|
|
| ITALIAN AND FRENCH EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE |
| Chapter 3 |
| ITALIAN PROJECTILES AND CASES |
| ITALIAN SMALL-ARM AMMUNITION |
| General |
|
Italian small-arm ammunition does not have many unusual characteristics and is very si-milar to British and German ammunition. In some cases the ammunition is interchangeable for use in each country's gun. |
| The following is a summary of Italian small arms: |
| 6.5-mm Rimless |
| 1. | Guns used in | Rifle M° 91, Carbines M° 91, Machine Gun M° 30 and M° 30, Machine Gun M° 14 (Fiat) |
| 2. | Types |
| a. |
Ball M° 91/95 - Round Nose |
|
| b. |
Fragmenting bullet M° 91-3 longitudinal striations on the bullet |
|
| c. |
Fragmenting bullet M° 91-2 annular grooves on the bullet |
|
| d. |
Blank for rifles - Scarlet wooden bullet |
|
| e. |
Blank for machine gun - Bullet consists of inert black powder which is enclosed in a thin brass jacket. |
|
| f. |
Dummy M° 91/95 |
|
| g. |
Practice M° 91 - Bullet consists of a closed jacket of copper-nickel, the upper half filled with lead, the lower half with sand. |
|
| h. |
Practice for Miniature Range M° 91 - This ammunition consists of a brass cartrid-ge case with a steel tube attached to the base of the case and fitting internal-ly. A lead bullet fits into the top of the steel tube and cartridge fits into the base of the tube. |
| 7.35-mm (Rimless) |
| 1. | Guns used in | Rifle M° 38 Machine Gun M° 38 |
| 2. | Types - Similar to 6.5-mm |
| a. | Ball | |
| b. | Fragmenting | |
| c. | Practice - Minature ranges | |
| d. | Blanks for rifle | |
| e. | Blank for machine gun |
| 7.7-mm (Rimmed) (Interchangeable with British 0.303-in.) |
| 1. | Guns used in | 7.7-mm Aircraft Machine Gun |
| 2. | Types |
| a. | Ball | |
| b. | Tracer - Red tip | |
| c. | Armor - piercing incendiary (phosphorus) - Blue tip | |
| d. | Armor - piercing incendiary (thermite) - Green tip |
| 8-mm (Rimmed) |
| 1. | Guns used in | 8-mm Mannlicher Rifle 8-mm Schwarzlose Machine Gun |
| 2. | Types |
| a. | Ball | |
| b. | Blank for Rifle - Reddish orange wooden bullet | |
| c. | Blank for machine gun - Green wooden bullet |
| 8-mm (Rimless) |
| 1. | Guns used in | Machine Gun Fiat M35 Breder M37 and M38 |
| 2. | Types |
| a. | Ball | |
| b. | Armor-piercing M37 and M43 - M40 has red red tip | |
| c. | Blank - Bullet consists of inert black powder enclosed in brass jacket. |
| 12.7-mm (Rimless) |
| 1. | Guns used in | 12.7-mm Aircraft Gun |
| 2. | Types |
| a. | Ball | |
| b. | Tracer - Red tip | |
| c. | Armor-piercing - Green tip | |
| d. | Armor-piercing incendiary (thermite) tracer - White tip | |
| e. | H.E. Projectile - Red body with nose percussion fuze | |
| f. | Incendiary (phosphorus) - Blue tip | |
| g. |
Incendiary (thermite) tracer - Blue body with nose percussion fuze similar to German fuze A.25045 |
|
| h. | Incendiary (thermite) tracer - Buff body with nose percussion fuze fitted |
| 13.2-mm (Rimless) |
| 1. | Guns used in | 13.2-mm Breder Machine Gun |
| 2. | Types |
| a. | Armor-Piercing | |
| b. | Armor-Piercing/tracer - Red tip |
| 14-mm (Similar to British 0.55-in. Anit-tank rifle ammunition) |
| 1. | Guns used in | Captured British Anit-tank rifle |
| 2. | Types | Armor-piercing |
| 20-mm (Interchangeable with German 2 cm Solothun type of ammunition) |
| 1. | Guns used in | 20-mm Antiaricraft and Anti Tank Gun Breder M35 |
| 2. | Types |
| a. | H.E. - Nose percussion fuze and self-destroying tracer | |
|
b. |
A.P./H.E./Tracer - Base fuze consisting of a fixed firing pin and primer cap held in position by a shear pin |
 |