File:Beretta Mitragliatrice 46 with Lanciatore di Granate Modello 48 (TigerHunter1945).png

Beretta Mitragliatrice 46

As World War rages on,more advancement in firearms were made,Nazi Germany break the ground by introducing its new cutting edge weapon type that were unheard before the Assault Rifle or in German Sturmgewehr,which is a select fire weapon that fired an new intermediate cartridge in order to gain a maximum usefulness in almost all condition of infantry combat such as close quarter and medium range engangement and having a superb firerate and accuracy as Germany brand new StG 44 prove itself in combat,Germany Allies,Italy soons liked the Assault Rifle idea and began to pursue its own assault rifle based on purely Italian design,Italy however were lagging behind in development of many kinds of field that required to make an Assault Rifle predominantly intermediate cartridge,Italy however want to rush the rifle into service as fast as it could ask Germany to licensed produce its Kurz cartridge which Germany accepted the request and Italian company Beretta began to design the first ever Italian Assault Rifle the Beretta Mitragliatrice 46 which entered the service in 1946 as world 2nd Assault Rifle in service after Germany's StG 44

Beretta Mitragliatrice 46 were a gas-operated rifle with a long-stroke gas piston above the barrel, a breech-block mechanism vand a curved 30-round magazine directly taken from StG 44 for easier measure of production and were chambered in 7.92 mm x 33mm Kurz cartridge.As the Beretta M.46 were produced in midst of war Italy relies much on non strategic material,this include a substantial usage of wood in comparison with its German counterpart and many parts could've been easily made in small yard across Italy with little skill need to produce it.

Beretta M.46 have many varieties of attachment including the usual although newly designed Carcano like bayonet and a Lancia di Granate Modello 48 Grenade Launcher which entered service in 1948,The Grenade Launcher system were heavily influenced by US M7 Grenade Launcher that were captured by Italy and its similar to its US counterparts.

The Lanciagranate Modello 48 can be used along with wide variaties of Grenade that were already in service such as OTO Mod.35 grenade using special adapter known as Adaptorre Bomba a Mano.

Italian Army,which have a positive view on Lanciagranate Mod 48 were experimenting with the possibility of mounting a large HEAT Anti Tank Grenade which could bolster Italian Infantry Unit in terms of Anti Tank capability the result were Granate Anticarro Modelle 1951 which were dubbed as 'Melone' because of its shape and could penetrate around 180mm of Armour at 90 degrees,although it were later found that it has a poor range and were kinda cumbersome nonetheless it bolster Italian infantry capability greatly.

The Beretta Mitragliatrice 46 were continued to serve alongside Regio Esercito until early to mid 1980s when it is largely replaced by more modern weapons but it also saw service with other Co-Belligerent Nation such as Greater Romania and many even ended up in Somalis,Arabs and African rebels hand who found it to be reliable and robust weapon.

Specifications: Beretta Mitragliatrice 46

In service: 1946 - ??? (1980s with Italian Empire Army)

Designed: 1944 - 1945

Manufacturer: Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A. and other sub contractors

Produced: 1946 - 1965

Length: 100 cm

Barrel Length: 72 cm

Cartridge: 7.92×33mm Kurz

Action: Gas-operated rotating-bolt

Rate of fire: 400-600 rounds/min automatic

Feed system: 30-round detachable magazine