We are remaining in the same period for today’s fifth post in the series ‘MACHINE GUNS OF WWI & WWII’. This time we travel to Italy to examine a Breda Modello 1937 machine gun, which was manufactured in Brescia in 1939 and exported to Portugal, where it was adopted by the army as the ‘Metralhadora pesada 7,92 mm m/938 Breda’. Read on for another LSB journey in firearms history…

Ernesto Breda founded the Società Italiana Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886. It originally manufactured locomotives and associated machinery, but later branched out into the manufacture of armaments and aircraft. The company was a major supplier of weapons to the Italian military. These were manufactured at its plant in Brescia, the Breda Meccanica Bresciana. The Fascist era and its colonialist drive provided the company with increased business opportunities. The first machine gun to be developed by the factory was the Modello 1930 chambered for the 6.5×52mm Mannlicher-Carcano cartridge. The gun was adopted by the Italian army in considerable quantity. However, its design proved to be quite troublesome in action.

Breda went on to develop a new, heavier machine gun chambered for the 8x59 mm RB Breda cartridge. The Regia Marina was the first to adopt this machine gun as the Modello 1936. The War Museum in St Elmo, Valletta, has one of these guns on display. It was found on MAS 452, which was captured during the July 26, 1941 attack on Grand Harbour by X Flottiglia MAS. Heritage Malta acquired this unique specimen from us some years ago. We are including a picture of the current museum display.

The Regio Esercito soon adopted the same Breda machine gun as the Modello 1937. The M37 was a gas-operated, air-cooled medium machine gun. It chambered a slightly larger cartridge than its rivals, the 8x59mm RB Breda. The 20-round tray limited continuous fire, as the gun could be fired rapidly only when a second crew member fed in one ammunition tray after another. The fired cartridges were automatically reinserted into the feed tray. The reason for this odd feature is that the spent cartridges would be kept for reloading!

The M37 was also adopted by the Portuguese armed forces. However, the machine guns produced for this contract were chambered in the 7.92x57mm cartridge, as Portugal was primarily equipped with German weapons. The designation was ‘Metralhadora pesada 7,92 mm m/938 Breda’.

Portugal received a total of 1,250 of these Breda machine guns. They were delivered as complete sets with accessories, arriving in Portugal in seven batches between March and September 1939. A further six guns were provided for testing purposes. According to Lieutenant Pereira da Conceição (Revista de Infantaria, 1938), the Breda could maintain a practical rate of fire of 400 rounds per minute. In the 1950s, the m/938 was reclassified as a light machine gun.

By 1958, these Breda guns were deployed in several Portuguese colonies: 10 in Angola, 10 in Mozambique, 48 in India, 10 in Macau, etc. The m/938 saw extensive service in Portugal's African colonies during the early stages of the Portuguese Colonial Wars, which started in 1961 and ended in 1975.

Production of the Breda M37 ceased in September 1943. There were no further deliveries to Portugal. Thus, the 7.92x57mm variant is the rarest of the Breda range, with only 1,256 supplied to Portugal. Few still survive today.

The example that we are offering today was made in Brescia in 1939. The gun is in excellent original condition. It bears the Portuguese coat of arms and the date ‘1938’, denoting the date of the contract. The side of the receiver is inscribed ‘ROMA 1939 – XVII’ and ‘No.528’. 1939 is the date of manufacture and it is followed by the Fascist year 17.

If you wish to own this rare and interesting firearm, please send us a private message or phone us on 99471091. It will be reserved for the first client who pays a deposit by Mobile or Online bank transfer. Police applications will be filled in after we receive the deposit and a scan/photo of the client's 2020 Collector Licence A Special.

While our photos are as detailed as possible and do not hide any flaws, you have the option of examining the firearm physically, by appointment. Do not take any risks with overseas online auctions when you have the chance of knowing what you are buying. LSB’s knowledge and experience in historical firearms assures you of a good investment. We offer a lifetime guarantee on the genuineness of the pieces in our vast inventory so that you may buy in full confidence.

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