WesWorld

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Calibre : 6.5 mm x 52 Mod. 29 9g
Muzzle velocity: 760m/s
Loading technique: gas operated automatic/semi-automatic
Total length: 1000mm Barrel length: 483mm
Weight: 4.3kg loaded
Max Range: 2000m
Effective range: 400m
Magazine: 25 rounds
Rate of fire: 600rpm
New design of rifle replacing Mod. 91. Spitzer bullet gives higher mv, increased accuracy and higher penetration

Wiht the "gas operated automatic" and 600rpm, this looks to be a full-blown assault rifle, not a semi-auto.

Thats because it is a fully automatic weapon. 3 firing modes, single shot semi-automatic, 3-round burst or fully automatic.

Remember that it is a historical weapon, just a few years earlier than the historical 1935 and chambered for 6.5mm instead of 7mm rounds.

Thank you for the info. Wasn't aware of the Italians fielding an assault rifle in the mid-1930s.

The Italians didn't field such a weapon. A few were sold to a Central American army, and they vanished into history.

So it's this thing, except earlier and weighs less ?
I would have included it in the Dutch weapons evaluation the Marines are currently engaged in, but I'm guessing there is a reason there were no sales beyond the 850 to Costa Rica. Plenty of time pre-war for others to adopt.


Breda PG

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Breda PG

Notes: Despite the cartridge it fires, the PG is sometimes cited as an early ancestor of assault rifle development. It was produced in small numbers between 1935 and 1936 (when about 850 were built), and it had modern features such as a high-capacity magazine, short barrel, gas operation, sights calibrated for short range, burst firing capability, and other such modern design features. However it was not without its faults, the chief of which being that it is a beastly heavy weapon despite its small dimensions. It also has a very complicated firing mechanism, particularly in the burst mechanism. The only known sales were to Costa Rica.

That seems most likely true to me.

Interesting, haven't heard of the PG designation before and the other source I found said 4.3kg weight. Its a bit heavier than normal rifles, the 25 round magazine does that, but is the same weight as the Beretta SMGs.

Given that a Garand weighs 4.3 kg to 4.6 kg loaded (depending on sling type and wood density), the 5.25 kg weight looks more likely.

Well efforts to Google various iterations of Breda assault rifles generally led to mention of their inclusion in a new version of the game Frontline... but little in the way of stats, etc.

The link is to a page presenting weapons data formated for some game, have no clue as to reliability, but can't find anything else- probably due to the low numbers built.

I wonder if the Costa Ricans basically used it as a SAW or BAR. Numbers are too low for general issue.

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Originally posted by Kaiser Kirk
I wonder if the Costa Ricans basically used it as a SAW or BAR. Numbers are too low for general issue.

I'm heading towards a mix of Breda Mod.31 (maybe Mod.35/36 decreasing the weight), a newer Mannlicher-Carcano chambered for the more powerful 6.5x52 round, and Beretta MAB/38s. For most purposes, the Beretta is the best weapon but falls off at 200-300m range.

Maybe I should go with the historical 7.35x51 carcano round instead.

Well for a little bit I will be sticking to bolt-action rifles. The Marine's evaluation should result in a Q4 report, finding that no semi-auto is really ready for either jungle (Kongo/DEI) or heavy mud (trench warfare) yet, but recommending development of a couple. I think I have a decent write up, we'll see what holes Hrolf finds

Considering that recoil is a problem in these weapons, I am wondering if I should take the opportunity of unifying Belgo-Dutch arms to change calibers down to a 7 or 7.5mm round. That would have the added bennie of being able to surplus >1mil rifles... and would be a huge boost for FN.

The Lithuanian city fighting will spur an increase in SMGs at the unit level- probably on the current Marine model, as short sightlines are common where the Dutch plan on fighting. We will probably stick to the Soumi for that.

Off topic- but is the 20mm AAG Breda model 35 out? I like that carriage, want to marry it to the 23mm Madsens the Dutch are adopting.