MRJ

Doug - RE:Your question on stripper clip fitting I have never removed a '59 stripper clip guide but have had a machinist mill dovetails into the top of M1 receivers. We did not weld over the left end of the cut as Beretta did to improve appearance. Beretta finished this area nicely on rifles they did. MRJ

Mike - Sarco offered BM62 001851 for sale in 3/01. Photo of rifle shows proper Berben '62 import stamping. Buttplate is unlike the unmarked black rubber type seen on many(or probably most) Berben '62s. This rifle has a ventilated pad with a Beretta Trident logo and appears to be dark red. It also had a bipod fitted after the gas cylinder was machined for it. Mike

Mike - It looks like only the stock has been violated. Hopefully no metal was removed.................... I would imagine that far more Berben '62s have been "remilitarized" than have been customized/sporterized. MRJ

TopN - Thanks for the photos and information on the gages. Your post will certainly wake up the board! MRJ

MCO - You've just acquired a great rifle, hope you enjoy it as much as many of us do on this forum. As information, your BM62 s/n002531 is actually a "Berben" import. Check the left side of the receiver and you should see the following marking: MOD. 62. 308W BERBEN CORP. N.Y.N.Y. The Benet imports are marked as BM69's and have lower serial numbers. As for the SA bolt, many BM62's have been observed with them as delivered. Should not be an issue. Your rifle is marked .308W as this is a "sporting " caliber as opposed to the "miltary" 7.62 NATO caliber. MRJ

My Berben '62 came with a Beretta converted US M1 bolt marked 6528287-SA Z-2. It does not appear to be Beretta marked. I've seen numerous Berben '62s with similar bolts. I would only change a '62 bolt out for headspace, wear, or a similar issue. MRJ

If anybody wants to get po'ed, check out Gunbroker Auction 185864136. Item is a throughly demilled Berben BM 62 receiver. Serial number is 2256. There's not much left except the center section as even the rear of the receiver is torched off. Talk about gun violence.......................... MRJ

As info, there is a Benet BM69 listed on Gunbroker. It's dressed as a '59 with a spindle valve gas cylinder and bipod. Serial number is 001339. I have no connection to seller and do not know who he is. MRJ

JR - The punch marks were applied in US after successful proof firing of an assembled M1 rifle. MRJ

Prices realized: Lot 142 Springfield BM59 $2600 Lot 143 Beretta BM62 1400 Lot 326 BM59 magazines(9) 20@ Any group members attend this auction? MRJ

TopN - Great info on the differences in the TA-Pc and regular triggers. Thanks. MRJ

TopN - Thanks for the photo. I hadn't seen a "Pc" marked folder before. Anybody got one of each type for comparison? There is a similar situation with the "TA-Pc" marked trigger and sear assemblies. They appear to be identical to unmarked trigger and sear assemblies. Does anyone know the reason for these markings or lack of them? MRJ

As information, a BM59 and a BM62 rifles are being offered at auction in Geneva, NY, on Jun 19th. The auctioneer is HessneyAuction Co. There rifles are: Springfield BM59 s/n 729 which is pictured in a folding stock Beretta BM62 s/n 2750 which is shown with its original box and 3 magazines. 9 BM59 magazines are listed also Website - www.hessney.com I have no connection to seller and/or auctioneer. MRJ

Wiz - That's a tough question but let's take a shot at it. The Italian Defense Ministry published a manual in 1969 whose title translates in English roughly as "Defense Ministry Director Generals Office of the Army, Ammunition, and Ground Armament Book No. 5957 Instructions for the maintenance and care of army light automatic rifle BM59 cal 7.62mm NATO(standard type - for Alpine troops - for parachutists) and Rifle Garand 7.62mm NATO Type 1 and 2. This manual is , of course, printed in Italian which I can't read. However, there is figure 1 which covers "Accessori per la Manhutenzione" which pictures the cleaning equipment and even I can read pictures. The nine items shown are as follows: 1. M3A1 Combination tool with 7.62 NATO size chamber brush 2. M! Pullthrough 3. 7.62 cal Bore brush 4. Two compartment plastic oiler (looks like bore brush and pullthrough in one end) 5. Small Grease pot - looks like M1 6. Three Compartment plastic oiler (Like Reese sells) with pullthrough, bore bush, oil, and grease 7. Not sure of this - looks similar to M14 lube case - for oil and grease 8. Barrack's cleaning rod - shown but obviously not carried in butt trap as it has a handle 9. M10 Rod - Handle, four rod sections, swab holder So it appears the individual material in each butt trap can vary a bit as long as sufficient equipment is carried. I must thank Mike Baker for this information. Perhaps he can post a scan of figure 1 referenced above. There are some issues with this as some BM59 stocks do not have butt trap openings long enough to hold the three compartment oiler. Has anyone else experienced this? MRJ

