Breda M-1931

     Notes: This is a large, heavy-caliber machinegun, similar in concept (but not form) to the Russian KPV.  It was designed primarily for antiaircraft use, but also used as a heavy support weapon.  Operation is by long-stroke gas piston and, very different from most pre-World War 2 Italian automatic weapons designs, has a straightforward and simple operation.  The M-1931 fires from an open bolt, and the M-1931 was used only from a tripod.  The heavy 43.3-inch barrel is finned for the last two-thirds of the length to aid in cooling, and is tipped with a rather small flash suppressor considering the size of the weapon.  Firing is automatic only, but the slow cyclic rate (450 rpm) makes single shots possible for a good gunner.  The M-1931 uses spade grips and a butterfly thumb trigger.  The weakness of the M-1931 is its feed method – by box magazines instead of belts.

Weapon

Ammunition

Weight

Magazines

Price

M-1931

13.2mm Hotchkiss

47.5 kg

20, 30

$10560

 

Weapon

ROF

Damage

Pen

Bulk

SS

Burst

Range

M-1931

5

10

2-2-3

12

1

3

377

 

Brixia M-1923

     Notes: Another weird pre-World War 2 Italian weapon, the M-1923 it fitted with a bipod and a sling for hip-firing – even though it has no shoulder stock and is fired with spade grips.  Luckily, there is also provision for mounting it on a tripod, and that is how it was normally used.  (Firing from the hip or bipod is, in game terms, one level more difficult than normal.)  The action is based on the Fiat-Revelli M-1914, but uses a different-shaped locking wedge that helps mitigate recoil to an extent, and also serves as a sort of passive trigger safety.  It has a two-stage trigger; the trigger is pushed all the way in to fire semiautomatic shots, and halfway to fire on automatic.  The cyclic rate of fire is a mere 350 rpm.  The short 18.1-inch barrel is tipped with a conical flash suppressor, and does not lend the M-1923 to long-range fire.  A selector switch may also be used; this is better than trying to fire with thumb pressure, as trying to push a butterfly trigger only halfway in in the heat of battle is a real feat of skill.  The M-1923 is fed by box magazines mounted on the right side; these magazines have large slots in the side to check ammunition levels; this also lets a lot of dirt into the magazines, duplicating the mistake the designers of the Chauchat did when they designed magazines for their gun.

Weapon

Ammunition

Weight

Magazines

Price

M-1923

6.5mm Carcano

11.5 kg

35

$1809

 

Weapon

ROF

Damage

Pen

Bulk

SS

Burst

Range

M-1923

3

3

2-Nil

5

2

4

49

With Bipod

3

3

2-Nil

5

1

2

63

With Tripod

3

3

2-Nil

5

1

1

97

 

Fiat-Revelli M-1914

     Notes:  This was the first domestically-designed machinegun to appear in Italy.  Like must Italian designs of the period, it is a mechanically strange weapon.  It is fed from a 50-round “ammunition cage” that was itself loaded from 5-round clips of rifle ammunition.  It has an external buffer rod that jumps up out of the receiver when firing; this is right in front of the spade grips and was said to be alarming when the weapon is fired, particularly when the gunner is aiming.  It has an operation so strange that firearms experts are split on whether it is short-stroke recoil or delayed blowback.  The M-1914 also has an oil tank to lubricate the rounds; without the oil, feeding and extraction is not a certain thing.  Despite all this, the M-1914 served until 1945, when it was sold off to various countries around the world.

     The M-1935 is an improved M-1914; in fact, many M-1935s were rebuilt M-1914s.  The water jacket was removed and replaced with an air-cooling jacket with a quick-change capability; the caliber was changed to 8mm Breda; the lubrication system for the rounds was made unnecessary by improvements to the feed system; and the ammunition cage was replaced by a conventional belt feed.  Unfortunately, the feed system that supposedly made lubrication of the cartridges unnecessary didn’t work, and a lubrication mechanism had to be added back into the weapon.  The M-1935 also had an alarming tendency to cook off, due to its firing from a closed bolt.  The 23-kilogram tripod was quite a piece of equipment to lug around. The Italians used them until 1945, and then destroyed most of them.

     The Breda M-1937 was a further development of the M-1935.  In addition to the screwy operation of the M-1914 and M-1935, the M-1937 was saddled with small-capacity strip feeding.  The entire feed strip moves though the M-1937, with empty cases being replaced in the feed strip after firing.  Not only could these strips not be linked; no reloading is possible until the spent feed strip is removed.  Firing is from an open bolt and on automatic fire only, but the low cyclic rate of fire (450 rpm) means that squeezing off single shots is possible with a minimum of practice.  The barrel is also of heavier profile and longer (30.7 inches vs. 25.7 inches for the M-1935), but there is no flash suppressor of muzzle brake on the barrel.  The M-1937 was accompanied by a new 19-kilogram tripod.  The M-1938 was a vehicle-mounted version, designed as a coaxial weapon or for other internal vehicle mounts.  It has no provisions for mounting on a tripod, and uses a shorter 26.8-inch barrel.  Instead of spade grips, the M-1938 uses a pistol grip and trigger.  It is also fed by a top-mounted box magazine, with downward extraction and provisions for mounting a case collection bag.

Weapon

Ammunition

Weight

Magazines

Price

M-1914

6.5mm Carcano

17 kg

50 Strip-Feed Box

$2071

M-1935

8mm Breda

18.1 kg

50 Belt

$2939

M-1937

8mm Breda

19.4 kg

20 Strip

$3080

M-1938

8mm Breda

19 kg

20

 

 

Weapon

ROF

Damage

Pen

Bulk

SS

Burst

Range

M-1914

5

4

2-Nil

7

1

1

163

M-1935

5

5

2-3-Nil

8

1

1

177

M-1937

5

5

2-4-Nil

8

1

2

225

M-1938

5

5

2-3-Nil

7

*

*

188

*This machinegun is always mounted in internal vehicle mounts, and has no recoil in game terms.

 

MG-42/59

     Notes: This is for all intents and purposes a World War 2-era MG-42 that has been given a change in caliber with as little other changes as possible.   The 7.62mm NATO version is also used by Nigeria, Chile, Mozambique, Portugal, and Denmark.  As deliveries of the Minimi to Italian troops have been greatly slowed for budgetary reasons, a version of the MG-42/59 has also been manufactured using 5.56mm NATO ammunition. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The 5.56mm NATO version became the standard squad automatic weapon as sources for the Minimi quickly dried up.

     Merc 2000 Notes: The 5.56mm NATO version became a speedbump in the arms road as shipments of the Minimi were accelerated.

Weapon

Ammunition

Weight

Magazines

Price

MG-42/59

7.62mm NATO

12 kg

50 Belt, 100 Belt

$2370

MG-42/59

5.56mm NATO

12 kg

50 Belt, 100 Belt

$1506

 

Weapon

ROF

Damage

Pen

Bulk

SS

Burst

Range

MG-42/59 (7.62mm)

5

4

2-3-Nil

8

2

6

73

MG-42/59 (7.62mm, Bipod)

5

4

2-3-Nil

8

1

3

95

MG-42/59 (7.62mm, Tripod)

5

4

2-3-Nil

8

1

2

146

MG-42/59 (5.56mm)

5

3

1-Nil

8

1

4

65

MG-42/59 (5.56mm, Bipod)

5

3

1-Nil

8

1

2

84

MG-42/59 (5.56mm, Tripod)

4

3

1-Nil

8

1

1

129