Beretta

An Italian firearms manufacturer that loves to advertise the fact that they've been in business since Renaissance times. The quality of their products is somewhat hit-or-miss. They have made some excellent rifles, like the M1 Garand-derivative BM59. They make pretty good, though overpriced shotguns. Their pistols just suck. Their trademark piece, the 9mm Model 92, is a study in bad design. It was adopted by the US Military as the M9 in 1985 to replace the superior M1911 .45 as the standard-issue sidearm, despite the fact that it failed the tests at Aberdeen Proving Grounds and caused serious injury to one of the testers. The design is highly susceptible to dirt, and the open-top slide means it will always get packed with dirt no matter how much you baby it. Ask anybody who carried one in Iraq, the slightest bit of dirt will make the M9 jam to hell and gone. The magazines don't feed well and wear out quickly. The trigger pull is too heavy, which throws off your aim. On top of that, they are made of crappy steel. Beretta 92s will get cracks in the slide after 2,000-4,000 rounds and need to be completely rebuilt. By comparison, Glocks can last 40,000-50,000 rounds, SIGs last 80,000-100,000 rounds, and 1911s are known to go for a million rounds or more with their original parts.