POTD: The Mystery Beretta mod. 70/78 (1978)
Sometimes the purpose of TFB’s Photo Of The Day is to share the latest news with our readers, sometimes we present important historic events or firearms from a pre-digital age. Today’s photo is from the Beretta vaults. It’s called mod. 70/78 (1978), but we know very little about it. In fact, we know nothing. Using search engines was of little help. The rifle looks like a work of art and reminds me a little of the Swiss SIG 550. It looks like it has a built-in bipod on the front of the handguard.
So let’s turn to TFB’s greatest resource, our readers, and hope they know more than the Internet. Do you know anything about the mod. 70/78 (1978), its background and history? Why is the pistol grip so steep? Where are the safety and fire selector located? Which caliber was it chambered in and why was it not a success? Which magazines did it use? How many were made?
A lot of questions remain. Looking forward to reading the comments about this mystery Beretta, so that search engines of the future can use this article as a reference.
Picture source: Beretta Facebook
Ex-Arctic Ranger. Competitive practical shooter and hunter with a European focus. Always ready to increase my collection of modern semi-automatics, optics, thermals and suppressors. TCCC Certified. Occasionaly seen in a 6x6 Bug Out Vehicle, always with a big smile.
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I don't know about the "mystery," but the Beretta AR70/78 was the first of several light machine guns based on the Beretta SC70/AR70 assault rifle series, and it was the first of several light machine guns and prototypes, a few of which were not mass produced. All of these weapons were chambered for the 5.56x45mm NATO and the LMG's used 40-round box magazines, and the selector was placed on the left side as with the M16 rifle. The grip was patterned after the Beretta BM59. The AR70/78 was the only one of the Beretta LMG's to have a quick-change barrel. To remove it, first remove the magazine and cock the bolt group back all the way to the rear and put the safety ON. Then rotate the barrel locking lever up, grasp the forend and slide the entire barrel assembly forward off the gas cylinder and out of the receiver. The AR70/78 weighs 8.9 lbs. empty and I found it to be quite controllable off the bipod. In 1984 Beretta made a simplified variation called the LMG70/84, but it was not mass produced. An AS70/90 followed and was based on the lighter AR70/90 assault rifle. It had a removable carrying handle that was similar to fixed handle of the M16, but no quick-change barrel, probably due to the success of the Rusian RPK.
This and much more is featured in the 1,200 page, 3,000 photo book, The World's Assault Rifles. Now out of print, it is available it is an eBook from Amazon (Kindle), an iBook from Apple and Barnes & Nobel for $9.99. We hope to have Vol.III in print by summer, 2022. Like Vol.II it will weigh 9 lbs.
looks like somehow halfway between the modernisation of the AR70 to the 70/90, which also had an LMG version, I imagine some of these upgrades made it to the 70/90, and some didn't. Very cool bipod however