The Perino Model 1908 was an early machine gun of Italian origin designed earlier in 1901 by Giuseppe Perino, an engineer (Tecnico dell'Artiglieria). Perino's design apparently was the first Italian-designed machine gun, and in its original configuration weighed in at a heavy 27 kilograms (60 lb), which made it largely unsuitable to field utilization and apt only for fortifications; a lightened 1910 version brought the weight down to 15 kilograms (33 lb). The gun was nonetheless adopted by the Regio Esercito and saw some use alongside the Fiat-Revelli Modello 14 and the Maxim guns. It had a unique feed mechanism, with a hopper on the side of the gun filled with up to five twenty-round clips rather than being belt fed. This allowed the loader to constantly keep the gun at maximum capacity, meaning the gun crew never had to stop to reload.

Perino Model 1908
Austro-Hungarian captured Perino MG
TypeHeavy machine gun
Place of originKingdom of Italy, Austria-Hungary (captured)
Service history
Used byItaly
WarsItalo-Turkish War(limited)[1],World War I
Production history
DesignerGiuseppe Perino
Designed1901
Specifications
Mass27kg

Cartridge6.5x52mm Carcano
ActionRecoil
Rate of fire450RPM
Feed system20 round strips
SightsIron

References

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  1. ^ Esposito, Gabriele, Armies of the Italian-Turkish War: Conquest of Libya, 1911–1912 Osprey Publishing (2020)
  • McNab, Chris: Twentieth-century Small Arms, Grange Books, 2004; ISBN 1-84013-381-3
  • Nevio Mantoan, Weapons and Equipment of the Italian Army in the Great War 1915-1918, Gino Rossato Editore, First Edition. July 1996.
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