ARSENALS AND FACTORIES

National Arsenals

- Terni
- Brescia
- Gardone Val Trompia
- Roma
- Torino
- Torre Annunziata
- Direzioni di Artiglieria

Private Factories

- Beretta
- M.I.D.A.
- N&VC
- MBT
- Pietro Lorenzotti
- F.N.A.
- Armaguerra Cremona
- Other Italian gun factories
- Private Ammo Factories
- Private Subcontractors

NATIONAL ARSENALS

TERNI

Regia Fabbrica d'Armi Terni
Fabbrica d'Armi Regio Esercito Terni
Fabbrica d'Armi Esercito Terni
Polo Mantenimento Armi Leggere Terni

Discussions about creating a unified central arsenal in the Terni area for the newborn Italian state already surged in 1862, but the close vicinity to the Papal state was a strong deterrent, especially with the French Army protecting the Pope and its lands.
This changed in July 1866, when the Battle of Königgrätz/Sadowa showed to the european powers the necessity of arming their frontline infantry units with a reliable breech loading rifle, capable of "rapid" and sustained fire. The Italian arsenals at that time weren't capable of sustaining a total rearmament of the Italian army (All arsenals combined, Torino, Torre Annunziata and Brescia, were capable of producing only about 3-5k rifles per month), hence a new centralized and Vast Arsenal was planned, while improving the other to sustain initial production.
With the Royal Decree n.3255 of September 29th 1866, 1 million liras of funds were allocated to find the best site for the new factory, renewing them in April 26 1872.
Finally the factory site was located around the industrial city of Terni, already a flourishing steel mill city, and so with the Royal Decree n.1860 of March 19th 1874, the construction of the Terni Arsenal was funded, while the foundation stone was laid on May 2 1875, with the necessary machineries bought with Royal decree n.5478 on June 13th 1880.
The brand new Terni arsenal had a main building for production, several ancilliaries buildings for laboratories and offices, and a 200m range for gun testing.
By the end of 1880 Terni employed several hundreds specialized workers coming from the other arsenals (Torino, Brescia and Torre Annunziata) and started the production of the Vetterli Fucile mod. 1870, reaching the respectable rate of 25 rifles per hour during peacetime.
When the Italian Army adopted the Fucile mod, 1891 they planned to dismiss definitively the other Arsenals and leave only Terni as the main supplier of guns, but they clashed with the harsh reality that the Terni facility needed years to convert its production to supply the whole country, so in the meantime they gave small batches of rifles to the other arsenals too, in order to keep production at decent levels and replenish the frontline units as soon as possible.

By 1900 Torino and Torre Annunziata completed their duties and were demoted to gun repairing and maintenance. Brescia remained active to produce the Moschettos (both Cavalry and T.S.), in order to further simplify Terni logistics and production lines.

At the beginning of WW1 the Terni Arsenals employed about 2000 people, and was capable of producing around 270 rifles per day;
When WW1 Broke Out, the whole burden of war production lied on the shoulders of Terni: the trench warfare, fagocitating thousands of rifles per day, was definetly a challenge for the Arsenal, but with the help of subcontractors for small parts and for the production of barrels and assembling (Officine di Costruzione d'Artiglieria - Roma and MIDA in particular) the supply lines were kept steady. The conversion of mod.1870/87 rifles to 6.5 (operated mostly by Rome) helped in this effort, liberating as many mod.91 guns as possible for the frontlines.
By 1918 the Terni Arsenal was capable of producing about 2k-2.5k rifles per day, employing around 7,000 people, of which 3,000 were women.

With the end of WW1 the Italian state was on heavy debt, so the first cuts were dedicated to the Arms industry. Brescia was foreclosed completely by 1922, while Terni was completely left without new productions for almost a decade, focusing only on refurbishing guns (the Tubata rifles) and converting old rifles to 91/24 specifications.

