Breda Modello 30

Breda Modello 30 - 6.5x52mm Carcano

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 II, and the main competition to the Chauchat Mle 1918 for the dubious honor of "worst light machine gun ever made". The Modello 30 is incredibly overcomplicated and difficult to manufacture, with a host of fiddly, overdesigned parts requiring extensive machining and hand-fitting.

In order to address a WWI-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. The low magazine capacity and low rate of fire made the weapon perform extremely poorly in its intended tactical role. 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. Despite its many flaws, the Modello 30 was often the only automatic weapon available to the average Royal Italian Army infantry squad, as heavy machine guns and submachine guns were used much less frequently. Italian military training stressed the importance of diligent weapon maintenance and swift reloading to make up for its shortcomings.

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)

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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	Notes	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

Title	Appears as	Mods	Notes	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	"Breda 30 Machine Gun"			2008
Men of War				2009
Karma Online				2011
Call of Duty: WWII	"GPMG"		Winter Siege Update	2017
Enlisted	"Breda Mod. 30"			2021

See Also

• Breda Meccanica Bresciana - A list of all weapons produced by Breda.