Prototype Italian MBT 1925 Straight-Pull Rifle
Italy
•
15m
Note: This video was filmed over a year ago, but I have been holding it in anticipation of the rifle going to auction. That doesn't seem to be happening, so I'm posting the video now.
Only three example of this 1925 prototype rifle from MBT (Metallurgica Brescia gia Tempini) were ever made, and were sent out in hopes of finding military contracts. One went to Norway, and this one went to Russia, where it was acquired by a US Lend-Lease supply pilot.
It is an straight-pull design which is very close to being a self-loading rifle (and in fact additional patents were filed in 1926 to adapt it to self-loading functionality). It uses the standard 6-round Carcano clip, and is chambered for 6.5x52mm Carcano ammunition.
After this was filmed, my friend James took it out shooting again with pre-war brass clips, and said it worked reliably - FWIW.
Up Next in Italy
-
Armaguerra Model 1939 Semiauto Rifle
The Italian army actually adopted a semiautomatic rifle in 1939: this Armaguerra Model 1939. It was intended to supplant the M38 Carcano bolt actions, but ultimately never managed to get into mass production.
The rifle was adopted initially in the new 7.35mm cartridge, and then quickly cancelled...
-
M1915 Villar Perosa
The Villar Perosa is one of the first small machine guns developed and used by a military force. It was designed in Italy and introduced in 1915 as an aircraft weapon, to be used in a flexible mount by an airplane's observer. The gun consists of two independent firing actions mounted together. Ea...
-
SMG Comparison: Bernardelli VB vs Ber...
Yesterday we looked at the short-lived Bernardelli VB submachine gun made a few years after World War 2, and compared it to the post-war Beretta Model 4 SMG. Having seen how different the two guns really are, it's time to take them to the shooting range and see how they compare in actual firing...
