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Breda Modello 30
The Breda Modello 30 (officially Fucile Mitragliatore Breda modello 30 and designated MG 099(i) in the Wehrmacht) designed and manufactured by Breda Meccanica Bresciana was the main Italian light machine gun used during World War 2, and the main competition to the Chauchat Mle 1918 for the title of "worst light machine gun ever made." The Modello 30 was incredibly overcomplicated and difficult to manufacture, with a host of fiddly, overdesigned parts requiring extensive machining and hand-fitting.
In order to address a WW1-era worry about detachable magazine feed lips being damaged by handling, the feed lips were machined into the receiver: unfortunately the designers were not done yet, and decided the magazine did not need to be detachable. Instead, the box magazine is affixed to the right side of the receiver with a hinge at the front, and swings forward to load from 20-round stripper clips: it can only be detached for maintenance. The magazine also has a viewing window cut into it which inevitably allowed dirt to enter the action. This cumbersome loading method reduced the practical fire rate of the weapon to about 150 rounds per minute under ideal conditions: in non-ideal conditions (for example, war) this could drop to a lower rate of fire than a semi-automatic rifle, especially since the stripper clips were fragile and prone to bending. Spent casings are ejected down and to the left from an ejection port with a manually operated dust cover: forgetting to open this prior to firing would instantly jam the weapon.
The weapon fires from a closed bolt which caused heating problems so severe that it was prone to spontaneous heat ignition (cook-off), and uses a short recoil, locked breech operating system (so short that it is often mistaken for being blowback operated) which led to extraction issues that could only solved by incorporating an oiler into the receiver cover: even so, the underpowered and unreliable ammunition lead to constant stoppages, more so if any kind of dust or dirt was present since the oiled cartridges attracted it like a magnet. To make matters worse, the barrel change system was poorly designed and did not securely hold the barrel.
Specifications
(1930 – 1945)
- Type: Light machine gun
- Caliber: 6.5x52mm Carcano, 7.35x51mm Carcano (rare)
- Weight: 23.4 lbs (10.6 kg)
- Length: 48.4 in (123 cm)
- Barrel length: 17.7 in (45 cm)
- Feed System: Hinged side-mounted integral box magazine fed with 20-round stripper clips
- Fire Modes: Auto only (500rpm)
The Breda Modello 30 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Four Days of Naples | Italian Resistance fighters | 1962 | ||
| Attack and Retreat (Italiani brava gente) | Nino Vingelli | Sgt. Manfredonia | 1964 | |
| Italian soldiers | ||||
| The Last Four Days | Seen among abandoned weapons | 1974 | ||
| El Alamein - The Line of Fire | Italian soldiers | 2002 | ||
| Senso '45 | Seen near the German headquarters | 2002 |
Video Game
| Game Title | Appears as | Note | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battlefield: 1942 | Incorrect left-handed receiver and detachable magazine | 2002 | |
| Medal of Honor: Allied Assault | 2002 | ||
| Forgotten Hope 2 | Incorrectly shown with a semi-auto setting | 2005 | |
| Call of Duty 2: Big Red One | "Breda M30" | 2005 | |
| Mare Nostrum | 2008 | ||
| Men of War | 2009 | ||
| Karma Online | 2011 | ||
| Call of Duty: WWII | "GPMG" | Winter Siege Update | 2017 |
| Enlisted | 2021 |
See Also
- Breda Meccanica Bresciana - A list of all weapons produced by Breda.