Italian Explosive Ordnance - Projectiles (General Info, 6.5mm, and 7mm Cartridges)

Italian Explosive Ordnance

Italian Small Arms Ammunition

General

Italian small arms ammunition does not have many unusual characteristics and is very similar to British and German ammunition.  In some cases, the ammunition is interchangeable for use in each country's guns.


The following is a summary of Italian small arms ammunition:

6.5mm Rimless

1. Guns used in: Rifle M91, Carbine M91, Machine Gun M30 and M30 (A/N: Not sure why it repeats) and Machine Gun M14 (Fiat)


2. Types:
A. Ball M91/95 - Round Nose
B. Fragmenting bullet M91 - 3 longitudinal striations on the bullet
C. Fragmenting bullet M91 - 2 annular grooves on the bullet
D. Blank for rifles - Scarlet wooden bullet
E. Blank for machine gun - Bullet consist of inert black powder which is enclosed in a thin brass jacket.
F. Dummy M91/95
G. Practice M91 - Bullet consists of a closed jacket of copper-nickel, the upper half filled with lead, the lower half with sand.
H. Practice for miniature range M91 - This ammunition consists of a brass cartridge case with a steel tube attached to the base of the case and fitting internally.  A lead bullet fits into the top of the steel tube and cartridge fits into the base of the tube.



7.35mm (Rimless)


1. Guns used in: Rifle M38, Machine Gun M38

2. Types:
A. Ball
B. Fragmenting
C. Practice - Minitature Ranges
D. Blanks for rifles
E. Blank for machine guns



7.7mm (Rimmed) (interchangeable with .303 British)

1. Guns used in: 7.7mm Aircraft Machine Gun

2. Types:
A. Ball
B. Tracer - Red Tip
C. Armor-Piercing Incendiary (phosphorus) - Blue Tip
D. Armor-Piercing Incendiary (thermite) - Green Tip



8mm (Rimmed)

1. Guns used in: 8mm Mannlicher Rifle, 8mm Schwarzlose Machine Gun

2. Types:
A. Ball
B. Blank for rifle - Reddish orange wooden bullet
C. Blank for machine gun - Green wooden bullet



8mm (Rimless)

1. Guns used in: Machine Gun Fiat M35, Breda M37 and M38

2. Types:
A. Ball
B. Armor-Piercing M37 and M43 - M40 has red tip
C. Blank - Bullet consists of inert black powder enclosed in brass jacket



12.7mm (Rimless)

1. Guns used in: 12.7mm Aircraft Machine Gun

2. Types:
A. Ball
B. Tracer - Red Tip
C. Armor-Piercing - Green Tip
D. Armor-Piercing Incendiary (thermite) Tracer - White Tip
E. H.E. Projectile - Red body with nose percussion fuze
F. Incendiary (phosphorus) - Blue Tip
G. Incendiary (thermite) Tracer - Blue body with nose percussion fuze similar to German Fuze A25045
H. Incendiary (thermite) Tracer - Buff body with nose percussion fuze fitted



13.2mm (Rimless)

1. Guns used in: 13.2mm Breda Machine Gun

2. Types:
A. Armor-Piercing
B. Armor-Piercing Tracer - Red Tip



14mm (Similar to British 0.55 inch Anti-Tank Rifle ammunition)

1. Guns used in: Captured British Anti-Tank rifle

2. Types: Armor-Piercing



20mm (interchangeable with German 2cm Solothurn type ammunition)

1. Guns used in: 20mm Anti-Aircraft and Anti-Tank Gun Breda M35

2. Types:
A. H.E. - Nose percussion fuze and self-destroying tracer
B. A.P./H.E./Tracer - Base fuze consisting of a fixed firing pin and primer cap held in position by a shear pin.



  

6.5mm Ball

Guns used in: Moschetto M91 Carbine Italian Mannlicher Carcano Rifle

Overall length of round: 76.5mm
Weight of round: 22.67 grams
Length of bullet: 30.1mm
Weight of bullet: 10.5 grams
Length of cartridge case: 52.2mm
Weight of propellant: 2.3 grams

Remarks: The round consists of a rimless brass case




7.35mm Ball

Guns used in: Fucile M38 Rifle

Overall length of round: 73.3mm
Weight of complete round: 20.1 grams
Overall length of bullet: 27.4mm
Weight of bullet: 8.32 grams
Length of cartridge case: 53.3mm
Weight of propellant: 2.6 grams

Remarks: The round has the marking B.T.M. on the base of the brass cartridge case.  The projectile has a nickel-plated steel jacket enclosing an aluminum case and a lead core to rear of the aluminum.

  

7.7mm Ball

Guns used in: 7.7mm Aircraft Machine Gun

Overall length of round: 77.5mm
Weight of round: 25.43 grams
Length of bullet: 32.9mm
Length of cartridge case: 56mm
Weight of propellant: 2.56 grams

Remarks: The round is interchangeable with the British 0.303 inch and is almost identical to the British Mk VII.  The bullet has a copper-nickel plated steel jacket enclosing an aluminum forward core and a lead core in the rear.




7.7mm A.P.I. Incendiary (Blue Tip)

 
Guns used in: 7.7mm Aircraft Machine Gun

Overall length of round: 77mm
Weight of round: 23.33 grams
Length of bullet: 35mm
Weight of bullet: 9.96 grams
Length of cartridge case: 56mm
Weight of propellant: 2.4 grams

Remarks: The round consists of a brass cartridge case, a copper cap, and a bullet whose jacket is pierced with four holes on the ogive so that at these points the incendiary composition is protected only by a thin copper sleeve.  The jacket is steel plated with either copper-nickel or copper-nickel alloy.  A copper sleeve, a steel core in a lead sheath, and the forward nose portion filled with phosphorus are enclosed by the bullet jacket.  The four holes on the ogive permit the distribution of the phosphorus on impact.




7.7mm A.P.I. (Green Tip)

 
Guns used in: 7.7mm Aircraft Machine Gun

Overall length of round: 77mm
Weight of round: 24.6 grams
Length of bullet: 35mm
Weight of bullet: 10.2 grams
Length of cartridge case: 56mm
Weight of propellant: 2.5 grams

Remarks: The round has a brass cartridge case, and copper-nickel jacketed bullet.  The makeup of the bullet is very similar to the A.P.I. (Blue Tip), but the nose is filled with two compositions.  In the tip is a small quantity of magnesium potassium chlorate and, behind it, surrounding the nose of the steel core, some aluminum-lead oxide.  Four holes in the ogive permit the mixture to be distributed on impact.

Next Time: Italian Small Arms Ammunition (8mm and 12.7mm Cartridges)