International use of Beretta M1918?

Discussions on the small arms used by the Axis forces.
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Hama
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International use of Beretta M1918?

#1

Post by Hama » 26 Mar 2017, 18:39

Does anyone have any info on what nations/militaries made use of the Beretta M1918 submachinegun after WW1? Wikipedia lists Argentina and Albania as users in its article but doesn't give any sources for that claim, and I know nothing about that. Did Italy mostly keep these for themselves after WW1 or export them to other states? I'm curious primarily about the original M1918 top-mounted mag versions, rather than the later semi-auto bottom-loaded 1918/30 models.

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Rivet
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Re: International use of Beretta M1918?

#2

Post by Rivet » 01 May 2017, 02:55

Out of curiosity, I looked this up in Sub-Machine Gun: The Development of Sub-machine Guns and Their Ammunition from World War I to the Present Day, by Maxim Popenker and Anthony G. Williams (2011, The Crowood Press, Wilshire). There were references to the predecessor Villar-Perosa M1915 being used elsewhere, albeit in limited numbers and in at least one case only experimentally, and the semi-automatic carbine version of the Model 1918 (1918/30) being adopted by police forces in Argentina. However, there isn't any reference to export of the M1918 that I could find. From the text (page 177), your theory that they were hung onto by the Italians may be correct:
It was reported as durable and reliable, and some Beretta M1918 survived in Italian Army stocks to see action during the early stages of World War II, mostly in North Africa.
Hope that helps. Cheers.
"Good actions ennoble us, and we are the sons of our deeds."—Miguel de Cervantes


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Hama
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Re: International use of Beretta M1918?

#3

Post by Hama » 07 May 2017, 12:27

Thanks for looking that up. Yeah I suspected the originals were mostly kept by Italy. I have a feeling Wikipedia's claims of them being used by Argentina and Albania were probably in reference to other models like the 1918/30 you mentioned in use with Argentinian police.
Thanks for the help.

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