The Italian government in the 1930s should've asked Beretta to design a light machine gun for the Italian military. I bet Beretta would've designed a better gun than the Breda M30.
Several designs made in the '30s were better than the Breda 30 (IE the Scotti LMG, or the Terni 1931). Probelm is that the Breda 30 had been adopted in 1930, and no Army revert a decision made only few years before, for something marginally better.
@@neutronalchemist3241 Well for example the Germans started to replace Dreyse MG 13 LMGs adopted in 1930 with MG 34s from 1935 onwards and the M14 was the standard service rifle of the US for only 5 years so it's not completely implausible that the Italian military could've replaced the Breda M30 with something better in the mid to late 1930s.
I'm an Italian who in 1967 joined, as second Lieutenent, the Italian Carabinieri ( Italian Military Police) and received a MAB 1939/49 which was a MAB 1942 with a long button in the stock wich had to to be depressed before shooting to unblock the bolt. This button was a safety against unintentional discharge of a loaded weapon by hitting the butt against a hard surface. This happened often when sitting in cramped place like a jeep a trooper kept the MAB between the legs with the stock leaned on the flooring of the jeep and the vehicle jumped over an obstacle operating the bolt and shooting a bullet sometime with a fatal outcome fir the troopet. This gun was outstanding from every standpoint but its tactical role in Italy was totally misunderstood. As its name Moschetto Automatico Beretta, aka MAB, literally means Automatic Musket Beretta i.e. in Italian Automatic Short Rifle or in British English "Machine Carbine" and Beretta is the renown name of the Italian producer, it implies that in 1935 in Italy it wasn't concrived as a submachine gun, as the Thomson, but as an Assault Rifle for asssult troops as the German MP18/28 and the British Lanchester " Machine Carbine" All these guns were intended for assault troop, in German Stoßtruppen, which needed an Automatic Rifle shooting an ammunition less powerful than a regular cartrige. And this was the 9x19 cartrige with the same dimensions of the 9x19 Luger but with a more powerful power which could thwrow a bullet at 200 mt with reasonable precision. The MAB 38 and following models like MAB38/42 38/49 etc "Machine Carbine" or "Short Rifle" as the Italians called it, was delivered in Italy to all assault troops instead of a rifle and not only to selected ones or to non non commisioned officers. This situatoon in Italy lasted until the fifties when a Battle Rifle, not an Assault Rifle, the BERETTA BM59 in 7,65 x51 caliber was issued to all troops. It was a big mistake because the cartrige was too powerful for automatic fire and the MAB 49 was recalled in service for assault troops until 1990 when the Asssult Rifle in caliber 223 AR 70/90 was issued.
Italian sailors had a rack of these on their boats in Egypt a couple years back when I was there. crazy to see those old smgs with modern mg3s mounted on the deck for protecting
T If kept in good repair, they wouldn't give up much to any 9mm submachine gun made today. They could use better sights, but if that was a real issue screwing a rail on the top isn't a big deal.
My father served in Italy in WW2 so may well have come across the Beretta. He told me a story about one evening when the men were sleeping in a loft, one of his colleagues came in with his machine gun and on putting it down it went off....luckily no-one got killed! I presume it would have been a British gun.
My dad was in Italy (173rd Field Artillery) in an independent field artillery unit. He said they got their hands on some of these late in the war when German or Italian Fascist units were surrendering. He said they shot very smooth with very little recoil. Even the "simplified" version looks to be machined beautifully.
@@ottovonbearsmark8876 I was an armourer there and from memory had the following..mg42, Thompson smg, ppsh, hk mp5, stens, sterling smg, gustov .45 smg, m60, vz59, fnc 5.56, scorpion machine pistol, and even a 1915 British webley service revolver!..
I don't say it every time anymore. But it is impressive that you're still putting in the work and doing it up right, after all these years. One of the few youtube channels that I consistently watch every single one you produce.
You forgot to mention that these were a substitute standard in the Wehrmacht at the end of the war when mp40 production stopped and shifted over to the StG44.
The MP6 existed as a pistol-like barrel attachment for the OICW weapons program. It was basically an MP7 bottom-rail mounted on what became the XM8. The MP6 shares a similar history with the failed XM-25 (also a product of the OICW program) but at least it found itself useful as a standalone system as the MP7 unlike the XM-25 which never really got its chance to shine.
@@alexeysaphonov232 because the G41 is called that due to internal HK Designation that the Bundeswehr later adopted themselves. Same with their ammunition Dm63 tank rounds doesn't mean it's the 63rd ammunition variant they adopted it stands for the sixth variant (6) of kinetic penetrators (3) that they adopted.
@@matteograssi5898 so che nel dopo guerra giravano lo stesso i 38/42 però penso probabilmente uno dei 2 che ho citato più il primo che il secondo però magari dove ha prestato servizio può darsi che avevano quello
@@lafeelabriel oldest arms company on the planet, started making arquebus (early muskets basically) barrels in the early 1500s. Beretta has supplied weapons for every major European war since 1650
As I recall towards the end of the war, some Italian paras were sent on some special ops and were offered to use any SMG the allies had in their inventory for it. Which one did they use, I hear you ask? This one, right here.
I wonder if Beretta ever thought about giving it a pistol grip and a folding or collapsing stock - it would have been an ideal paratroop SMG with a collapsing stock.
