Beretta OVP Modello 1918

History

The Italians in World War I (1914-1918) inadvertently created the world's first submachine gun with their "Villar Perosa Modello 1915". This weapon combines two side-by-side barrels, each with separate feed and firing mechanisms, to produce a light machine gun (LMG) system for use as a light support weapon for Italian Alpine forces. While it had a healthy rate of fire (1,200 rpm), it suffered with limited attack range, it used a recoil system and fired a 9mm Glisenti pistol cartridge - all characteristics later associated with submachine guns.

Regardless, it set the stage for other successful forms that followed - including its direct offshoot, OVP ("Officine Villar Perosa").

After realizing the true value of the Modello 1915, a new weapon was born from the 1916 work. This entry largely retains the internal layout of the original model and adds a wooden stock for shoulder rests, a dual trigger unit below the receiver for select fire and a longer barrel assembly , to ensure accuracy and robustness.

A cylindrical metal cover acts as the receiver for the gun. The dual trigger offers a choice of firing between two modes - semi-auto with the rear trigger and full-auto with the front trigger. The magazine holds 25 rounds of 9mm Glisenti pistol cartridges and sits on top of the receiver, which proves unwieldy before the action and the medium quality of the weapon.

The pull handle isn't a handle at all - it becomes a knurled sleeve that is placed around the receiver and in front of and over the trigger assembly. This was brought back and the gun was loaded forward. The sight was placed in front of the magazine, which limited its usefulness.

Overall, the gun weighs 8 pounds and measures 35.5 inches in length. Performance specifications include a rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute and a muzzle velocity of 990 feet per second. The magazine holds 25 ready-to-fire cartridges.

The OVP became available in some quantities in 1918 (the last year of the war), but was not officially released until the early 1920s. Like other World War I weapons, it had a longer service life and was used in the early campaigns of World War II (1939-1945). The Italians used this weapon in the "Abyssinian War" against Ethiopia (the "Second Italian-Ethiopian War" of 1935-1936), and it was featured several times in the North African campaign.

By this time, the series was more or less replaced by the more powerful Beretta submachine guns, and the OVP appeared much less frequently after 1941.

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