With the renewal of Italian active clashes in Lybia and on the Ethiopian border, Terni production was restarted, slowly but effectively: Moschettos, T.S. and Fucili mod.91 were produced again, even if just in the order of tens of thousands per year.
With the Mod. 38 reform, Terni was completely rehauled for the new production: new machineries, employees and raw materials helped bringin the production up to decent levels, reaching about one hundred thousands rifle produced (or converted in the first batches) per year.
When WW2 broke out, Terni was ready for the challenge: production rose again up to 2000 rifles per day (focusing mostly on mod.91/38 rifles in the first years of war), allowing the Italian army to never suffer serious arms shortages at any time.
By 1941 Terni developed and started the production of the mod. 41 long rifles, with the intent of issuing an improved "marksman" rifle to Infantry squads. Terni suffered several heavy bombings from the allied forces in June-July 1943, that provoked serious damages to the factory and its surroundings.

After the Italian armstice of September 8th 1943, the Germans stormed the factory, halting the production and moving most of its machineries to northern factories.
When Terni was liberated by allied troops in 1944, the old employees revealed that they had kept and hidden from german hands most of the sophisticated tools, especially industrial diamonds and precious precision instruments.
When the Allied liberated Northern Italy, Terni Employees did their best to get a hold of the stolen machineries and to bring them back to the Arsenal, helping restoring it to decent levels of production.

After WW2, Italy had hundreds of thousands of guns of every kind, origin and caliber: Guns captured during Italian offensives in the Balkans, France and Russia, guns left over by the Italian and German Army, guns imported by Allied troops. Terni had the heavy duty of gathering all these weapons into its warehouses, refurbishing them all (focusing mostly on Italian and Allied ordnances), to be ready in case of Soviet invasion. Cold war was pretty hot stuff in 1945-1949, and every gun was needed.

1946-1948 was a flourishing moment for the Terni factory, that inspected and eventually refurbished every single carcano rifle they managed to get their hands on.
In this period they also changed nomenclature, going from Fabbrica d'Armi Regio Esercito Terni (Arms Factory, Royal Army, Terni) to Fabbrica d'Armi Esercito Terni (Arms factory, Army, Terni) when the Italian kingdom ended on June 2nd 1946, but it kept its most famous acronym, Fabbrica d'Armi Terni (Arms factory, Terni, FAT) throughout its existence.

After 1948, Not being needed to refurbish hundreds of thousands of guns nor produce them (The Marshall plan managed to flood italian warehouses with old M1 garands, while Beretta and Breda started their own production of M1 in the 1950s) Terni focused on the production of any steel derivate needed in a recovering country and economy like Italy was in the 1950s, producing hospital beds, basic instruments, clamps, tools, etc.
After this effort to the country's economy, Terni was redesigned as simple plant to refurbish and repair small arms.
In 1978 it was renamed from Fabbrica d'Armi Terni to "Stabilimento Militare dell'Armamento Leggero di Terni" (S.M.A.L.T, Military Plant for Small arms, Terni) and in 2000 was renamed as "Polo Mantenimento Armi Leggere di Terni" (PMAL, Center for Small Arms maintenance).
Today it keeps its function for Small arms maintenance and hosts a wonderful museum that shows many of the thousands of guns recovered from the Italian countryside after WW2.

Regia_Fabbrica_d’Armi_di_Terni_(Stampa_a_xilografia,_1895).jpg

BRESCIA

Regia Fabbrica d'Armi Brescia

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH
"F.N.A. - BRESCIA" AND "MIDA - BRESCIA"

In 1797, during the Napoleonic wars, the ancient Monastery of San Bartolomeo in Brescia was transformed by the French forces into barracks and weapons depot/repair workshop. This, together with a production detachment in Gardone val Trompia, was formally declared Royal Arsenal on December 29th 1806, by the viceroy of Italy Eugene of Beauharnais.
After the return of Austrian rule over the city, the old monastery was maintained as an Arms Depot for the repair of light weapons, gradually expanding with the nearby clashes with the Kingdom of Italy in the 1840s and 1850s.

When Italy, after the Second Italian War of Independence, took control of the city in 1859, the Arsenal was further upgraded, moving the main production plants to Gardone Val Trompia, while keeping most of the bureaucracy offices in Brescia.

