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2 - The Italian Beretta Model 38 submachine guns

During both world wars, Italian soldiers were often equipped with well-made weapons, but some were impractical and sometimes unreliable. In the midst of these mediocre weapons, the Beretta Model 38 SMG stands out for its ease of use and efficiency. As such, it undoubtedly represented one of the most successful weapons in the Italian arsenal until 1945. No doubt this success finds its source in its development carried out in a private environment, which allowed it to see the light of day without suffering from the nitty-gritty weights of poorly drafted military specifications.

Genesis

By adopting in 1915 the twin ultra-light machine gun Villar Perosa, Italy had taken a first step towards the adoption of a submachine gun (Pic.01). The Villar Perosa, firing a slightly underloaded version of the 9 mm Parabellum – the 9 mm Glisenti – had little effectiveness both as a light machinegun or as an aircraft machine gun at least, not as much as some would have liked to. On the other hand, by its small dimensions and its relative lightness, it answered the need felt by front-line combatants and the Arditi of the corps francs for a mobile automatic weapon, capable of quickly delivering a large volume of fire in a critical area of the front, to which the adoption of the German MP 18/I would provide an answer some time later on the French front.

Attempts were made to make the Villar Perosa transportable and usable by a moving fighter. This research very quickly led to the dissociation of the twinning and the assembly of each of the barrel / receiver assemblies on a stock equipped with a trigger mechanism of the rifle type. These changes are presented in more detail in the article by Michael Heidler available on this same website. Thus, in the aftermath of WWI, a whole range of submachine guns derived from the Villar Perosa appeared, most of which were made by the Beretta factories under the authority of the engineer Tullio Marengoni (Pic.02).

Like the other SMGs manufactured at that time, these weapons found few buyers, because the experience of using the German Bergmann MP 18/I had been forgotten and most of the armies of the world were at that time mainly concerned with the adoption of a really effective light machine gun. Beretta marketed a carbine very close to its SMG but with semi-automatic mode only: the Beretta model 18/30. This weapon was used by some Italian police forces (Pic.03) but also by the Argentine police and was found in 1938 in the stockpiles of weapons hidden in France by the revolutionary social movement better known as la Cagoule (the cowl). Despite this single commercial success of the interwar period, Tullio Marengoni continued his work towards the development of a high-performance SMG.

The « Moschetto Automatico Beretta Modelo 38 »

The uncertainty that persisted within the headquarters about the tactical use of the submachine gun led Tullio Marengoni to propose a new type of weapon: the automatic musketoon or “Moschetto automatico” in Italian. (Pics. 04 to 08). Operating from a straight blowback bolt, it fires from an open bolt a new ammunition very close to the 9 mm Parabellum, but with a reinforced load: the 9 mm M.38 (Pic.09). This ammunition increased the power of the 9 mm Glisenti then used by Italy in these handguns (Glisenti model 1910, Brixia model 1912 and Beretta model 1915) as well as the Villar Perosa and its derivatives. The use of the 9 mm M.38 is also to be avoided in these weapons, still partially in service in the Italian army during WWII (Pic.10). In order to avoid confusion, the M.38 cartridge case is identified by a knurling on its middle part. This ammunition was delivered on stripper clips of 10 cartridges similar to those used in Mauser Model 1896 pistols (Pic.11).

The cocking handle is positioned on the right side and has a machined dust cover (Pic.12). The weapon has two triggers: one at the front that controls the single mode and the other at the rear the automatic mode, the latter is striated for easy tactile identification (Pic.13). The presence on the weapon of a locking device allowing at will to neutralize the automatic trigger confirms the primary vocation of semi-automatic carbine (Pic.14). A safety lever blocking both triggers is placed on the left side of the receiver (Pic.15). For the transport of the weapon without magazine, the magazine well has a flap to prevent the entry of foreign bodies into the mechanism (Pic.16). A solid wooden stock with a half-pistol grip, a rear sight adjustable up to 500 m and a barrel of respectable length (31.5 cm when most of the other SMG have a 20 cm long barrel), which could be extended by a bayonet with a folding blade completed the semi-automatic carbine character of this weapon (Pic.17 to 21). The Italian army adopted it in 1938 under the name “Moschetto Automatico Beretta Modelo 38” (abbreviated MAB Mod.38). It also served with the National Security Volunteer Militia (MVSN) and the Colonial Police.

