Bernardelli PO-18 ??? Anyone.

Here in Italy the price for a good Bernardelli P-018 or a P-One starts from 150 euros for a .30 Luger one and mostly in the 250/350 price range for a 9mm one. I've seen myself some 9mm examples sold at 250 euros at my local gun shop. No way you can find a decent P226 for those prices. Used P226 starts from 500/600 euros as a minimum. I've recently seen some insane asking prices for some used Bernardellis in the 600 euros range but I bet they get unsold now and forever.
I had the opportunity to shot some 9mm Bernardelli examples. The gun itself is nice, shoots good (super nice double action trigger), it's extremely slim (seems a single stack). In most cases the barrel is a little masterpiece. Barrel, slide and frame are forged steel. However, here in Italy Tanfoglio and Beretta putted Bernardelli out of the pistol market because no one seemed to want a Bernardelli pistol.
Even if I'd love to have a 9mm Bernardelli in my collection, I wouldn't trade a good P226 for a Bernardelli.

Redcoat 3340

You made the right call on that one!

Ya, I wouldnt have made that deal either. German production P226s are getting scarcer all the time, and prices will only go up. Spare Bernadelli magazines are probably unobtanium too.

They are beautiful pistols. If condition is similar, I would offer an even trade. You can always find an older P226. Nothing rare about them at all, honestly.

Unlike the Sig, the Bernardelli is all steel, which is nice.















I also have a couple of the rare Bernardelli Practical VB race guns based on the P018. They are very cool pistols to say the least,

bc1023 said:

They are beautiful pistols. If condition is similar, I would offer an even trade. You can always find an older P226. Nothing rare about them at all, honestly.

Unlike the Sig, the Bernardelli is all steel, which is nice.


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I also have a couple of the rare Bernardelli Practical VB race guns based on the P018. They are very cool pistols to say the least,


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Good points. Ive reconsidered. I agree with BC on an even trade.

bc1023

You know somehow I just knew you would have some great photos of P018s to add to this thread!

bannockburn said:

bc1023

You know somehow I just knew you would have some great photos of PO18s to add to this thread!

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I’d hate to disappoint.

I had a P018 Compact too not long ago. Ended up selling it for a nice profit.

They are very solid guns.

Redcoat3340 said:

I would have done an even trade...this guy borrowed 25,000 bucks from his wife to buy a collection to resell, and now seems to be having problem selling them and making any money.

Knows little to nothing about firearms.

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Trading is certainly not the way to pay her back.. LOL

bc1023

They are very solid guns.

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Of that I have no doubt!

It would be just a little bit too big for my small hand to get a comfortable grip on it.

Which brings to mind another very solid 9mm. though like the P018 a bit large in the grip frame as well: the MAB PA15. Lots of steel went into the making of this gun too! Between the all metal construction and the rotating barrel the gun was truly easy to control with little if any felt recoil to speak of.

bannockburn said:

bc1023



Of that I have no doubt!

It would be just a little bit too big for my small hand to get a comfortable grip on it.

Which brings to mind another very solid 9mm. though like the P018 a bit large in the grip frame as well: the MAB PA15. Lots of steel went into the making of this gun too! Between the all metal construction and the rotating barrel the gun was truly easy to control with little if any felt recoil to speak of.

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Oh without a doubt. The MAB PA-15 was built in France. Its actually a delayed blowback pistol, with the delay in the form of a rotating barrel.

Similar to the P-018, I have the base pistol and the super rare target shooting variant. It was called the PAP F1 or simply the PA-15 Target. They are very well made pistols and I would consider them of higher quality than the Bernardellis (though quite a bit different).










Just realized I need to take pics of my standard model, but here's the F1 in detail.

Bet you've never seen one of these before...

They were neat guns, contemporary with the equally neat Benellis.

bc1023

Bet you've never seen one of these before...

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Bet you'd be right too!

The PA-15 I had was fun to shoot as it could readily handle anything from the mildest target loads to hot +P rounds without any problem. The only thing I would have liked was for an adjustable rear sight (along with a taller front sight), like that found on the F1.

Deanimator said:

They were neat guns, contemporary with the equally neat Benellis.

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The Benellis had a super cool design, whereas the Bernardellis were much more traditional...

I'd like to see somebody bring the Benelli back, TISAS maybe.

Deanimator said:

I'd like to see somebody bring the Benelli back, TISAS maybe.

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Way too complicated a design and too expensive to produce. They’re also very difficult to field strip by today’s standards or even in their day, to be honest.

They are cool pistols, but I can’t imagine any company trying to reproduce them. They weren’t even popular in the 80’s.

I had the opportunity to shot the VB Practical also. The guy who had it, bought it used for 350 euros with two different ported barrels. Cool and accurate as heck gun but again it's all about price range. In the 150/350 euros they get sold pretty quickly, not so well when they go more than that. I can however understand that a collector is willing to pay an extra for a perfect examplary.

Redcoat3340 said:

I would have done an even trade...this guy borrowed 25,000 bucks from his wife to buy a collection to resell, and now seems to be having problem selling them and making any money.

Knows little to nothing about firearms.

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Just a guess that he doesnt have an FFL and if thats the case, I hope he loses a boatload of money...or even better, get nailed by ATF for dealing without a license.

I want a Benelli B80 in 7.65 Luger soooo bad !

Gordon said:

I want a Benelli B80 in 7.65 Luger soooo bad !

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In addition to the models pictured above, I also had a B77 32ACP. Fun shooter

Redcoat3340 said:

Just to close this....the fella wanted my Sig 226 plus $150 to do the deal.

I said no.

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Redcoat3340 said:

I would have done an even trade...this guy borrowed 25,000 bucks from his wife to buy a collection to resell, and now seems to be having problem selling them and making any money.

Knows little to nothing about firearms.

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At this point it could be a good solution to offer him some cash for the Bernardelli and save the P226 for another more balanced trade.

Since it's turning to be an "italian beauties" thread, I'll add some pics of another not so diffused italian pistol, my Pardini GT9-1 silver:

Very nice

The Pardinis are very slick. I have an older GT-9 with the full length dust cover...