Savary - In answer to your questions: The indirect grenade launching sight is used on BM59 Itals, Ital - Alpini and Ital - Para rifles. Either sight (flip up or indirect) is used for grenade launching one at a time depending on the type firing The Tricomp with the lug on the bottom of the gas cylinder plug hole is for modifiend "Garand " style bayos. I believe the Mak IV BM59 with a 20.85" heavy barrel, pistol grip stock, and folding buttplate should use a Tricomp w/o grenade launcher. These weapons were built and intended to be used as SAWs. They take a shorter Tri Comp with no grooves for grenade retension springs. For an Ital model rifle with a pistol grip stock, the Tri-Comp with the "carbine" style lug is most commonly seen. MRJ

Question for the group - Has anyone built or considered buiilding a "BM59 EBR" using a modified M1 Sage chassis stock? Sage is well-known for their M14 chassis stock which converts an m14 into what the US Navy designates as a Mark 14 Mod 0 rifle with a sliding buttstock and full rail system. Sage also advertises an M1 chassis stock but I have never actually seen one. Mike Baker's reply to a recnt post where he was chopping a BM59 barrel to 16 1/2" reminded me of the shorter than standard length barrel used on many m14's using the Sage EBR stock. It would seem that it might be possible to modify the Sage M1 stock to accept a BM59 action to create a modernized '59. Sage website is www.sageinternationalltd.com Any thoughts on this possible conversion? MRJ

The best way to mount a stripper clip guide on a BM59 is to mill/cut a dovetail slot on the receiver that mates up with a Beretta stripper clip guide. I realize that any machine work on a M1/BM59 type receiver is not the easiest thing to do but having had several receivers fitted with with clip guides, I do think its worth the work. RSI (Reese) did have Beretta original clip guides for sale but did not advertise them. These guides have the dovetail bottom. Golden State used a different stripper clip guide on their M59's. Their guides had a round pin on the bottom, apparently to match up with a single newly drilled hole in the receiver. I suspect they were then silver soldered in place. I don't know of a source for this type of guide. Either guide will require some work on the hard receiver. Could you advise as to what type of receiver you're considering modifying? MRJ

Art - Thanks for sharing this link. What is especially nice about the BM59 brochure on Steve's pages is the fact that an original 1966 Beretta copy was used. This has the toned accents and soldier with weapon pictures which are usually missing from the commonly encountered reprints. MRJ

Mike - I guess I must have missed the same thing. Nice rifle but not rare............ MRJ

TangoFoxtrot- I believe you have a Beretta BM 59 Mark 1 barrel. It is too short for the QD Tricomp.If you have a copy of the Beretta four language BM 59 brochure, you can see photos of a paratrooper '59 with the QD Tricomp off and the barrel is seen to protrude thru the QD gas cylinder lock. I believe the QD Tricomp needs a longer than 17.4" barrel to stay attached under recoil. Your BM 62 gas cylinder doesn't have a spindle valve for grenade launching, The Mark 1 doesn't have grenade launching capability either. There is a 5" Tricomp which doesn't have grenade launching gooves. This Tricomp looks exactly like those illustrated on the Mark 1. I'm not sure if RSI or Andy have them but they might. I think your '62 would look great dressed as a Mark 1. MRJ

UK Armourer - I' ve experienced a similar problem with the longer detachable Beretta Tri-Comp. I believe that the overall barrel length may be an issue also. Looking back on an old post from 2005, Beretta literaure showed different barrel lengths: Ital and Alpine model 19.32" Paratrooper 18.41" MK 1 and MK 2 17.40" MK 4 20.85" My Berben 62 has a Mk 1 barrel that is 17.4" and it it too short at the muzzle end (ahead of the gas cylinder mounting) to support the para detachable Tri-Comp in recoil. TangoFoxtrot - Can you advise the overall lenght of your barrel? BM59Collector - Isn't your rifle a 19.32" barreled example? Anyone else do much shooting with the detachable Tri-Comp (either style) and know the actual barrel length of your rifle and whether you've had any loosening issues with the Tri-Comp? MRJ

Mike: I had not heard of an Armco BM69 prior to this. It certainly looks like a Golden State rifle with modified M1 receiver, winter safety and Garand gas cylinder. Did you notice the other BM69 recently on Gunbroker? It's a Benet imported rifle with serial number 1273. Buy it now price is only $3500. Both rifles are interesting but for very different reasons.

Soshoresig: Did you see how the receiver is marked on the heel and the side? Without seeing a photo, it sounds like you've found a BM59/62 rifle by SA Inc. still in its original box. Thinking of buying................................?? Good luck! MRJ

Mike - The plastic grips are original with the "Nigerian" stock. Bob Reese had the wooden pistol grips made in order to utilize new stocks he bought from Beretta. I've only seen these plastic grips molded in a reddish brown color. Has anyone seen any black plastic grips? MRJ