459:
377:
or it would rapidly overheat). Another peculiarity of the design is that the spent cases were reinserted in the tray as each round was fired. The mechanical energy required to perform this function substantially reduced the rate of fire, and the weapon tended to jam whenever a case was reinserted even slightly out of line. It also meant that, in the event the metal clips had to be reused, the gunner's assistant first had to remove the empty cases from the trays. Although, this is a non-issue as the feed tray loading machine removes the empty cases from the trays as it refills them with fresh ammunition.
401:
machine guns to some extent. The Breda 37's slow rate of fire helped prevent overheating during prolonged fire, and its powerful, heavy-bullet cartridge had excellent range and penetration. Still, this machine gun was almost twice as heavy as the German machine guns and heavier than weapons like the M1919. In fact, it was the heaviest World War II rifle-caliber machine gun, and unnecessarily complex to use and deploy. This was another issue for
Italians, whose mobility was limited by their weak truck fleet. The tripod added around 20 kg to the complex, putting it at around 40 kilograms.
451:
42:
527:
513:
495:
390:
373:. A common misnomer, the Breda 37 does contain a camming mechanism for initial extraction of the cartridge case after firing, which means that each cartridge does not need to be oiled before being fed into the chamber. There is no provision for a oiler on any variant of the Breda 37, unlike its predecessor, the Breda 30 in 6.5mm carcano.
704:"George M. Chinn Lieutenant Colonel, USMC, The Machine Gun History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons, 1951 (the error of needing lubricated ammunition is also present here and could be attributed to bad translation from Italian primary fonts and a lack of primary accounts)"
656:"George M. Chinn Lieutenant Colonel, USMC, The Machine Gun History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons, 1951 (the error of needing lubricated ammunition is also present here and could be attributed to bad translation from Italian primary fonts and a lack of primary accounts)"
400:
In service, the Breda 37 and 38 proved to be fairly reliable heavy machine guns. Perhaps because the heavy support weapons received more attention from their crews, field reports were generally positive except for jams caused by desert sand and dust, which in the
Western Desert affected all infantry
376:
Another drawback was that the gun was fed by 20-round trays of cartridges. This limited continuous fire, as the gun could be fired rapidly only when a second crew member fed in one ammunition tray after another (although being air cooled the gun would be unable to fire more than short bursts anyway,
380:
This design flaw was actually intentional. Recycling cartridge cases for reloading was a common practice in some militaries of the time (admonitions to collect and clean spent cartridges are found on ammunition carton labels). The trays were supposed to be returned with the spent cartridges still
341:
meant for squad/platoon support and proved far more effective in combat. Though some sources say that the gun possesses some of the same problematic features of the Breda 30(mainly the need for an oil reservoir to lubricate the cartridges before chambering), the reality is that the Breda 37 was a
475:
was intended for vehicle use, and was fed from a top-mounted box magazine. The
Modello 38 used a pistol style grip, rather than the twin firing handles of the Modello 37. This was the main vehicle-mounted machine gun used in fighting vehicles by the Royal Italian Army.
342:
simple—only four moving parts—and reliable gun that does not need lubrication and had nothing to do with the previous series (that was mistakenly called the Breda 30 series: in reality, the Breda 30 automatic rifle/light machinegun is part of the Breda 24 series).
381:
inside to ammo supply points. There the trays would be emptied and reloaded and the spent cartridges were reboxed and repacked for reloading. The realities of combat made this idea impractical.
353:): the weapons of this series were amongst the most re-employed by the allies and this weapon continue to serve well after WW2, only being replaced in Portuguese service by the
1197:
479:
Production ended in 1943. It was still used as a standard machine gun after the war, until it was replaced by more modern machine guns. Some examples were converted to
1172:
799:
690:"Capitano Nanni Cipriano, Manuale della mitragliatrice Breda mod. 1937 per la Scuola Allievi Ufficiali di Bassano del Grappa del 1940, posted on Scribd"
458:
792:
1177:
315:
369:
The Breda M37 was a gas-operated, air-cooled medium machine gun. The Breda used a slightly larger cartridge than its rivals, the
1187:
785:
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436:) carried a pair of M37s forward in place of the designed 20mm gun, owing to production shortages of the heavier weapon.