I did my conscript military service with the Italian Air Force as VAM (Vigilanza Aeronatica Militare) and I had that gun. The MAB, Moschetto Automatico Berretta, 9mm
The cartouche on the stock 4UT it is 4°Ufficio Tecnico dell’Esercito Tedesco - Heereswaffenamt (4 technical office of the german army ) that was in Gardone Val Trompia and Como, for the inspection and approval of all the guns for the Wehrmacht , and for the republican army RSI , this after 1943 . Ciao Riccardo
This and the range video make up for it. Shooting that dual .50BMG would likely take the GDP of a small country. Full mag dump on both guns = a small mountain of brass.
I remember reading hard cover translations of the Don Camillo books back in high school, and in the illustrations if the little angel cartoon or little devil cartoon were armed, it was with Beretta M38s
It remained in service with the Italian military & police forces well into the 70s, and it is still used in cerimonial pickets by the Italian Navy (along with the Lee-Enfield) and some other security forces.
The exception to guns getting simpler as the war went on was the Sten. As the possibility of German invasion subsided, we started adding more fancy front grips and Lee Enfield style sights to the things.
Good morning! Way back in 1974 when I was a Marine L/Cpl and part and a MAU, we did a force on force amphibious landing exercise on an island in the Med, against Italian troops ( we were told they were Marines). I remember they were carrying a weapon that appears very much like the Barretta 38/42 you are demonstrating. 2/8 (2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment) was carrying M16's while the rest of us had M14's, and those submachine guns looked really neat. Are they the same weapon, or something else?
11:36 from here on it sounds more like an appeal to Mrs Weapons " but its soo good and its perfect for leftys like me and I promise ill tidy up all of the casings 😬" 🤣🔥
When someone's business is hurting these guns exemplify what I suggest as a behavioural/procedural remedy: Do the job so it works and you fulfill your obligation. THEN, when/if you have time, add in that extra effort. DO NOT, spend all your time trying to make the first thing perfect only to fall behind and get mad at the customer rushing you (or you have no money) because you misused your time, and finally delivering only 70% of your promise (let alone that ideal). These guns are a great example of getting 90% of the ideal for 50% of the effort. It's that last 10-15% that sales exponentially in time and money, the closer you try to get to perfection (and "wouldn't it be great if..."). This is why you don't have infinite colour options on your included TV remotes, or an AI in your deadbolt. Going above and beyond cannot be infinite, focus on one or two things your customer actually values (not what you value).
Look at that wooden furniture, dyam that thing look sooo good! Best smg fashion is Italian. They (mostly) come up with good looking hardware. 1.36's I'm soo hoping Ian says "will see ya on the range tomorrow..."
Hi Ian, seeing the level of rough finish and the type of bluing, the trigger guard obtained with stamped sheet metal, and the barrel without milling would seem the 38/44 model instead.
I thought the same as you. It didn't look like the metal plate was threaded, and there were no holes in the stock. If they were simplifying the manualfacuring process for speed and lower cost, doing away with the set screws would seem logical.
Beretta designs serviceable weapons and works the bugs out. Five hundred years of private ownership gives them a longer view and the ability to weather wars much better than the American Firearms makers that have shareholders to answer to. Beretta understands what it takes to make a weapon, a weapons system, to be on the winning and losing side of wars Bankruptcy seems to be the normal course of business in the USA.
Because someone took away originality to make it look shinier than it ever would have been...and probably also lost original parts (i.e. the set screws) in the process.
Jesus if you people think I'm unaware that making changes to a vintage gun lowers the value that's mind blowing. But who cares. It's not like they went to the extent of the people who butcher and sporterize service rifles. They made the gun look a little more glossy and it looks great to see this gun shine. It's not like they replaced the stock or the iron sights or chopped the barrel. Putting a lacquered finish on the stock will only preserve the life of it before it needs replaced lmfao.
I'm curious. I'm quite ignorant to firearms. I'm never fired one but I am very interested but all my knowledge is theoretical. When looking at this firearm would it be a good idea to move the trigger up to behind the magazine, add a pistol grip and shorten the stock? What impact would this have on handling? Would one downside be caused by having the bolt move between one hand and the shoulder, under the cheek rather than between the two hand gripping the gun? Also would shortening the gun, meaning there's less weight in front, effect handling in a negative way?
lose the comp thread the muzzle for suppressors and linear comps. modified sks sight keep the flip leaves. walnut stock with brass carbine buttplate and trigger guard. lots of 30rd mags.
is this the moschetto from.... uhhh medal of honor allied assault: breakthrough.... yeah i just looked it up... and saw that it was a berretta modello 38
How about safety features? You don’t know how many times I’ve heard Italian boomers complaining about stories of mab-38s supposedly going off bumping on the floor on the truck. They kept using these things for conscript training well into the 90s (as well as 7,62 Nato Beretta Garands, Garand thumb is a known meme among non-gun enthusiast Italian boomer)
It was common to all the first generation SMGs. Bumping the stock, the bolt retreats enough to pick a round from the magazine, but not enough to engage the sear. The crossbolt safety of the 38/49 prevented that, but it had to be engaged to work.
No! Are we going to see the Berretta being fired tomorrow instead of the dual water cooled Brownings?! Please, Ian, please! We want to see the Brownings! 😢
