The M1891 Paraviccini-Carcano rifle, often misleadingly referred to as the Mannlicher-Carcano, has been adopted by the Italian army in 1891, along with the rimless 6.5x52 mm ammunition. The rifle was developed by the team, led by M. Carcano, under supervision of the government commission, led by the general Paraviccini, at Terni state arsenal.
Name of the Ferdinand Ritter Von Mannlicher, noted Austrian arms designer, is often used in conjunction with this rifle because M91 uses modified Mannlicher-type magazine with en bloc clip. All other features of Italian rifle are quite different from Mannlicher designs. M91 rifle was available in several modifications, including long infantry rifle (Fucile di Fanteria Mo.1891), short cavalry carbine (Moschetto Mo.91 da Cavalleria, adopted in 1893), and carbine for special troops (Moschetto per Truppe Speciali Mo.91, or M91TS in short, adopted in 1897).
These rifles served as a standard with Italian army until 1938, when it was decided to replace 6.5x52 ammunition with more powerful 7.35x52 ammunition, based on the recent experience in North Africa.
The M1891 Paraviccini-Carcano rifle, often misleadingly referred to as the Mannlicher-Carcano, has been adopted by the Italian army in 1891, along with the rimless 6.5x52 mm ammunition. The rifle was developed by the team, led by M. Carcano, under supervision of the government commission, led by the general Paraviccini, at Terni state arsenal.
Name of the Ferdinand Ritter Von Mannlicher, noted Austrian arms designer, is often used in conjunction with this rifle because M91 uses modified Mannlicher-type magazine with en bloc clip. All other features of Italian rifle are quite different from Mannlicher designs.
M91 rifle was available in several modifications, including long infantry rifle (Fucile di Fanteria Mo.1891), short cavalry carbine (Moschetto Mo.91 da Cavalleria, adopted in 1893), and carbine for special troops (Moschetto per Truppe Speciali Mo.91, or M91TS in short, adopted in 1897).
These rifles served as a standard with Italian army until 1938, when it was decided to replace 6.5x52 ammunition with more powerful 7.35x52 ammunition, based on the recent experience in North Africa.
New pattern of the short Carcano rifle, adopted in 1938 as M38, was technically similar to M91 rifle, but had shorter barrel length, chambered for 7.35mm ammunition, and had fixed rear sights, set to 300 meters range. Since 1938, many of the 6.5mm M91 long rifles were shortened to the M38 length, which was much more convenient to carry and maneuver. With the outbreak of the Second World war Italy was unable to supply enough 7.35mm weapons and ammunition, so, in 1940, it was decided to return back to the 6.5x52 ammunition as a standard. Consequently, many of 7.35mm M38 rifles were rebarelled to the 6.5mm. Some of the M38 rifles, issued to the African corps, also were chambered for the German 7.92x57 Mauser ammunition. After the WW2 Italian Army replaced its Carcano rifles with American M1 Garand semiautomatic rifles, initially supplied from US and then produced in Italy under license. Many of surviving Carcano rifles were subsequently exported from Italy and sold as military surplus.
Since the end of the World War 2, Italy adopted the US-designed M1 Garand rifle in .30-06 (7.62x63mm) and manufactured it under licence. This semi-automatic rifle proved itself wery well during WW2 but in the late 1950s it was seriously outdated and obsolete, so Italian military wanted a new rifle, chambered for the NATO-standard cartridge, 7.62x51mm. The most cost-efficient way to build a new rifle was to redesign the old good M1, and this was done by Pietro Beretta SPa. New gun, designated as Beretta BM59, was adopted in 1959 and served with Italian, Indonesian and Marocco armies. It should be noted that earliest BM59s were manufactured from available M1 parts, including rechambered barrels. In the late 1980s BM59 was rplaced in Italian service with Beretta AR70/90 assault rifles.
Italian version of the USA M14. Fires in semi or full auto fire a 7'62x51mm-NATO fed by a 20-rounds clip, although, in case of an emergency, it may also feed with stripper clips "a la Garand". There were 3 versions: the "standard one", the MK4 (Light Machine Gun) and the "Alpine Troops" (folding stock). This rifle was retained in service with the Italian army until the beginning of the '80s, although this weapon is still today used in Italy for troops training and retained as a strategic reserve.
SFamous Italian arms company Pietro Beretta Spa began to develop a new assault rifle, chambered for American 5.56mm cartridge in 1968. The resulting design appeared circa 1972 and after trials was adopted by the Italian Special forces, as well as by some foreign armies, like those of Jordan, Malaysia and others. The rifle was designated AR-70/223, and was available in three basic versions (standard assault rifle AR-70/223, carbine SC-70/223 with same barrel and folding butt, and a special carbine SCS-70/223 with shortened barrel and folding butt). The Squad Automatic (light machine gun) variation of the basic 70/223 design, with the heavy, quick detachable barrel also was developed but never produced in quantity. The basic design showed some minor flaws, and when Italian army decided to replace its ageing 7.62mm Beretta BM59 automatic rifles with the new 5.56mm NATO assault rifle, Beretta entered the contest with the upgraded version of the 70/223. This upgraded version appeared in 1985, and eventually won the following trials. In 1990 it was adopted as the basic AR-70/90 assault rifle, with the available modifications of SC-70/90 (same rifle but with the folding buttstock for Special Forces) and SCP-70/90 (Airborne troops carbine with shortened barrel and folding butt). A squad automatic version with heavy, non-detachable barrel and detachable bipod is available as AS-70/90. The Beretta AR-70/90 is a general issue shoulder arm with the Italian Army, and also is offered for export. Both 70/223 and 70/90 rifles are available in semi-automatic only versions, for police or civilian markets.