After the foundation of the Terni Arsenal in 1880, the other Arsenals (Brescia, Turin and Torre Annunziata) should have been excluded from the production of light weapons, but the workforce and the century old arms tradition of the Brescia valleys managed to keep the Brescia arsenal afloat, obtaining permission (and exclusivity) to produce the mod. 91 carbines (Moschetti e T.S.).
In 1911, due to the excessive costs of maintaining two production centers and the excessive proximity of the Brescia factory to the Austrian border (40km), the factory seemed on the verge of foreclosure, but once again the workers and local governments managed to keep the production lines open.
This proved to be very useful during the First World War, because having an Arsenal so close to the Isonzo front and the Asiago plateau was certainly a logistical advantage.

During the war, the Brescia Arsenal increased its employees tenfold, repairing as many weapons as possible, subcontracting the production of parts to the entire region (Val Trompia is still today one of the most important arms producing regions in the world) and producing as many carbines as possible.

Despite the efforts made during the war, the debts incurred by the Italian government to support the war effort forced the final and definitive closure of the Brescia arsenal in 1922, after years of tough worker's unions and local governments battles. The Gardone production plant was kept at minimal operations for small productions as a Provisional Artillery Office until 1926, when it became a detached section of the Terni Arms Factory.

GARDONE V.T.

Sezione Fabbrica d'Armi Regio Esercito
Gardone Val Trompia

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH "BERETTA - GARDONE V.T."

As we wrote in the paragraph relating to the Brescia Arsenal, the production plant in Gardone Val Trompia was already active at the beginning of the 19th century, but was developed in its definitive form at the end of the 19th century (around 1870 with the new Vetterli's production) to expand the capabilities of the Brescia Arms Factory's headquarters, which were severely hampered by its location in the city centre.

The Gardone V.T. factory thus became the beating heart of the Brescia arsenal, producing all the necessary parts for mod.70 rifles and carbines and mod.74 revolvers in his first decades, then switching to mod.91 rifles and carbines and mod.1889 Revolvers.

When the Brescia Arsenal was closed in 1922, the Gardone V.T. plant was kept at minimum capacity as a Ufficio Provvisorio di Artiglieria (Provisional Artillery Office), overhauling weapons and producing small parts and accessories.

With the reprisal of the arms race by the Royal Army, Gardone V.T., around 1926, became a detached section of the Terni Arsenal (action formalized on 5 August 1932), known as Sezione Fabbrica d'Armi Regio Esercito Gardone Val Trompia: the plant was restored for the production of light weapons (in Primis Revolver mod. 1889), tenfolding the number of employees by 1935.

During the Second World War (despite the risk of being sold to private industry in 1941), the factory mainly produced mod.91/38 moschettos, maintaining production up until September 1943. As of September 7th 1943 the factory directly employed 2650 workers, producing more than 800 carbines per day.

When northern Italy was occupied by German forces, the Todt Organization assigned the production plants of the Arsenal to the Officine Meccaniche company of Brescia for truck assembly, with the caveat of maintaining as much as possible the same workers previously employed. documents directly quote that during this period, the Gardone V.T. arsenal produced some Mod.43 grenade launchers.
During the German occupation, 3/4 of the factory's machineries were removed to be sent to other factories or to be transported directly to other locations, leaving the factory in disastrous conditions.

After the war the Italian Ministry of Defense maintained only a small building for the maintenance, repair and testing of weapons (the Beretta is 500 meters away and the Beretta guns produced for the Italian Army still required the approval of the technicians of the Army).

The production plants, after the O.M. fired all the workers in November 1948, were then taken over by the Minganti motorcycle company of Bologna, later renamed MI-VAL, operational up until 1968.

The former arsenal's factory buildings and lands were then purchased by a trust fund led by Beretta, which demolished one of the factory's warehouses to build modern industrial warehouses for third parties. the Warehouses and the main buildings are still existing today, and are occupied by several small businesses.

ROMA

Officina Costruzioni d'Artiglieria - Roma
Fabbrica d'Armi Regio Esercito Roma

The Rome Artillery Repair Workshop was initially established in the 1880s-90s, as part of the Rome Artillery Directorate, to construct small parts and repair artillery pieces.