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417:
346:
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heavy machine gun. The Breda saw extensive service in
Portugal's African colonies during the early stages of the
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Instead, the Breda 37 is part of the Breda 31 series of automatic weapons, the series started with the
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The M37 was also adopted by the
Portuguese armed forces, who placed it into service as the
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The Breda 37 was meant as company/battalion support as compared to the more troublesome
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Portugal's right-wing government adopted the Breda 37 in 7.92mm Mauser as the
180:
17:
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became available in sufficient numbers. Likewise, the early examples of the
521:
Franco's Spain adopted the Breda M37 machinegun chambered in 7.92mm Mauser.
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1007:
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frequently carried them as secondary gun armament and many early-war
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In Regia Marina service, the M37 was used aboard vessels from
412:
which carried two per ship as tertiary gun armament, down to
758:
Armi della fanteria italiana nella seconda guerra mondiale
408:(destroyer escort/torpedo boat) rank, such as the 840-ton
718:
Modern
African Wars 2: Angola and Mozambique, 1961-1974
565:
563:
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553:
424:
carried an M37 as their sole gun armament before the
167:
19.4 + 18.8 kg (43 + 41 lb) (weapon+tripod)
357:
in 1960. The weapon was also adopted for use by the
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68:
58:
48:
32:
808:Italian firearms and light weapons of World War II
507:is the only version chambered in 8x59mm RB Breda.
910:Moschetto Automatico Revelli-Beretta Mod. 1915
247:460 rds/min theoretical, 200 rds/min practical
793:
8:
441:Metralhadora pesada 7,92 mm m/938 Breda
1198:Military equipment introduced in the 1930s
800:
786:
778:
29:
760:(in Italian). Ermanno Albertelli Editore.
731:"Italian Breda Machine Guns of The 1950s"
292:Mitragliatrice Breda calibro 8 modello 37
361:in small numbers aboard minor warships.
549:
257:800 metres per second (2,600 ft/s)
1173:World War II infantry weapons of Italy
716:Abbott, Peter, and Rodrigues, Manuel,
895:Moschetto per Truppe Speciali Mod. 91
7:
625:
623:
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617:
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588:
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454:An m/938 Breda in a museum in Lisbon
265:800–1,000 m (870–1,090 yd)
34:Mitragliatrice Breda cal. 8 mod. 37
569:
330:, and continued to be used by the
326:for the Royal Italian Army during
25:
720:, Osprey Publishing (1998), p. 18
630:Poggiaroni, Giulio (2020-07-03).
525:
511:
493:
393:Italian marines' M37 during the
262:Effective firing range
40:
890:Moschetto Mod. 91 da Cavalleria
349:(a licensed built copy of the
270:Maximum firing range
137:
1:
773:Comando Supremo: Italy at War
938:Carabinetta Automatica O.V.P
885:Fucile da Fanteria Mod. 1891
273:5,400 m (5,900 yd)
1122:6.5×52mm Mannlicher-Carcano
670:"Breda 37 video by AZ guns"
318:and adopted in 1937 by the
1214:
175:1,270 mm (50 in)
107:Current regional conflicts
1178:World War II machine guns
539:not long after Spain did.
462:A Breda 37 operated by a
190:
123:Breda Meccanica Bresciana
59:Place of origin
39:
1018:Fucile Controcarro 35(P)
966:and other larger weapons
905:Armaguerra Mod. 39 rifle
756:Pignato, Nicola (1978).
