Beretta M1918

The Beretta Model 1918 was a submachine gun that entered service in 1918 with the Italian armed forces. Designed initially as a semi-automatic rifle, the weapon came with an overhead inserted magazine, an unconventional design based on the simplicity of allowing a spent round to be replaced using assistance from gravity. The gun was made from half of a Villar-Perosa aircraft submachine gun,[1] and as such it can be considered the first submachine gun issued to and used by the Italian armed forces, and is possibly the first SMG used as a general-issue combat weapon. Certain sources say that it saw service a few weeks before the German MP 18; the exact date remains debated.[1]

Beretta Model 1918
Beretta Model 1918
Type	Submachine gun
Place of origin	Kingdom of Italy
Service history
Used by	See Users
Wars	World War I World War II
Production history
Manufacturer	Beretta
Variants	Model 1918 Model 1918/30 Hafdasa C-1
Specifications
Mass	7 lb 3 oz (3.3 kg)
Length	43 in (1092 mm)
Barrel length	12 in (305 mm)
Cartridge	9mm Glisenti .22LR
Caliber	9mm .22 calibre
Action	Blowback, automatic only
Rate of fire	900 round/min cyclic
Muzzle velocity	1,275 ft/s (389 m/s)
Feed system	25 round detachable box

Another variant was the semiautomatic Model 1918/30 with the magazine inserted underneath and came with a bayonet.[2] The Model 1918/30 was also manufactured in Argentina by Hafdasa as the C-1, which formed the basis of the Ballester-Riguard submachine gun.