When Italy entered the First World War in May 1915, the workshop was expanded with the requisition of some production plants on Via Flaminia, on both sides of Via Guido Reni. Most of the production plants belonged to the "Roma" Automotive Company, which had set up a factory and a Car shop there; next to the latter there were a couple of lots occupied by the Steel Company and the Lighting Company.
All these factories will be expanded by the architect Amerigo Allegretti with new production pavilions, accommodation and barracks, becoming respectively a workshop for the production of weapons and an Artillery shells factory (set up in the former car shop building).

On August 1st 1915, while the new production plants were being expanded and set up, the workshop officially became a production section of the Terni Arsenal (Sezione Fabbrica d'Armi Terni - Roma), designated to help in war production, while on July 9th 1916 it returned to being autonomous as the Artillery Construction Workshop of Rome (Officina di Costruzione di Artiglieria - Roma).
Around 1918 the whole institution officially took the name of Regia Fabbrica d'Armi di Roma, a name reserved for "autonomous" weapons production plants. The Construction workshop kept its name while inside the Factory institution, so you'll see both Workshop and Factory cartouches on Rome produced and refurbished guns.

The Rome Arsenal allegedly started its activities by converting the old Vetterli mod.70/87 rifles to the 6.5x52 caliber and to the consequent 70/87/16 standard, sleeving the barrels with the Salerno method (developed in 1912 by Salerno Giuseppe, Terni Technician) and placing the Mannlicher- style Carcano magazine underneath.

They were then commissioned to make approximately 240,000 rifle barrels mod. 91, assembling them and matching the bayonets. Most of these rifles were, most likely, made with small parts produced by other auxiliary factories or delivered from the Terni arsenal itself.

In 1917, experiments also began with the re-sleeving of mod.91 rifle barrels, both to create new barrels while consuming less steel and to repair the old barrels worn out by active fighting and corrosive ammunition.

After the First World War they concentrated their efforts on repairments and in the production of small parts, refurbishing several weapons throughout the 1920s and 1930s. They lost the "Fabbrica d'Armi" title sometimes after 1923.

After the Second World War the Arms Factory obtained a new function, being renamed the Military Establishment of Precision Electronic Materials, which closed its activities in the 1990s.

Most of the buildings of the Arms Factory are still barracks and buildings of the Italian Ministry of Defense today, while others have been converted as Museums.
In particular, in place of the artillery shells factory today there is the Maxxi, the National Museum of the Arts of the 21st century, while the City of Science of Rome will be built on the former factory plant.

TORINO

Regia Fabbrica d'Armi Torino
Officina Costruzioni d'Artiglieria Torino

Founded on October 26th 1715 and completed in December of the same year, the Torino Arsenal started its life as a steel foundry to produce musket barrels for the Piedmontese (small) army. Within 7 years, the production plant expanded greatly, creating the basis of a flourishing and specialised arms factory. Many specialised gunmakers were transfered and employed from the Brescia Area, still today one of the most important gun producing region in the world.

The factory expanded slowly throughout the 18th and 19th Century, equipping the Piedmontese Army first, the Sardinian army (after 1821) and the Early Italian Army in 1861.

in 1862 the Factory was capable of producing about 18,000 muskets and 15,000 blades per year, with a workforce of several hundreds of employees.
Torino remained one of the main Productive Arsenals of the Italian kingdom (along Brescia and Torre Annunziata) until the foundation of the Terni Arsenal in Center Italy, that slowly absorbed most of the small arms productions. Torino was kept operational for small arms production up to 1900-1902, then it was dismissed as an active Factory and kept only as an Arsenal (Arsenale di Costruzioni di Torino) for small refurbishments and maintenance of big and small arms.

in 1937, the factory terrains, mostly abandoned, were sold to the FIAT Steel mills. The entire area was destroyed by allied bombings during WW2, and now it's a park, Parco Dora. Nothing remains of the old steel mills nor the old Arms factory, that was located exactly where is the Centro Commerciale Parco Dora today.

