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Beretta BM 59 (Italy)

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  • Beretta BM 59 (Italy)

    Caliber: 7.62x51 mm NATO (.308 Winchester)
    Action: Gas operated, rotating bolt
    Overall length: 1095 mm
    Barrel length: 491 mm
    Weigth: 4.4 kg empty
    Rate of fire: 750 rounds per minute
    Magazine capacity: 20 rounds

    Since the end of the World War 2, Italy adopted the US-designed M1 Garand rifle in .30-06 (7.62x63mm) and manufactured it under licence. This semi-automatic rifle proved itself wery well during WW2 but in the late 1950s it was seriously outdated and obsolete, so Italian military wanted a new rifle, chambered for the NATO-standard cartridge, 7.62x51mm. The most cost-efficient way to build a new rifle was to redesign the old good M1, and this was done by Pietro Beretta SPa. New gun, designated as Beretta BM59, was adopted in 1959 and served with Italian, Indonesian and Marocco armies. It should be noted that earliest BM59s were manufactured from available M1 parts, including rechambered barrels. In the late 1980s BM59 was rplaced in Italian service with Beretta AR70/90 assault rifles.

    Basically, the BM59 can be described as re-chambered M1 Garand, with addition of the removable 20 rounds magazine and select fire trigger. Another addition was a flash-hider of NATO-standard diameter, which also served as a rifle grenade launcher. To launch grenades, one must turn on gas cut-off valve by raising grenade front sight, mounted on the gas block. If it will not be done, the excessive gas pressure will damage the rifle. BM59 is a gas operated rifle, with gas chamber and gas piston located under the barrel. Chamber locks by the rotating bolt with two massive lugs. Fire mode selector/safety switch is located at the front of the triggerguard, charging handle is attached to the gas rod and reciprocates during the fire cycyle.

    BM59 was available in 4 modification:
    * BM59 Mark I had a wooden stock with semi-pistol grip.
    * BM59 Mark II had a wooden stock with pistol grip to achieve a better control during the full-auto fire;
    * BM59 Mark III, or Ital TA, was a gun with a pistol grip and a metallick folding buttstock, and was intended for Mountain troops; BM59 Para was similar to BM59 Ital TA but had shorter barrel and shorter flash-hider, and was intended for paratroopers.
    * BM59 Mark IV, had a heavier barrel and plactick stock, and was used as a light squad automatic weapon.

    ----

    Kind of an Italian M-14 of sorts. Though the M-14 was more then just a rechambered M-1 Garand with a bigger magazine in different caliber.

    Now I have actually heard bad things about this rifle.

    It was used by Italy, Indonesia, Morocco and Nigeria.

    The Indonesian Special Forces used these (locally called the SP-2) againist the British during the 1960s. It has carried by the Special Forces on cross border raids into Malaysia. They found it not only heavy and with a big kick but actually unrealible. Now to prove the point they actually found the early AR-15 much more reliable (and of course lighter and easier to fire). Indonesia was one of the first (if not the first) nation to employ the AR-15 in combat and give it to whole units. Other units in their military also replaced it with the AK-47. The BM-59 was a rather despised gun in their service and they were happy to hand them off to militia forces. And later the militias were happy to get G-3 rifles to replace the BM-59s.

    Here are some pictures of it in the hands of Fretilin guerillas (in East Timor) in the late 1990s.
    Attached Files
    To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

  • #2
    Good I guess no one likes a WW-2 based gun...

    The US Navy SEALs picked up the BM-59 folding stocks to use on some of their M-14s.

    The BM-59 was only sold to a few nations outside of Italy and replaced in a few of them by other NATO battle rifles. It was and is one of the more forgetten NATO weapons that turned up after WW-2 and was ecsliped by the G-3 and FN-FAL on the export market. Nigeria replaced theirs with the FN-FAL and I think so did Morocco. The pictures I posted were in the hands of guerillas who took them from militiamen.

    Still the "best" guns are in the third world....
    Attached Files
    To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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    • #3
      Originally posted by troung
      Good I guess no one likes a WW-2 based gun...
      Hey now, I am a huge Garand fan, no matter what flavor. Though from your description, it doesn't sound like Beretta did a very good job reworking the M1.

      Those Fretilin guerillas look like a pretty scruffy bunch though!
      "We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." -President Barack Obama 11/25/2008

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      • #4
        "Hey now, I am a huge Garand fan, no matter what flavor."

