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That time Beretta let me hang out there for a couple days in Italy…

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To say that Beretta has been around for a while is a massive understatement. To the point, the company is the oldest firearms maker in business today, logging its first documented contract in 1526, for arquebus barrels bound for the Republic of Venice from the shop of Bartolomeo Beretta. Who else can say they made arquebus barrels in the old Venetian Republic?

Beretta has well-guarded records going back centuries. This is because the company has been a constant in the region, no matter what banner flew over the land.

Not a lot of companies can say they were founded in the Renaissance. Keep in mind it predates the colonies at St. Augustine, Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth. Further, while other long-running gun makers such as Remington and Smith & Wesson have changed ownership dozens of times over the past couple of centuries, Beretta remains a family business, now in its 15th generation – with the 16th lined up.

Beretta’s campus is located along the Garda Mountains in the foothills of the Alps, with portions of the facility inside the rock itself. (Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

They have been in the same location for a bit.

We had a chance to visit Beretta for a few days earlier this year and have the full factory tour up at Guns.com.

When in Italy and Lookin’ for a Custom Shotgun…

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As part of my European work-cation earlier this year, I got a peek behind the scenes at Beretta’s historic factory complex in Gardone Val Trompia, Italy earlier this year, we visited the Pietro Beretta Custom Atelier, where dreams come true.

I discovered the Atelier – a word that translates to a studio or workshop where a group of skilled artists work together for a common goal – is where almost anything that can be conceptualized in terms of bespoke firearm production can be realized.

(Photo: Chris Eger)

Where simple components such as metal, wood, and fabrics can be shaped into a dream by master craftsmen (gunsmiths, woodworkers, engravers, and gun case makers) who stand on inherited centuries of Italian gunsmithing art.

(Photo: Chris Eger)

Check out the video article, and images over in my column at Guns.com.