Perino Model 1908
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (November 2014) |
Perino Model 1908 | |
---|---|
Type | Heavy machine gun |
Place of origin | Kingdom of Italy, Austria-Hungary (captured) |
Service history | |
Used by | Italy |
Wars | Italo-Turkish War(limited)[1],World War I |
Production history | |
Designer | Giuseppe Perino |
Designed | 1901 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 27kg |
Cartridge | 6.5x52mm Carcano |
Action | Recoil |
Rate of fire | 450RPM |
Feed system | 20 round strips |
Sights | Iron |
The Perino Model 1908 was an early machine gun of Italian origin designed earlier in 1901 by Giuseppe Perino, an engineer (Tecnico dell'Artiglieria). Perino's design apparently was the first Italian-designed machine gun, and in its original configuration weighed in at a heavy 27 kilograms (60 lb), which made it largely unsuitable to field utilization and apt only for fortifications; a lightened 1910 version brought the weight down to 15 kilograms (33 lb). The gun was nonetheless adopted by the Regio Esercito and saw some use alongside the Fiat-Revelli Modello 14 and the Maxim guns. It had a unique feed mechanism, with a hopper on the side of the gun filled with up to five twenty-round clips rather than being belt fed. This allowed the loader to constantly keep the gun at maximum capacity, meaning the gun crew never had to stop to reload.
References
[edit]- ^ Esposito, Gabriele, Armies of the Italian-Turkish War: Conquest of Libya, 1911–1912 Osprey Publishing (2020)
- McNab, Chris: Twentieth-century Small Arms, Grange Books, 2004; ISBN 1-84013-381-3
- Nevio Mantoan, Weapons and Equipment of the Italian Army in the Great War 1915-1918, Gino Rossato Editore, First Edition. July 1996.
External links
[edit]- thedonovan.com: A picture of a World War I Alpino, with the assault version of the Perino
- Max Difilippo: Machine guns used by Italy during WW1 (in Italian)
- Italian Perino Machine Gun - Forgotten Weapons
- YouTube animation showing mechanism of Perino machine gun