The Beretta Olimpia, Part One

Original article photographySource page 3

"semi-automatic bolt action" A almost sounds like a phrase created by a gun control advocate, like "full semi-automatic AR-15." Shooters unfamiliar with the Beretta Olimpia and observing it in operation for the first time will likely have a "Huh, what?" moment. The Olimpia Rifle and Carbine, sometimes referred to as the "Beretta Olimpia Modelo Unione," was produced from the 1950s through the 1980s and have the distinction of being operable as a locked breech bolt action or as recoil-operated semi-autos.

The key to the dual functionality is the bolt handle which can rotate through a fixed angle and is capable of being locked into one of two notches in the right side of the breech and stock. Throughout this article I use the Italian spelling "Olimpia" because that is the official Beretta model name.

The Italian spelling and the more common, anglicized Olympia version are used interchangeably in print and on the Interwebz but my OCD forces me to use the Italian spelling herein because that is the official Beretta spelling from back in the day. A friend’s need for a replacement magazine is what introduced Top: The Beretta Olimpia rifle (top) and carbine (bottom), right side view showing butter knife bolt handle. me to the Olimpia.

When he asked if I could locate a spare magazine or three for his "new to him" Beretta, I recognized the similarity between the Olimpia and a Walther Model 1 from my teen years when I frequently spent time at our town gunsmith’s basement Far The forward bolt handle notch is clearly visible, along with the breech end of the barrel and the top of the empty magazine.

Original article photographySource page 4

The hole in the trigger guard is for adjustment of the sear let off. The Olimpia carbine uses a stamped trigger guard and underlying trigger plate, bent in place with two large and two small guard screws. The carbine is identical and both arms offer five positions for securing the front sling swivel to match the sling set-up to the shooter’s arm length and stature. shop as an extra set of hands, a strong back and weak mind, and general no-cost shop janitor.

In the end, the education in firearms and gunsmithing was well worth more than any monetary compensation would have been. Like so many of his personal rifles, Charlie the gunsmith had the Walther Model 1 hanging from hooks screwed into the side of the The target crown is visible, as is the front sight post insert retaining screw.

The left side groove for the scope mount claw runs longitudinally at the top of the receiver ring and the two cross grooves for the mount’s clamp screws surround a crosswise dovetail. ceiling joists in his shop. One Saturday morning I heard Charlie and a regular shop "hang-out" get into a discussion about .22 trainers and Charlie mentioned his "semi-auto bolt action" trainer. The regular scoffed, so Charlie asked me to reach up and fetch him that Walther.

As was my practice, I kept my mouth shut and ears open and soon knew all about the Model 1 and its dual function design. More about that later. Charlie went on to tell the regular about American locked breech semi-auto .22 rifles which functioned essentially the same as the Walther Model 1 but had differences in execution.

The Savage Models 6, 7, and 87, the High Standard Sport King, and respective Sears copies thereof all had the capability of firing "bolt action" with a locked breech by means of the bolt knob which could be pushed to the left with the bolt in battery, thus preventing semi-auto feeding and making the rifles single shot.

Pushing and pulling the bolt knob sideways is considerably more awkward than flicking a butter knife bolt handle up or down with one finger and therein lies the appeal of the Walther and its Beretta copies. With the Walther and Beretta, when the bolt handle is rotated upward to its detent stop, the arm operates like any blowback semiauto 22 rifle. A reasonably massive bolt and a stiff recoil spring keep the breech closed until chamber pressure has dropped to safe levels and/or the bullet has exited the barrel.

The force on the case head pushes the bolt and case rearward, ejecting the case, stripping anew cartridge from the magazine, and chambering it. Each pull of the trigger re-

Original article photographySource page 5

In this position, the rifle functions as a single shot. Above center: Bolt handle in the up position with the bolt in battery. The rifle will function semi-automatically. sults in a repeat until the magazine empties. The Beretta Olimpia and its Walther inspiration offer the shooter the option to lock the breech closed for every shot by rotating the bolt handle downward into a notch in the breech and the stock when the bolt is closed.

So locked, the bolt handle keeps the bolt forward and the breech closed during and after around is fired until the bolt handle is manually lifted up (more like "flicked" up) into a ball detent, the bolt pulled to the rear to eject the spent case, and released to feed the next cartridge. Hence, the Beretta Olimpia is a "split personality" rifle owing to its designed-in dual functionality. The Olimpia was used extensively in carbine form for training military, police, and the paramilitary Italian Carabinieri.

The carbine and rifle versions were also sold to the public and shooting clubs. The Beretta Olimpia is robust for a .22 rifle, with a heft that makes it feel like a larger, centerfire weapon. The receiver is reasonably standard for a rimfire rifle, being fabricated from two parallel steel plates sandwiching a number of steel blocks that are held in place with pins.

These blocks include a barrel extension into which the breech end of the barrel is pressed and pinned, a receiver tang projecting from the rear of the receiver, and the magazine well. Other pins retain or act as pivots for the hammer, trigger, sear, and other bits. There is around window in the left receiver plate that offers a clear view of the engagement of the sear surfaces in the sear lever and hammer. The barrel is 0.900" in diameter and is the source of much of the Olimpia’s mass.

