The Benelli CB-M2 was an Italian simple
blowback submachine gun
A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine (firearms), magazine-fed automatic firearm, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to descri ...
resulting from a joint venture between
Benelli and
Fiocchi Munizioni.
The weapon was chambered for the semi-caseless 9mm AUPO round. The AUPO bullet had an elongated, hollow base that acted as the case. The propellant filled the hollow space, and was sealed into the bullet with a
fulminate
Fulminates are chemical compounds which include the fulminate ion (). The fulminate ion is a pseudohalic ion because its charge and reactivity are similar to those of the halogens. The name is derived from the Latin ''fulminātus'', meaning to ...
plug. The AUPO round was "semi-caseless" because the hollow base of the bullet detached from the bullet itself after firing. However, it was not necessary to eject it from the side of the weapon as in a normal cartridge, because the base followed the bullet down the barrel and exited at the muzzle, in a similar fashion to a
sabot. This simplified the action of the weapon, allowing it to move back and draw another round from the magazine, since there was no case to eject. With the omission of the ejector mechanism and the ejection step in the action, there were fewer moving parts to jam and cause unreliable functioning of the weapon.
The CB M2 never found any customers and the project was shelved.
See also
*
Lightweight Small Arms Technologies
* List of caseless firearms
External links
Benelli CB-M2 at Modern Firearms
References
{{Caseless Firearms
Benelli Armi
Caseless firearms
Submachine guns of Italy