Villar-Perosa M1915
| Villar-Perosa M1915 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| general information | |
| Military designation: | Pistola mitragliatrice Villar-Perosa modello 1915 |
| Country of operation: | Italy |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Abiel Revelli, Officine di Villar Perosa (original packaging) , Fiat |
| Manufacturer country: | Italy |
| Production time: | 1915 to 1918 |
| Weapon Category: | Submachine gun |
| Furnishing | |
| Overall length: | 533 mm |
| Barrel length : | 320 mm |
| Technical specifications | |
| Caliber : | 9 × 19 mm glisenti |
| Possible magazine fillings : | 25 or 50 cartridges |
| Ammunition supply : | Curve magazine |
| Cadence : | 3,000 (both barrels, theor.) Rounds / min |
| Number of trains : | 6th |
| Twist : | right |
| Visor : | Rear sight |
| Closure : | delayed ground connection |
| Charging principle: | Recoil loader |
| Lists on the subject | |
The Villar-Perosa M1915 was a double-barreled automatic fire weapon that was used on the Italian side during World War I.
history
The Villar-Perosa was originally designed as an on-board weapon for aircraft and introduced to the Regia Aeronautica in 1915 . In this role she did not prove herself for long; the rate of fire was very high, but the pistol ammunition used had insufficient range and projectile energy to be effective in dogfights. As early as 1916, the stocks were handed over to the army, where they were equipped with steel protective shields and initially used as defensive weapons instead of a light machine- gun. But it quickly became apparent that the range, penetration performance and accuracy of the Villar-Perosa were too low for this purpose. Due to its low weight of approx. 6.5 kg and its total length of just under 54 cm, it was used increasingly successfully in assault attacks in the mountain war against troops of the imperial and royal armies from 1917.
A number of Villar-Perosas fell into the hands of Austria-Hungarians as prey weapons. There the construction received a lot of attention and was subsequently recreated as the M.18 assault pistol , which differed from the M1915 only in its straight magazines. Many examples, both of the one and the other design, were later dismantled and made into two conventional submachine guns each, the barrels of which were now provided with a wooden stock. The MPi Beretta M1918 or the MPi OVP are based on the Villar-Perosa M1915 . The grip of the latter, however, ended at the level of the magazine well, which forced the shooter to improvise when handling the submachine gun.
technology
With its two barrels, spade handles and bipod, the weapon appears more like a machine gun, and it was often used like one. However, due to the 9 mm Glisenti ammunition used, it can be classified as a submachine gun . It is disputed whether the German MP18 or the Italian Villar-Perosa should be seen as the first submachine gun.
The curved magazines (in the versions with 50 rounds as on-board weapons and with 25 rounds as infantry weapons) were inserted from above, and the magazine cover could be opened so that refilling was possible in battle. The weapon had two thumb triggers, with which the barrels could be fired independently. The delayed mass lock first had to perform a rotation and then only pushed back about 5 cm, which led to an extremely high rate of fire of 1200 to 1500 rounds per minute for the individual barrel. Shooting in short bursts was therefore hardly possible, and consequently a magazine was usually emptied in a single salvo.
literature
- Ian Hogg : Military Small Arms of the 20th Century . Arms & Armor Press, 1982, ISBN 0-910676-87-9 .
- Infantry weapons yesterday . Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, 1991, ISBN 3-327-01209-1 .
- DWJ Extra / 9
- Jaroslav Lugs: Small Arms , Volume 1 . Military publishing house of the GDR, 1956.