160622_f710c3b9da6a422d8834142e7953e49e~mv2.gif

TORRE ANNUNZIATA

Regia Fabbrica d'Armi Torre Annunziata
Arsenale Costruzione d'Artiglieria Torre Annunziata
Spolettificio Regio Esercito Torre Annunziata

Founded in 1652 during the Spanish rule of the Kingdom of Naples, Was one of the main arsenals of the following Borbonic rule over the Kingdom of the two sicilies. After the Italian unification in 1861, the Torre Annunziata Arsenal produced small arms and artillery for the Italian Royal Army.

In 1864 the Factory had a small update and enlargment, that had a short life: with the institution of the new Terni Arsenal in 1880, the Torre Annunziata Arsenal was slowly dismissed, ending small arms production in 1900-1902, while switching to Artillery ammo. Around 1911 it became a section of the Naples Arsenal (Arsenale di costruzione di Napoli).

In 1916 a part of it was officially renamed "Spolettificio di Torre Annunziata" (Fuze factory of Torre Annunziata) and focused on the production of Artillery Fuzes, charges, loads, and assembling artillery payload parts.

in 1984 it changed name into Stabilimento Militare Spolette Torre Annunziata and still to this day keep its function of mantaining artillery pieces and ammo.

The original factory is still existing and it can be visited on certain days. it is located in Largo Fabbrica d'armi, Via Eolo.

ARSENALI REGIO ESERCITO

Government Arsenals/factories employed to produce accessories, gear, Artillery pieces, helmets, crates, electronic devices and whatever material the Army could produce on its own

ARSENALE REGIO ESERCITO NAPOLI (AREN)

ARSENALE REGIO ESERCITO PIACENZA (AREP)

ARSENALE REGIO ESERCITO TORINO (ARET)

DIREZIONI DI ARTIGLIERIA

Direzione di Artiglieria Alessandria
--WIP--

Direzione di Artiglieria Bologna
--WIP--

Direzione di Artiglieria Gardone Val Trompia
See: Gardone Val Trompia

Direzione di Artiglieria Genova
Officina di Costruzione d'Artiglieria Genova. --WIP--

Officina di Costruzione d'artiglieria di Genova
--WIP--

Direzione di artiglieria Mantova
Founded with REGIO DECRETO 10 ottobre 1866, n. 3271 --WIP--

Direzione di artiglieria Messina
--WIP--

Direzione di Artiglieria Piacenza
Founded in 1863 in the old Farnese Family Castle, Was One of the main Refurbishment plants for artilleries. In 1911 the arsenal was divided into 3 different laboratories, one for refurbishment of artillery Carriages, one for the production of primers and artillery charges, one for the loading of the artillery payloads. In 1926 it became "Arsenale Regio Esercito Piacenza" and after WW2 kept working (up until today) as "Polo Mantenimento Pesante"

Direzione di Artiglieria Roma
See: Roma

Direzione di Artiglieria Torino
Officina Costruzioni Torino --WIP--

Officina Costruzioni Torino
--WIP--

Arsenale Costruzioni Torino
--WIP--

Direzione di Artiglieria Trieste
In 1809, during the french occupation of Trieste as part of the napoleonic wars, the old Lazaret of the city was transformed into barracks and arms depot. After the return of the Austrian rule over the city, the Old lazaret was kept as an Arms depot for small repairs, and in 1868 it was turned into a proper Arsenal for Naval and land artillery refurbishment. When Trieste passed under Italian rule in 1919, the arsenal kept its function in a much reduced scale, up until the 1930s-40s.

After ww2 was used by the AMGOT of the city as vehicles depot. Now its main building host the "Sea and Navigation" museum.

Direzione di artiglieria Verona
Founded in 1861 by the Austrian Army, it was developed for the maintenance of light weapons and artificial parts, creating artificial carriages and accessories for light weapons. In 1866, it came under Italian rule after the Third Italian War of Independence (REGIO DECRETO 10 October 1866, n. 3271).
It continued to restore large and small weapons until the Second World War, when it was seriously damaged by Allied bombing.

It maintained the offices of the Italian Army until the 1990s. Today, it is a public park in the city of Verona.

Navy Arsenals
Direzione di Artiglieria Venezia
Regio Arsenale di Venezia REGIO DECRETO 10 ottobre 1866, n. 3271 In 1884 the "Direzione di Artiglieria e di Torpedini (Artillery and torpedos) was merged with the small arms office, was turned into "Direzione di Artiglieria del terzo dipartimento marittimo and closed down in 1917.

