnyB it has character, leave it as is.

Tempted to get one now.

I love the way it came out honestly, the wood grips with the wear looks amazing. $300 for the gun $75 for the grips. Can't go wrong honestly especially since things are scarce, expensive and non-existent right now. 

dumb question, but do u need to use a P2P for a milsurp handgun/pistol?