#Italy

According to LeccoNotice.com the historical Italian company Fiocchi Munizion S.p.A. might be up for sale.

An online Italian firearms news website Gunsweek.com has published an article on a digital design concept put out by Italian firm Tecnostudio Engineering that consists of an interesting “Bullpup” submachine gun/PDW. The design incorporates a 15 (appears to be single stacked) or 25 round (appears to be double stacked) magazine that clips to the top of the design very similar to an FN Herstal P90 (known respectively as SMG-15, SMG-25), with rounds facing at a horizontal in relation to the muzzle direction. It also has an electronic round counter within the pistol grip. Some versions have a folding stock that appears to fold underneath the design, while others don’t. The charging handle is located at the rear of the receiver, similar to an MP7. The SMG-15 is intended for civilian purchase, without the stock, and is semi-automatic. The SMG-25 is intended for LE evaluation, with select fire features, and a wire stock. The purpose of this design looks to be in some sort of CCW/PDW capacity for LE agencies or civilian security companies.

Following military trials, especially historical ones, is a wonderful way to learn what not to do for weapons design. While some trails produce a few good offerings like the Garand/Pederson trials, most tend to quickly weed out the inferior designs (like the MHS’s rapid dropping of the Remington RP9 pistol). And sometimes, those trails can pick one of the bad ones… like Italy did with their Breda Modello 30, their LMG going into World War 2.

A recent photograph has been posted on th e Kurdish forum Kurdistan Sky Scrapers depicting a Peshmerga fighter with a Beretta Defense Technology 5.56x45mm NATO ARX 160A2 with a 12 inch barrel instead of a standard 16 inch. The rifle sports factory sights, and has an Aimpoint CompM3 (or at least an imitation) mounted on the 12 o’clock picatinny rail. Attached to the rifle is a black two point sling. The Peshmerga fighter does not have the standard issue 30 round STANG magazine inserted, although supplies of such magazines should be close at hand due to the overwhelming use of M16A2s in the region, coming through Iraqi markets and official U.S. supply lines.

Obviously, these images from Technostudio Engineering are just CAD renderings of what someday might come to life as a real pistol. Even still, they are quite beautiful and evoke thoughts of Bond villains or intergalactic battles between good (obviously humans) and evil (squid-faced aliens).

Pictured are several homemade firearms discovered by police in the cellar of a 70 year old man in Italy who was arrested following an altercation with a neighbor. Impressive are several large entirely handmade revolvers which appear to be chambered for .410 shotgun shells. Also present are what appear to be a number of guns disguised as walking sticks, seemingly also chambered in .410.

An Italian company called TSK makes a competition O&U  shotgun stock, which is adjustable in any imaginable way. With the number of adjustability options it offers, it should be possible to tune it for virtually any shooter. Let’s take a look at its different features.

In 2014 I saw the first Breda AR-15s at the IWA exhibition.

These days, it’s easy to forget that once upon a time at the dawn of the smokeless powder era there was a huge variety of bolt-action repeating rifles being developed to re-arm the military powers of the world. While the Mauser 98 and its progeny eventually took the world by storm, in the early days of repeating bolt actions rifles like the Krag–Jørgensen, Mannlicher, and Belgian Mauser competed on the world stage for contracts.

While today the Italian company Franchi is not a heavy-hitting military small arms manufacturer, in the mid-1950s the company did produce some very interesting rifles, carbines, and submachine guns for the military market. The most recognizable of these is the LF-57 submachine gun, a simple blowback submachine gun very similar in design and appearance to the contemporary Walther MPL. Like that weapon, the LF-57 used a heavy, overhanging bolt to control cyclic rate of fire down to about 500 rounds per minute. The LF-57 ultimately wasn’t a huge success for Franchi, and only a few nations (including Italy) bought it.

This is part 3 of the “Country Rifles” by Rainier Arms and Blown Deadline as shown at the IWA exhibition in Germany 2016.

This is part 2 of the “Country Rifles” by Rainier Arms and Blown Deadline as shown at the IWA exhibition in Germany 2016.

At the IWA exhibition in Germany, the Italian-based company Tanfoglio presented their new AR-15.

At the Italian HIT Show 2016 Glock showed the Glock 43 in 9×21 mm. HIT Show = Hunting – Individual Protection – Target Sports. The 9×21 mm caliber also known as the 9×21 mm IMI or 9 mm IMI.

This week, C&Rsenal takes a look at the Italian Bodeo revolver, an interesting transitional type that served all the way through the 1960s.