The weapon is equipped with a bolt whose small diameter recoil spring is housed in a telescopic tube, according to the principle put into effect a few years earlier by the German Heinrich Vollmer (Pic.22). The spring thus captive, this arrangement allowed a very easy disassembly, in which bolt and recoil spring are removed from the weapon in a single action (disassembly is shown on Pics.23 to 30). This provision also avoids the action of foreign bodies on the spring and prevented twisting of the latter, frequent with springs of small diameter not held by a guiding rod (as on the MP 18/I and the French STA SMG). The bolt is equipped with a mobile firing pin operated by a lever positioned on the underside of the bolt. This lever makes the firing pin protrude when the bolt, at the end of its forward movement, hits the ejector support (Pic.31). This provision is also found on Thompson 1921 and 1928 SMGs. The rear part of the recoil spring protective tube protrudes from the center of the receiver cap, which has the effect of centering the spring and exerting permanent pressure on the cap preventing it from being accidentally disassembled (Pic.32).

On the first versions, the barrel of the MAB 38 is protected by a perforated shroud, consisting of a machined tube, pierced with oblong openings, on the following versions the openings are circular. Ahead of the front sight is installed a climbing compensator, operating on the same principle as the “Cutts” compensator of the Thompson SMG: it is a cylindrical part machined with two large ports oriented upwards which directed part of the gases at the exit of the barrel in this direction and limit the climbing of the weapon. On later models, the two ports would be replaced by four slots closely reminiscent of “Cutts” compensator (Pic.33).

The butt plate has a hatch that gives access to a housing machined inside the stock in which two sections of a cleaning rod (the one of the Carcano carbine) and a 9 mm brush for cleaning the barrel are placed. (Pic.34)

Originally, three types of magazines were available: 10, 20 and 40 rounds. They are of a double-stack / double-fed type (Pic.35). This design makes them easy to hand-load (unlike the “Schmeisser” type magazines, whose cartridges are represented in a central position – “single fed”). There is, however, a loader that enables them to be loaded with 10-cartridge stripper clips. This guide was often carried suspended from the equipment by a carabiner. The cartridges for SMG are thus delivered on these magazine blades which allow the rapid loading of magazines (Pics.36 and 37).

The magazine is inserted in straight way inside the weapon. It is locked by a lever whose control is located behind the magazine well. We can note here that inside the weapon, the magazine is not placed in a straight perpendicular way from the barrel, but in a slightly angled way, a better provision for feeding.

At an undetermined time, 30-round magazines were also put into service. They are externally identical to those of 40, but their locking plate has a guide limiting the sinking of the follower and thus the capacity to 30 cartridges (Pics.38 and 39). There are also 30-round magazines of intermediate size between the 20 and 40-round magazines, but it seems that these were manufactured after WWII. The magazines are blued and have on their back side a numeration in tens identifying the loading control holes. Some magazines bear a manufacturer marking but the majority are anonymous (Pic.40). The magazine of the Beretta model 38 would prove so successful, that it would be adopted on the whole Italian SMG: from WWII (TZ-45, FNAB-43) but also on post-war weapons such as the Franchi LF-57 and the Beretta Model 12 S in service in many police forces. The latter was used by the French National Police, with the PM 12SD, and was only replaced in the 2010s!

The version finally adopted by the Italian army would be the “Model 38A” whose ejection port, previously placed at the top of the receiver is slightly offset to the left of the receiver, so that the ejection of the brass does not disturb the aim (Pics.41 to 43).

Wartime evolution

During the war years, the standard Model 38 corresponding to the type 3 described above, i.e. with a shroud with circular openings and a 4-slot climbing compensator, benefited from several simplifications designed to reduce its production cost and speed up its manufacture (Pic.44 to 46):

  • the barrel shroud, initially machined from a single metal piece, was replaced by shrouds made from extruded steel tube and then from rectangular steel-sheet rolled and welded on its lower part,
  • instead of being machined from a single metal piece, the receiver was made by rolling and welding a rectangular steel-sheet,
  • the automatic fire lock pusher, which was totally useless on a weapon of war, was removed,
  • the cocking handle was also simplified and its machined dust cover sliding in a rail, was replaced by a simple piece of stamped sheet metal covering the cocking groove,
  • the arrangement for mounting a bayonet was removed,
  • little by little, the superb walnut used to make the stocks ceases to receive the polish of yesteryear to take on a matte and poorly finished appearance then it gives way to simpler woods of lighter appearance, requiring less drying time. On these mid-war models the stock is slightly shortened at the front and now ends a little ahead of the stock band.

These minor simplifications, however, remained insufficient to meet the drastic restrictions imposed by the war economy and the Beretta factories had to adopt in the middle of the war very simplified versions of the Model 38.

Simplified end-of-war versions: 38/42 and 38/44 models

In 1941, while the Italian army was engaged alongside the Afrika Korps in the fighting in North Africa, the Italian headquarters took into account the wish of its paratroopers and motorized units to have a short weapon like the German MP 38 (Pic.47).