Direzione di Artiglieria di Taranto
Regio Arsenale di Taranto --WIP--

Direzione di Artiglieria di Spezia
Regio Arsenale di Spezia

Direzione di Artiglieria di Messina
Regio Arsenale di Messina --WIP--

Direzione di Artiglieria Napoli
Arsenale di costruzioni di Napoli --WIP--

Direzione di Artiglieria della Maddalena
--WIP--

UFFICI TECNICI CONTROLLO ARMI E MUNIZIONI - TECHNICAL OFFICES FOR GUNS AND AMMUNITIONS
Under the Servizio Tecnico Armi e Munizioni (Technical Service for Guns and Ammunitions, Instituted through con r. Decreto 1723, 11 Ottobre 1934)
Instituted in 1938-39

I Ufficio Tecnico Controllo Armi e Munizioni – Torino/San Mauro Torinese
II Ufficio Tecnico Controllo Armi e Munizioni – Firenze/Pistoia (SMI) –
Ufficio Permanente Controllo Tecnico Armi e Munizioni Campo Tizzoro
III Ufficio Tecnico Controllo Armi e Munizioni - Milano
IV Ufficio Tecnico Controllo Armi e Munizioni – Brescia
V Ufficio Tecnico Controllo Armi e Munizioni
VI Ufficio Tecnico Controllo Armi e Munizioni

4° ufficio Permanente di sorveglianza tecnica

NATIONAL AMMO FACTORIES

Laboratorio Pirotecnico del Regio Esercito di Capua
--WIP--

Laboratorio Pirotecnico Regio Esercito Bologna
1880- --WIP--

Polverificio di Fossano
--WIP--

Polverificio del Regio Esercito di Fontana Liri
--WIP--

PRIVATE FACTORIES

BERETTA

Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta - Gardone Val Trompia

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH "GARDONE V.T."

Founded in the 16th century, the Fabbrica d'Armi Beretta is today the most important gun factory in the Val Trompia valley, and probably in the whole Italian Country.

While at the beginning of the 20th century was still focused on commercial firearms for hunting, During WW1 it had its major Army Contracts.
In order to help the war effort, they produced pistols (Beretta M1915 in 9 glisenti, produced in about 15,600 units and M1917 in .32) and Submachineguns (MAB M1918), while producing other gun parts like Machinegun barrels and minor Carcano parts.

Beretta remained one of the main producer of pistols and SMGs for the Army for the 20s and 30s (with the m23, m34 and m35 pistols and the M1918/30 "SMG"); in the early 30s, kickstarted by a Royal Navy contract, it started also producing Carcano rifles and carbines.
During the Second world war Beretta was deeply involved in the war effort, producing rifles, carbines, pistols, the infamous MAB mod. 38 SMGs (38A, 38/42, 38/44) and many other small parts. Even during the German occupation the production was kept ongoing, and the factory was bombed several times, despite suffering only minor damages.

After WW2 the Beretta Factory kept producing guns for the Italian government and many foreign countries with the BM59 project, in order to cheaply convert M1 garands into Full automatic Battle rifles.
The big hit for Beretta arrived when they managed to win the 1982 U.S. Army Trials with its M92 pistol, adopted as the M9.

Beretta is still today one of the main firearm suppliers for the Italian government, having produced BM59s, AR70/90 and AR160 standard issue rifles for the Italian Army, along with the different iterations of the M92 pistol for most of its armed forces and police units.
The brand is still recognized worldwide for its Pistol production for self defense and competitions, along with luxury shotguns, while it's expanding in the hunting rifle sector with its subsidiaries like SAKO.

MIDA

Manifattura Italiana D'Armi - Brescia

Formerly known as S.A. Toschi-Castelli, the Manifattura Italiana Di Armi (MIDA) was an arms factory located in Brescia that officially commenced its activities in october 1915. During World War I, they manufactured Bodeo revolvers, mod.91 rifles and other gun part for the war effort.

