Pavesi 1942 Prototype Italian Semiauto Rifle
Forgotten Weapons
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7m 11s
The Pavesi Model 1942 is a prototype Italian semiauto rifle chambered for the 8x59 Breda cartridge. It is a short recoil action with a 4-lug rotating bolt, and appears to use a Mannlicher type en bloc clip like a Carcano (no sample clip was available for me to look at). It is marked on the chamber "ARMA PAVESI-FNA BREVETTO N.365273", although I have not been able to find a patent bearing that number. The top of the rear bolt cover is marked "Semiautomatico cal.8 - mod. 1942 -xx - Brescia". It has no serial number that I could find.
I have not been able to find any substantive information on exactly who made the rifle, if or when it was tested, or what the results of any testing may have been. The 1942 date puts this well after the main Italian self-loading rifle trials, which concluded in the adoption (although not the mass production) of the Armaguerra Model 1939, in 1939.
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