Moschetto mod. 1938 series#
Moschetto mod. 1938 crack#

Orders were still small and the Carcano M1891 rifle remained the standard weapon even in elite units.

Moschetto mod. 1938 crack#

The Italian Royal Navy also purchased the weapon and MAB 38As were given to the ' San Marco' Marine Regiment and naval security troops the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) issued the MAB 38A to its crack A.D.R.A. This was the standard army variant, used throughout the war and issued to elite Italian units, paratroopers, the Alpini 'Monte Cervino' assault battalion, 10th Arditi Regiment, 'M' Battalions of the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale ( MVSN, Blackshirts) and military police. The Italian Army requested minor changes to reduce production costs, notably changing the recoil compensator and the removal of the bayonet lug and magazine dust cover to create the MAB 38A. It was judged ideal for police and assault units and in the beginning of 1941 small orders were placed for the Carabinieri (military and civilian police), Guardie di Pubblica Sicurezza (national state police), and paratroopers. Army orders were slow to come although impressed by the excellent qualities and firepower of the weapon, the Italian military did not feel the MAB was suitable for standard infantry combat. Presented to Italian authorities in 1939, its first customer was the Italian Ministry of Colonies, which purchased several thousands MABs to be issued as standard firearm of the Polizia dell'Africa Italiana (Italian Africa Constabulary), the government colonial police force.

The MAB 38 was developed by Beretta to compete in the sub-machine gun market it was a well-made and sturdy weapon, introducing several advanced features and was suitable for police and special army units. Italian specialized workers excelled at this, but the initial slow rate of production meant that the MAB 38 only became available in large numbers in 1943, when the fascist regime was toppled and Italy split between the Allied-aligned co-belligerent forces in the south and the German-aligned collaborators of the Italian Social Republic in the north. Italy's limited industrial base in World War II was no real barrier toward the development of advanced and effective small arms, since most weapons of the time required large amounts of artisan and semi-artisan man-hours to be fine-tuned anyway.

It is widely acknowledged as the most successful and effective Italian small arm of World War II and was produced in large numbers in several variants. Originally designed by Beretta's chief engineer Tullio Marengoni in 1935, the Moschetto Automatico Beretta (Beretta Automatic Musket) 38, or MAB 38, was developed from the Beretta Modello 18 and 18/30, derived from the Villar Perosa light machine gun of World War I. Soldier of an assault Battalion of the Republican National Guard (GNR) of Repubblica Sociale Italiana, armed with a MAB 38A and wearing a 'Samurai' magazine-holding vest. The guns were also used by the German, Romanian, and Argentine armies of the time.

Moschetto mod. 1938 series#

The MAB 38 ( Moschetto Automatico Beretta Modello 1938), Modello 38, or Model 38 and its variants were a series of official submachine guns of the Royal Italian Army introduced in 1938 and used during World War II.