A significant factor contributing to MIDA's success was the presence of Alfredo Scotti on its board of directors.
Scotti, a gun engineer, will be the main designer behind the Scotti series of semiautomatic rifles, machineguns and SMGs; in 1915, leveraging his connections, he managed to secure several Army contracts, including one for 100,000 rifles in November 1915 (which kickstarted the Toschi&Castelli/MIDA expansion) and another for 50,000 rifles in September 1918 [1] (though this contract remained unfulfilled due to the end of the war on November 4th, 1918).

To expand their production capabilities, MIDA built a second factory in Brescia (in Via Apollonio) and absorbed the Fabbrica d'Armi Lario in Como, along with the Officine Meccaniche-SAILA plants in Rome, around 1917. This expansion resulted in their workforce growing from 150 employees in 1915 to 1600 in 1917, enabling them to produce approximately 350 rifles per day by 1918.

Additionally, MIDA produced around 172,000 Bodeo revolvers and 46,000 flare pistols [2] , along with developing a proprietary "light" machinegun, known as Mitragliatrice MIDA" 1917 and producing a SIAI developed SMG prototype, known as Moschetto Automatico MIDA-Savoia.

After the first World War, MIDA faced indictment for speculation on military contracts, resulting in an extra profit of approximately 4 million lire. [3]
They ceased all productions in 1919 and declared bankruptcy on August 8th, 1924.

Today, MIDA's buildings are abandoned, repurposed by other businesses, or transformed into schools.

N&VC

Napoleone & Vittorio Castelli - Brescia

The founder of Toschi-Castelli, Giuseppe Toschi, died in 1916, so in 1919, at the end of the war production with MIDA, his partner Giuseppe Antonio Castelli founded the G. Castelli gun company, which operated until his death in 1921. His sons, Napoleone and Vittorio Castelli, will continue to run the family arms business.

Shortly before the Great War, Napoleone had patented the mechanism for the model 91 rifle for "Allievi Tiratori" (student shooters), selected by the Ministry of War in 1914 to homogeneously equip the various sections of the Tiro a Segno Nazionale (National Shooting Range).
It was basically a scaled-down 1891 rifle that fired .22 or 6 flobert cartridges, useful for introducing young Italians to target shooting.
N&VC maintained a monopoly on the production of this weapon until 1926, when production of it passed to Anelotti & Gualla.

Between 1922 and 1923, NeVC concentrated on the production of Mod. 1889 Bodeo "Alleggerito" (lightened ) revolvers for the armed forces of the Italian Kingdom, then continuing production between 1924 and 1927 for the civilian market.

Towards the end of the 1920s (the dates 1928-1930 are found on these weapons) N&VC took over a small batch of Moschetti mod.91 per T.S. decommissioned by the army, refurbishing them (replacing the stock and repairing the metal parts) in order to then resell them on the civil market, with a new serial.

Between 1930 and 1932 they participated, together with Bernardelli, in the transformation of the Revolvers of the Guardia di Finanza, still having internal mechanisms of the Chamelot-Delvigne, to the standard of the Bodeo mod.1889 type B.

Apparently Alfredo Scotti remained in contact with the Castelli family,since N&VC was among the collaborators for the development and production of the Scotti model X semi-automatic rifle in 1932-33.[7]

NeVC was still operational in the rest of the 1930s, especially for the production of Balilla guns and revolvers for the civilian market, based on Smith & Wesson models.
It is still sponsored in March 1943 insertions, in Via Cremona 53 ( there at least since 1936), Brescia, same address of the Pezzotti&Prandelli Bycicle factory.
Via Cremona was heavily hit during the February 11th 1944 bombings on Brescia, so most probably the former factory was absorbed by the new buildings built postwar.

Its manufacturing location, if it has survived nine decades of urban change, has yet to be traced. [4]

MBT

Metallurgica Bresciana già Tempini

MBT commenced its operations as Metallurgica Tempini in 1886 when Giovanni Tempini established the business on the outskirts of the city of Brescia. The company immediately engaged in the production of various metal goods, including materials for the Army and Navy.

Initially, Metallurgica Tempini created brass cases and artillery shells, a production line that persisted until the last stages of World War II.
In the early 1900s, the company changed its name to S.A. (Società Anonima) Metallurgica Bresciana già Tempini, a name it retained until its final closure.

