BERETTA MAB
MAB means MOSCHETTO AUTOMATICO BERETTA (BERETTA AUTOMATIC MUSKEET; "Moschetto", or "Muskeet", means "light rifle" in old-style italian. The MAB entered in production and in service during the Fascist Era, and the fascist regime was well known for using and liking old-style, "pure" italian language). Despite of its name, the MAB is a though man-portable submachinegun, one of the best of its time, and still one of the best ever produced in Italy. It is the "historical", "typical" italian service submachinegun. First produced in 1938, it had several subsequent production rolls, it saw use and combat during the WW2 and even until the end of the 20th century. There are several versions of the MAB: MAB M-38/44: First-production MAB, produced from 1938 to 1944. MAB M-38/A44: MAB version produced during the nazi occupation of Italy, when the northern Italy, where the BERETTA plants are based, was ruled by the RSI, "Repubblica Sociale Italiana", or ITALIAN SOCIAL REPUBLIC, which, despite of its name, was a "new" fascist state with the small town of SALO' as capital, ruled by Benito Mussolini and protected by the nazists. MAB M-38/55: Last MAB version. It's right to say that the production of MAB started in 1938 and ultimately ended in 1955. The MAB is an evergreen, in italian service: although its replacement between the Italian Military/LE community started at the end of the '60s, it was still used during ALL the "terrorism period" ('70s/'80s) by mostly Italian LE and Military firces, since, at that time, the newest weapons, such as the submachineguns BERETTA PM-12/S, SITES SPECTRE, SOCIMI SMG-821, the assault rifles BERETTA AR-70 and BERNARDELLI VB-SR, the "machinepistols" BERETTA M-93/R and the shotguns FRANCHI were issued primarily to Special Operations Unit. Its replacement ultimately arrived in the '80s. However, the MAB had seen, and still sees, use for the training of the young soldiers in Obligatory Military Draft Service, for marching and drill. --- TECHNICAL SPECS: CALIBER: 9x19mm-Parabellum CAPACITY: From 20 to 40 rounds TOTAL LENGHT: 798 mm BARREL LENGHT: 210 mm WEIGHT: 3,98 Kgs RIFLING: 6 grooves, RH ROF: 550 Rounds Per Minute
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