The Armaguerra Mod. 39 is an Italian semi-automatic rifle designed by Gino Revelli, the son of Abiel Bethel Revelli, who is known for the Fiat-Revelli machine gun and

Glisenti Model 1910 The Glisenti Model 1910 was a 9 mm calibre semi-automatic service pistol produced by the Italian company Società Siderurgica Glisenti.McNab, Chris, ''The Great Book of Guns'' (2004) p. 134 It was put in production in 1910 to replace the agi ...

pistol. Two versions of the rifle exist; one in 6.5x52 and the other 7.35×51mm.

Genesis and development

The weapon was designed by Francesco Nasturzio and Gino Revelli, the son of the brilliant Abiel Bethel Revelli. It was positively tested by the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...

in 1939, who preferred it, in the contest for the supply of a semi-automatic rifle, to the Scotti Mod. X and the Breda Mod. 1935 PG and ordered 10,000 unit to the Società Anonima Revelli Armiguerra of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. The gun took its name from the Telegraphic Code of Company, Armaguerra. In 1938 the Italian army had established the transition from 6.5 mm × 52 mm to the more lethal 7.35 x 51 mm Carcano. In this caliber were constructed the Carcano Mod. 38 and the Armaguerra Mod.39. With the entry of Italy into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, being far from complete the conversion to the new caliber, the production probably interrupted to 2,000 pieces, two type of munitions would have created confusion in the supply. The conversion of Mod. 39 to the old caliber 6.5 × 52 mm required a partial redesign, because of the greater pressure produced by this ammunition (3,000 atm compared to 2,500 atm of 7.35 x 51 mm Carcano cartridge). It went into production close to 1943, when the capitulation of Italy limited the production to a few hundred units.

References

External links

Armaguerra Model 1939 Semiauto Rifle video
{{WWIIItalianInfWeapons World War II infantry weapons of Italy Rifles of Italy World War II semi-automatic rifles