The barrel is fitted with a ramp front sight over which is slid a thick C-sectioned protective steel hood. Front sight posts are 2.5 mm wide factory-installed, but either 1.5 mm or 2.0 mm wide post inserts were also available as accessories. The standard rear sight is equally robust, with a large blade rear sight that is adjustable for windage using two huge serrated opposing lock screws which one unscrews one side and tightens the other to shift the rear sight as

Original article photographySource page 6

Above center: Spine view of Olimpia magazines showing horizontal magazine catch retaining groove slightly more than halfway up from the base; Beretta (L) and Triple K (R). The Beretta magazine floorplate keeper is centered, whereas the Triple Kkeeper is slightly forward of center. Given the close similarity between the two magazines, the floorplate keeper position is about the simplest way to identify Olimpia magazines. desired.

There is a central screw in the rear sight that adjusts for elevation against a spring beneath the rear sight base. A diopter rear sight was offered by Beretta and mounted to the rear tang. These diopters are occasionally offered on e Bay and Gunbroker but are scarce and spendy.

Directly behind the rear sight is the receiver ring, which features The rear guard screw and two small guardscrews are visible along with the sear let-off adjustment screw directly in front of the trigger. one of two mounting arrangements for a scope: Some early production Olimpias have one slot centered on the receiver ring, while later Olimpias have receiver rings with two slots about one-inch apart. Thus there are two scope mount types.

The scope mounts are unique in that they area single mount with one ring, which is most often fitted to a scope tube between the crosshair adjustment block and the objective bell. The scope is therefore cantilevered back over the receiver. To Americans who are accustomed to two rings mounting scopes to their rifles, the singleringed Olimpia mount when fitted to both scope and rifle looks just as unconventional as it sounds. Scope mounts are available from sources in Europe but they are not inexpensive!

The barreled receiver is fitted into stocks of either European birch for the Olimpia carbines or walnut for the rifle. While both stock types feature checkering in the pistol grip area, the walnut stock also has a Monte Carlo-style cheekpiece and more checkering on the forend grip area. Two-piece stamped sheet metal trigger guards are fitted to Olimpia carbines and the trigger guard parts are not thin stampings, either. The outermost screws are larger and are the traditional "guard" screws.

The two inner screws are smaller in diameter and bind the outer trigger guard to the inner trigger plate. A one-piece black-finished white metal cast or black polymer trigger guard was fitted to the Olimpia rifle. It is held in place by two large guard screws at

each end with just one small guard screw in the center. To review the Olimpia’s operation, with the bolt handle rotated upward to its detent stop, the action operates like any blowback semiauto .22 rifle. A reasonably massive bolt and a stiff recoil spring keep the breech closed until chamber pressure has dropped to safe levels and/or the bullet has exited the barrel. The force on the case head pushes the bolt and case rearward, ejecting the case, stripping anew cartridge from the magazine, and chambering it.

Each pull of the trigger results in a repeat until the magazine empties. Pushing the bolt handle down into the forward notch locks the bolt closed during and after around is fired until the bolt handle is manually lifted and pulled to the rear to eject the spent case and released to feed the next cartridge. The magazine well is formed by the receiver sideplates and the steel blocks contained therein.

The magazine catch is a chisel-pointed steel bit that is cammed away from a mating horizontal groove in the magazine’s spine by pressing upward on a knurled button projecting down through the trigger guard. Beretta manufactured magazines of 5, 10, and 20 round capacity. Original Beretta Olimpia magazines are quite scarce and the recently-imported Beretta Olimpias come with one ten-round version. But back to my friend’s interest in a spare Olimpia magazine.

Some Interwebz firearm chat room participants have stated that Walther Model 1 magazines will fit and function in a Beretta Olimpia and vice-versa. I have not confirmed that because Walther Model 1 rifles are extremely scarce and pricey in the United States and Model 1 magazines are pure unobtanium.

The same forums teach that the magazine for a Weatherby .22 will fit in the Olimpia but these require a tab to be filed or ground off and "adjustment" to the horizontal groove in the spine to ensure proper latching of the Weatherby magazine in an Olimpia rifle. We elected to take a different path, going with an order to Triple Kfor two of their catalog 1180M 10round magazines. Triple K (Triple K. com, is a source for reproduction magazines and grips for a number of common and notso-common handguns.

While a few decades ago my own personal experience with their products was hit or miss, in the past 10-15 years the times when I have purchased a Triple Kmagazine they have functioned reliably, perhaps requiring minor fitting or polishing of the cartridge follower in some cases.

Given the scarcity of original magazines and the high, often 3-digit-dollar prices of used original magazines from dealers who specialize in them, a $44 magazine from Triple Koffers a cost-effective option for Olimpia owners seeking a spare. When the magazines came, they fit and latched perfectly and each fed aluminum snap cap cartridges when cycled briskly by hand.

My friend, his Olimpia, and the two new magazines went off to the range for function testing with live rounds and he reported back that each new Triple Kmag fed 50 rounds of CCI Mini-mag ammo without issue. Speaking of firing, when subsonic ammunition is fired in an Olimpia from a locked bolt, the bullet may exit the barrel at supersonic or transonic velocities.

Owners of Olimpia rifles and carbines have reported deteriorated accuracy when fired in this manner as opposed to semi-automatically, in which case the muzzle velocity is most often subsonic and the bullet isn’t subjected to transonic buffeting, throwing off accuracy. In Part 2 I’ll go over disassembly procedures, parts, and schematic diagram. AG American Gunsmith Reader Services 1.