POTD: A Slow Shooting Machine Gun – The Breda Model 30
Sam.S 01.31.24
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! The Breda Model 30 light machine gun was adopted as the standard support weapon for Italian infantry squads in World War II. However, the design suffered from numerous deficiencies that severely hampered its combat effectiveness. The Breda’s unusual fixed magazine fed from charger clips was slow to reload and susceptible to damage and fouling. Its closed bolt operation exacerbated overheating problems and the violent recoil action caused extraction issues, especially in sandy environments. This resulted in frequent jams and an effective rate of fire comparable to rifles like the M1 Garand, rather than contemporary machine guns that were far more reliable. The Breda’s sights had to be re-zeroed when barrels were changed and its 20-round capacity was lower than detachable magazine-fed LMGs. While the all-steel Breda was sturdily built, its flaws were magnified in combat conditions.
“A somewhat unusual design for the time, the Breda Model 30 was the primary light machine gun of the Italian armed forces during World War II, and served as the firepower backbone of most infantry formations. A true “heavy metal” machine gun, the Breda design banks heavily on machined steel construction with a recoil driven closed-bolt mechanism. Though physically rugged, the Breda was heavy, suffered from issues with feeding and extraction, struggled with dirt and debris (an issue that became dire in Africa), and was handicapped by the use of a fixed box magazine for feeding. Between the various issues, the Breda’s effective rate of fire was closer to the American M1 Garand than its actual counterpart, the Browning Automatic Rifle.”
Lot 1675: Italian Breda Model 30 Machine Gun – Italian Breda Model 30 Machine Gun, Class III/NFA DEWAT C&R Machine Gun. (n.d.-c). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved January 30, 2024, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/84/1675/italian-breda-model-30-machine-gun.