The satisfaction of this request was entrusted once again to Tullio Marengoni, who created the “Model 1”: a weapon that retains the basic mechanism of the MAB 38 but is equipped with a folding stock inspired by that of the German MP 38, an aluminum pistol grip and whose stock ends rear of the magazine well (Pics.48 and 49). The latter is profiled in the shape of a handle. The barrel of the Model 1 is devoid of a shroud, on the other hand it is thick, in order to delay its heating and fluted with longitudinal grooves intended to increase its surface of contact with the ambient environment in order to improve its cooling. Two slots machined at the muzzle, perpendicular to the axis of the barrel acted as compensator. The weapon has a fixed-striker bolt, which is slightly shorter than the Model 38. This version is sometimes referred to by some authors as the “Model 38/43”. There is also some confusion in the names of Beretta SMGs. For our part, we have chosen to stick to the “Model 1” nomenclature from the superb history of the firm published by R.L. Wilson in 2001 by Proxima. Despite these much-improved ergonomics, the “Model 1” would never be mass-produced, probably because of its too high-cost price.

At this time, the German war effort began to get bogged down in Russia: 1942 was the year of Stalingrad and the African campaign began to sound like a defeat. The entry of the United States into the war the previous year brought the Allies the help of a formidable industrial potential, at a time when the shortage of raw materials was settling in the Axis countries and the first effects of the Allied strategic bombings were beginning to weigh on the economy of the Third Reich. At the end of 1942, the Minister of Armaments, Albert Speer, simply incorporated the Italian arms industry into the normal sources of supply for the German army. The factories of northern Italy were gradually integrated into the production apparatus of the Third Reich. At the same time, the Romanian army, failing to obtain enough Orita SMGs from the Cugir national factory, also opted for the purchase from its Italian ally of MAB Mod. 38A and MP 41 from Germany (Pics.50 and 51).

At the end of 1943, the Third Reich having decided to abandon the manufacture of the MP 40 in favour of that of the MP 43 and 44, decided that the submachine gun needs of the Reich troops would be met by Beretta Mod. 38A, who took in the German nomenclature the name of “MP 739 (i)” (Pics.52 to 57). The result of all these developments was an increase in orders for “Moschetto Automatico” at Beretta, which was forced to consider simplifying the original model in order to produce more and at a lower cost.

In 1942, Tullio Marengoni, offered the Italian army a more compact weapon that takes the mechanism of the Model 1 with a wooden fixed stock. The receiver is no longer machined or extruded steel but made using a stamped steel, rolled and welded. The fluted barrel of the Model 1 with two slots serving as a compensator at the end is preserved although some early manufactures are equipped with a thick barrel almost cylindrical and devoid of fluting. The tangential rear sight of the previous models gives way to a two-leaf rear sight for 100- and 200-meters distances. The bolt has a fixed firing pin, permanently protruding in the bolt face. This version called “Model 38/42” would be abundantly manufactured for both the Italian forces and the German army (Pics.58 to 65).

In his book “The world’s Submachine guns and Machine pistols“, Thomas B. Nelson indicates that at the end of 1943, the monthly production of Beretta Model 38/42 was close to 20,000 copies, which is quite respectable for a weapon of fairly traditional design, manufactured in a context of difficulties of refueling raw materials.

The difficult conditions of the last months of the war when southern Italy was in the hands of the Allies and signed an armistice with them, while German troops and their fascist allies in the Italian Social Republic (ISR) occupied northern Italy, resulted in the industrial field by an increased simplification of manufacturing. At the end of 1943, the principle of the so-called “telescopic” recoil spring, so distinctive of the Model 38, was abandoned in favor of a STEN-type bolt with a fixed firing pin resting on a large diameter recoil spring (Pic.66). On this model, the receiver cap no longer has the central orifice used to center the rear part of the recoil spring housing, which existed on previous models and ensured the locking of the bolt cap (Pics.67 and 68). Now to disassemble the weapon, it is no longer necessary to compress the back of the recoil spring housing to allow the rotation of the receiver cap: it is enough to clear a locking pusher placed at the back of the frame, which thus locks the cap. The barrel permanently loses its fluting (Pics.69 and 70). The butt plate also has its hatch removed (Pic.71). This simplified version, dubbed the Model 38/44, would go into production in February 1944, when Axis forces evacuated northern Italy under Allied pressure.

