NAME – Beretta PM12S

NAME (NATIVE) – Pistola Mitragliatrice 12 Secura

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN – Italy

DATE OF MANUFACTURE – 1978 – 1992

CALIBER – 9x19mm NATO

OVERALL LENGTH – 41.8 cm (16.46 in) (Stock folded), 66 cm (26 in) (Stock open)

BARREL LENGTH – 20 cm (7.9 in)

RIFLING (TYPE & TWIST) – 6-grooves, Right hand twist, 1 turn in 250mm (1 turn in 9.8 in)

BULLET DIAMETER – 9.02 mm (0.355 in)

BULLET WEIGHT – 8.04 g (124 gr)

MUZZLE VELOCITY – 430 m/s (1410 fps)

MUZZLE ENERGY – 742 j (547 ft/lbs)

WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 3.2 kg (7 lbs 1 oz)

WEIGHT (LOADED) – 3.83 kg (8 lbs 7.2 oz)

SIGHTS – Front sight – round post, adjustable for windage and elevation, Rear sight, Flip type round aperture, 100 and 200 m settings

EFFECTIVE RANGE – 200 m (219 yds)

OPERATION – Blowback, fires from open bolt

TYPE OF FIRE – Selective fire, Semi and Full automatic

RATE OF FIRE – 40 rpm (Semi), 120 rpm (Full)

CYCLIC ROF – 550-650 rpm

FEED DEVICE – 32 round box magazine

FEED DEVICE WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 0.23 kg (8.1 oz)

FEED DEVICE WEIGHT (LOADED) – 0.63 kg (1 lb 6.2 oz)

BASIC AMMUNITION LOAD – 4 magazines (128 rounds)

LOAD WEIGHT – 2.52 kg (5 lbs 9 oz)

MANUFACTURER – Pietro Beretta SpA, Gardone-val-Trompia, Brescia, Italy, Licensed production in Belgium, Brazil and Indonesia

STATUS – Still in service

SERVICE – Italian Military and Law Enforcement, Commercial sales and licensing throughout the world.

   Overall, the PM12S is considered to be an elegant, though complex, in terms of number of parts used, design. To make the weapon as compact as practical, the bolt encloses the barrel for 3/4s of its length. This gives the design a very short overall length with the stock folded, and places the magazine well very close to the center of the design. The thin folding stock extends along the right side of the PM12S, the pivot point being just above and behind the rear grip. The original PM12 had a push-button safety and selector switch, which has been changed to a more common thumb lever in the PM12S. An additional safety is the thick “trigger” on the rear grip, just below the trigger guard. This safety lever has to be held in against the grip in order to fire or even cock the weapon.