Prototype
Pavesi Prototype SVT Copy (Video)
This rifle is pretty much a big mystery – I have virtually no good information on it. Through inspection, we know it is a mechanical copy of the Soviet SVT 38 or 40 – it […]
Italy
Prototype
Pavesi Model 1942 Prototype Semiauto (Video)
The Pavesi Model 1942 is a prototype Italian semiauto rifle chambered for the 8×59 Breda cartridge. It is a short recoil action with a 4-lug rotating bolt, and appears to use a Mannlicher type en […]
Artillery
A 75mm Maxim-Nordenfelt Cannon and the Type 30 Arisaka
First up, a 75mm Maxim-Nordenfelt cannon that was on display at the Carabinieri Museum in Rome. Guns like this one were pretty widely used by countries all over the world, with a wide variety of details […]
Prototype
Beretta Model 1931 & 1937 Prototype Semiauto Rifles
In the 1930s, the Italian military (like all major military forces at the time) was investigating options for a semiautomatic service rifle. Beretta’s Tulio Marengoni developed one such rifle, and submitted it in two forms. […]
Accessories
Italian Scout Bicycle
So, this is a bit off our normal subject matter, but it appealed to the mechanical nerd in me, and I figured at least a few of my readers would have the same reaction. If […]
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 […]
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 […]