In service 1914–1945 | Manufacturer Fiat | |
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Wars World War IVlora WarSecond Italo-Abyssinian WarWorld War II | ||
The Fiat–Revelli Modello 1914 was an Italian water-cooled medium machine gun produced from 1914 to 1918. It was the standard machine-gun of the Italian Army in the First World War, and was used in limited numbers into the Second World War.
Overview
It was very similar to the Maxim in appearance (in fact it had the same air-cooling jacket and tripod), even though its internal workings were completely different.
Some sources claim that it had a cartridge-oiling system, but the weapon manual does not mention its presence, and it seems that only a 1930 version briefly incorporated such a system. It was fed from a 50-round integral magazine divided in ten compartments, each fed from a rifle clip, an arrangement that made it rather slow to reload, prone to malfunction and very uncomfortable in sustained-fire role because of this magazine arrangement.
It was chambered for the 6.5×52mm Mannlicher–Carcano, which eased logistics (as it was the same cartridge of the Carcano rifle) but made it somewhat underpowered compared to higher-calibre weapons, weighed 17 kg (37 lb) (the tripod weighed 21.5 kg (47 lb)) and had a firing rate of 400-500 rpm (rounds-per-minute), rather low for this type of machine gun.
An interesting feature was the presence of select-fire, which allowed for the choice between single shot, "normal" fire and full automatic fire.
It was developed into the Fiat–Revelli Modello 1935.