Neither the Liberation of northern Italy, nor the bombing it suffered on April 3rd, 1945, did interrupt the activities of the Beretta firm, which continued its manufactures to arm the law enforcement forces of the new Italian government, and which soon met with great success in exporting to the Middle East and South America where the Beretta SMGs would be widely employed (Pics.73 to 75). The Beretta would remain in service for a very long time in the Italian army and police where they would be dethroned only very gradually from the end of the 70s by third generation SMGs such as the Franchi LF-57 and the Beretta Model 12. Beretta SMG was also adopted after the war by the West German border police (BundesGrenzSchutz = BGS) when it was created, shortly before that of a new German army: the Bundeswehr. This version of the Beretta 38/42 has a safety push button running through the stock (Pics.76 and 77). An unconfirmed rumor claims that the Beretta SMG and Astra 600 pistol delivered to Germany in the 50s were the finalization of orders from the Third Reich and undelivered after the Allies liberated the border territories of the Reich thus cutting it off from its sources of supply.

In the fifties, the feedback from accidents with SMGs would lead to the adoption of automatic devices preventing the unintended recoil of the bolt followed by its return forward with chambering of a cartridge and the untimely departure of one or more shots. We would then see the appearance of pushers and safety “pedals” installed in the stock of the Beretta SMGs. The presence of a device of this type unambiguously indicates to the collector that he is dealing with a post-war weapon, which is not necessarily uninteresting but remains much less desirable than a pre-1945 model (Pics.78 and 79).

Accessories

Beretta SMGs were equipped with only a small number of accessories compared to some of their foreign counterparts. These accessories, which are now highly sought after by collectors, deserve to be presented here.

It seems that the Italian forces used two types of mag pouches during WWII:

  • Pouches containing magazines in a vertical position. At the beginning of the war there were grey-green leather pouches for two or three magazines. At the end of the war, olive green canvas pockets appeared, some with one leather closure strap per pouch like the German MP 40 magazine holders, others with a single large flap closed by a single strap held by a wooden belaying pin (Pic.80).
  • Vests on which the magazines are housed in the pectoral and dorsal position in seven horizontal pouches. These accessories, now highly sought after, are nicknamed “Samurai” by collectors, because of their atypical appearance. It seems that they were mostly in endowment in the paratrooper units. They made it possible to carry a large number of magazines close to the body, while intended to act as a bulletproof vest or makeshift shrapnel protection (Pics.81 and 82). It can be noted here that the magazines placed in the back had above all a “collective” vocation, not being able to be easily taken by the wearer of the vest.

Pictures of German troops using Beretta SMGs rarely show these pouches. It can be assumed that the Reich troops used the MP 40 mag pouch or other German SMGs. The German paratroopers, heavy users of Beretta probably housed the spare magazines in the pockets of their jump suit (Pics.83 and 84).

Two slings have been provided for the Beretta Model 38. A simple leather strap with an adjustment buckle like the French slings of MAS 36 but the Beretta was also often equipped with a brown leather sling adjustable by a slider quite close to the German one mounted on the 98k rifles and MP 40 SMG. These slings are now often offered to collectors for German straps, sometimes after being covered with fake Nazi stamps to make them more convincing (Pic.85).

A transport bag in grey-green canvas to protect the weapon in sandy areas was provided: in addition to the weapon, it allows to carry magazines and a loader for stripper clips.

Various prototypes of Beretta SMGs were equipped with a foldable spike-bayonet permanently mounted on the weapon, as on the carabiner 38 TS. Most Beretta Model 38 series were however devoid of bayonet except on some copies which could equip a dagger-bayonet with folding blade. It seems that many of these bayonets were later turned into combat daggers by immobilizing the blade in the unfolded position. We also met Beretta 38/49 equipped with this type of bayonet, probably thus arranged to meet an export contract which we were unable to identify.

Conclusion

Powerful and accurate weapons, the Beretta Model 38 and its derivatives also proved to be very reliable in the field as well as easy to maintain and use. They are undoubtedly among the best individual weapons that the Italian army has been equipped with, and also among the most appreciated spoils of war of the Allied soldiers who would hasten to recover the weapons left on the ground at the end of the engagements that would oppose them to the Italian troops. The Beretta Model 38A would also seduce the German army who would order this model, which was often seen in the hands of the Fallschirmjäger, who seem to have particularly appreciated this versatile and effective Italian weapon, which thanks to its powerful ammunition and selective firing capability prefigures the assault rifle. Another Axis ally, Romania also adopted the Beretta Model 38 to complement the Orita SMG that the Cugir factory could not produce in sufficient numbers to meet the needs generated by the war on the Eastern Front.

Luc Guillou

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Technical data:

Caliber: 9 mm
Ammunition: 9 mm M.38 (overloaded version of the 9 mm Parabellum developing a V0 of 420 m/s)
Total length: 930 mm
Barrel length: 315 mm
Empty mass: 4.25 kg
Cyclic rate: about 600 rounds per minute
Capacity: by magazines of 10, 20, 30 and 40 cartridges

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