Uncategorized
GunSpotting in Rome
About a month ago I spent some time in Italy, and noticed a few things that I thought would be interesting. The biggest thing that stood out to me (on the matter of firearms, I […]
Italy
Semiauto pistol
RIA: Beretta 1915 – the First of the Beretta Pistols
The Italian military went into WWI having already adopted a semiautomatic sidearm – the Model 1910 Glisenti (and its somewhat simplified Brixia cousin). However, the 1910 Glisenti was a very complex design, and much too […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Vintage Saturday: Royal Finance Police
From left to right: The soldier without a hat is a sergeant holding a Beretta Model 1915 pistol chambered in 9mm Glisenti. He is resting his shooting arm on a folded coat with a […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Prototype Italian MBT 1925 Straight-Pull Rifle (Video)
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. […]
Semiauto Rifles
Scotti Model X – Shooting, History, & Disassembly (Video)
The Scotti Model X (the X standing for the 10th year of the Italian Fascist era, or 1932) was one of several semiauto rifles tested by the Italian military during the late 1920s and early […]
Shotgun
Franchi SPAS-12 at RIA
The Franchi SPAS-12 (Sporting Purpose Automatic Shotgun) is a dual-action police shotgun produced in Italy between 1979 and 2000, and imported into the US until 1994. It can be operated either as a semiautomatic or […]
Conversion
Beretta M1918 SMG Photos
The Beretta M1918 was one of two simultaneous efforts to turn the M1915 Villar-Perosa machine gun into a more practical weapon. The Officine Villar Perosa (who had manufactured the 1915 gun in the first place) […]
Semiauto pistol
Slow Motion: Egyptian Helwan (Video)
The Helwan is a licensed copy of the Beretta 1951, made in Egypt. It is a single-stack, single-action 9mm pistol using the same basic locking system as the German P38. This design would later be […]
Handgun
Vintage Saturday: Classi Alpini
Italian Alpini posing for a photograph with a nice selection of Italian small arms – 1934 or 35 Beretta pistols, Beretta 38 submachine gun, and a 1935 model Fiat-Revelli machine gun.
Conversion
Dutch M1 with AR-10 Magazines
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Dutch government was looking to adopt a new rifle for its Army, and considered both the AR-10 (which was being produced domestically by Artillerie Inrichtingen) and the […]