594:"Breda Modello 37 (M37)"
445:Portuguese Colonial Wars
434:Vedetta Antisommergibile
186:780 mm (31 in)
598:www.militaryfactory.com
432:anti-submarine launch (
294:(commonly known as the
103:Portuguese Colonial War
978:Fiat Revelli Mod. 1935
973:Fiat-Revelli Mod. 1914
466:
455:
397:
322:. It was the standard
243:Rate of fire
1188:Machine guns of Italy
1094:81/14 Model 35 Mortar
461:
453:
392:
334:after the conflict.
414:small flotilla craft
365:Design and operation
253:Muzzle velocity
1013:Solothurn S-18/1000
1183:Heavy machine guns
735:thefirearmblog.com
632:"Breda Modello 37"
481:.30-06 Springfield
467:
456:
398:
320:Royal Italian Army
312:Medium machine gun
211:.30-06 Springfield
114:Production history
1160:
1159:
1147:9×19mm Parabellum
1127:7.35×51mm Carcano
426:Breda 20mm cannon
324:heavy machine gun
310:) was an Italian
288:
287:
53:Heavy machine gun
27:Heavy machine gun
16:(Redirected from
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900:Fucile Mod. 1938
853:Bodeo Model 1889
838:Roth–Steyr M1907
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737:. 31 August 2015
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505:Breda modello 37
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464:Slovene partisan
278:Feed system
206:7.92×57mm Mauser
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63:Kingdom of Italy
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1142:9×19mm Glisenti
1137:8×59mm Rb Breda
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1089:Brixia Model 35
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1008:Breda Mod. 1938
1003:Breda Mod. 1937
993:Breda Mod. 1930
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920:Submachine guns
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483:after the war.
395:Battle of Crete
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371:8x59mm RB Breda
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202:8×59mm RB Breda
191:
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74:In service
69:Service history
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848:Glisenti M1910
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767:External links
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351:Hotchkiss 1929
306:and also just
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159:Specifications
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18:Breda Model 37
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833:Beretta M1935
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823:Beretta M1923
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1046:SRCM Mod. 35
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963:Machine guns
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739:. Retrieved
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712:
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664:
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639:. Retrieved
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601:. Retrieved
597:
536:
504:
478:
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468:
440:
438:
433:
406:aviso scorta
405:
403:
399:
379:
375:
368:
359:Regia Marina
344:
336:
332:Italian Army
328:World War II
314:produced by
307:
303:
299:
295:
291:
289:
236:Gas-operated
183: length
119:Manufacturer
98:World War II
82:Used by
1041:OTO Mod. 42
1036:OTO Mod. 35
988:Breda-SAFAT
983:SAFAT M1926
843:Steyr M1912
537:m/938 Breda
385:Service use
140: built
1167:Categories
641:2021-12-04
603:2021-12-04
544:References
472:Modello 38
469:The Breda
410:Orsa class
298:or simply
283:feed strip
213:(post-war)
77:1937–1960s
1152:20×138mmB
1132:8×57mm IS
1104:Cartridge
876:moschetti
815:Side arms
422:MAS boats
281:20 round
197:Cartridge
1117:.380 ACP
1028:Grenades
867:carbines
533:Portugal
418:MS boats
347:Breda 31
339:Breda 30
300:Breda 37
208:(export)
148:Variants
129:Produced
87:Portugal
1112:.32 ACP
1076:Mortars
943:FNAB-43
933:Onorati
741:29 June
675:YouTube
570:Pignato
225:7.92 mm
219:Caliber
143:Unknown
132:1937–43
1080:mortai
1066:P Bomb
1061:L Type
928:MAB 38
872:fucili
863:Rifles
530:
516:
498:
355:FN MAG
231:Action
181:Barrel
172:Length
953:TZ-45
948:OG-43
519:Spain
501:Italy
487:Users
316:Breda
85:Italy
865:and
743:2024
503:The
290:The
223:8 mm
164:Mass
92:Wars
49:Type
447:.
430:VAS
308:M37
304:M37
138:No.
1169::
874:e
733:.
672:.
634:.
612:^
596:.
577:^
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302:/
20:)
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