        Same here. I should be getting a picture of an updated Philippines M-1 Garand with a detachable magazine in the next few months.

        The Garand is simply a classic. The BM-59 looks the part, it could actually use M-1 tooling (the M-14 from what I read was different enough to be a different weapon from tooling POV). They made it to get the quickest and cheapest possible locally "designed" (taking out French, German, Belgian models) 7.62mm rifle in the shortest time. Same reason they quickly made an 7.62mm MG-42 copy. Some BM-59s were rebuilt/built from M-1 Garands.

        I eat these less then common guns in the 3rd world up :)

        "Though from your description, it doesn't sound like Beretta did a very good job reworking the M1."

        Yeah it is rather wierd. Them finding AR-15s (and of course AK-47s) more reliable back in 1962 is noteworthy. That tends to count out them not cleaning the weapons if one can keep AR-15s working and not BM-59s. The heavy wieght/bullet issue is a more or less a no brainer for smaller statued guys lugging them into the jungle on cross border raids taking only what they can hump againist the British army. The recievers on the BM-59s should have actually been newly made and not conversions.

        The BM-59 (locally called the SP-2) turned into a hated rifle over there and was passed off the militias after awhile who later were happy to get G-3s. I don't have much about what Italian troops thought, the BM-59 is still handed out to special troops for mountian warfare while others use the AR-90. And Nigeria replaced them with the FN-FAL as did Morocco. But at the very least it did seem to be possibly cheap which is why it got picked up. America was pretty much the only nation which picked up the M-14 as a service rifle for everyman (some others got FMSed it cheap and used them as DM) but the BM-59 got picked (actually bought) up by more people.

        "Those Fretilin guerillas look like a pretty scruffy bunch though"

        If me and you had to hide in a jungle fighting and American/British armed military with no external support for over 20 years and having to pick up rifles and bulets, I'm sure the last thing we would be doing was worrying about the hair and beards (FYI they are actually Catholic)...

        The uniforms were worn as a dog and pony show to take pictures in and the beards probably were not shaved to more look the part. They are perfect proof you can get ghetto stomped for 20 plus years, not do a good job (trying to fight a standing convential war early on) and win the war in the end (foriegn pressure due to oil politics)... ;)

        ----

        A little from what I find...

        Shortly after World War 2, Beretta began to manufacture the M-1 Garand rifle for the Italian, Indonesian, and Danish armies. As years went by, the need for a more modern weapon became apparent, and the M-1 Garand was modified into the BM-59, firing the 7.62mm NATO cartridge. The first such attempt was basically a lighter, shorter M-1 with the ability to take a 20-round magazine and the ability of automatic fire. This was followed by a succession of experiments that eventually produced the final production models.

        The BM-59 Ital is the original model; it is an M-1 Garand with a gas cylinder underneath the barrel, a bipod, and the ability to take larger magazines and fire on automatic. The Ital-A is the same weapon with a slightly shorter barrel and a folding stock. The BM-59 Mark I is a standard wooden-stocked rifle with a bipod; in addition to reloading the magazine in the normal manner, it can be topped off from the top of the rifle using chargers. The BM-59 Mark II is the same, but has a pistol grip and a winter trigger guard. The Mark III is the same as the Mark II, but has a folding stock and a foregrip. The BM-59 Ital Alpini and Ital Para were derived from the Mark III, and are for Alpine and Paratrooper use respectively. The Mark IV is a heavy-barreled light automatic rifle with a plastic stock and a hinged buttplate. All versions of the BM-59 can use standard Western rifle grenades that fit a 21mm flash suppressor. They have a grenade sight which, when raised, alters the gas supply to allow proper grenade firing. The BM-59SL was the civilian model; it is little more than an M-1 Garand with the ability to take larger magazines, and fire 7.62mm NATO ammunition; it has no bayonet lug, no flash suppressor, and cannot fire rifle grenades.
        Last edited by troung; 18 Apr 05,, 06:33.
        To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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        • #5
          The BM-59 does have a nice bipod for every rifleman...
          To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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          • #6
            Any gun that uses powerful ammo and/or is capable of long-rnage kills should definitely have a bipod.

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            • #7
              Hallo,i have used BM 59 in the early '80 during my military service as 2°Lt of the Italian Army and is a good weapon ,rugged and with some interesting features, the problems are with the firing pins prone to breakings and the careless maintenance and use of an Army with compulsory service. The Indonesian Army licensed produce the BM 59 and this is a possible cause of troubles.Best regards Gianfranco

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