For gun collectors, MBT is primarily recognized because, in 1907, it acquired the Glisenti Gun production plants, along with its R&D department. This acquisition included the Glisenti mod. 1910 patent and prototypes developed by Bethel Revelli, which MBT further enhanced for 9x19 Glisenti, presenting it for Army trials.
Actual production of the pistol commenced in 1909, continuing for a couple of decades in very limited volumes, featuring several versions of the gun.

As Italy entered World War I, MBT's production expanded significantly. They played a vital role by license-producing approximately 37,300 Fiat-Revelli Mod. 1914 Machineguns [2], almost four times the number produced by FIAT itself during the same period.
This collaboration allowed FIAT to focus on producing more vehicles and airplanes for the war effort.

Post-World War I, like many other industries, MBT experienced stagnation, leading to the permanent closure of several production lines. However, their overall metal-related activities persisted.

In September 1929, the Italian Royal Navy asked several Brescia gun manufacturers to convert the old Mod.91 long rifles still in Navy's warehouses into TS configuration. Lorenzotti secured a contract to convert 10,500 Fucili mod.91 to T.S. configuration [5] , Beretta obtained a contract for about 20,000 rifles, while MBT Most probably obtained a similar contract to produce/convert 6,000 guns. All these productions show very similar features (recycling 1897-1919 receivers) and the same Navy acceptance markings.

In 1935, the majority of MBT was acquired by S.M.I., maintaining its focus on metal wares and war materials. The same year, MBT secured two significant army contracts: one for producing the new platoon assault mortar, the 45mm Brixia Mod.1935, and the other to convert thousands of FIAT-Revelli mod.1914 Machineguns to the new Mod. 1914/35 standard in 8x59 Breda.

MBT continued its war productions until late 1944. After the war, it significantly reduced its involvement in war-related business, redirecting its focus towards metal wares and laminated metals. In 1958, MBT was fully absorbed by S.M.I., and its former buildings today stand abandoned or repurposed for other businesses. [6]

LORENZOTTI

Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Lorenzotti - Brescia

Historical arms firm located in Brescia, formerly known as Colturi & Lorenzotti (Founded in 1907).
Around 1921, Lorenzotti acquired a bankrupted gun factory building, aiming to expand the production of hunting and sporting rifles/shotguns. It was formally registred as Pietro Lorenzotti in 1922 and managed to reach yearly production of about 6000 units by 1926. [5]

However, with the onset of the 1927-29 economic crisis and some unfavorable financial decisions, Pietro Lorenzotti sold the company in July 1929 to the enterpreneur Giacinto Mazzola.
Following the sale, the majority of the company was converted to "weapons of war" production and rebranded in November 1929 as Fabbrica Nazionale d'Armi, with a focus on fulfilling Army and Navy contracts.
Despite this shift, both brands continued to coexist, primarily for commercial reasons. Lorenzotti maintained a presence in the hunting/sporting sector, although it was significantly reduced.

The 10,5k TS moschettos marked as Lorenzotti - Brescia were part of a Navy contract won by the newly managed Lorenzotti in September 1929 for the conversion of old Navy mod.91 rifles. They basically took the Fucile receivers, bolts and stocks, built new TS sights and barrels for them and mounted them all together, cutting the stocks to TS configuration.

In this same timeframe, (July-November 1929) Lorenzotti also started offering (probably on request) to Renato Ricci, Leader of the Opera Nazionale Balilla, some air guns to train the fascist youth to target shooting. This collaboration will culminate in the adoption of the Moschetto Regolamentare Balilla (mod.91), produced exclusively by F.N.A. from 1931 to about 1936, when Grazian and N&VC models started circulating.

The Pietro Lorenzotti brand persisted into the late 1940s, remaining active and selling guns through its historical gun store located in Via Magenta 18. [5a]

F.N.A.

Fabbrica Nazionale d'Armi - Brescia

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH "BRESCIA"

FNA was formally established in November 1929, arising from the financially distressed Lorenzotti firm.
Recognizing the unfavorable market conditions for hunting firearms in the aftermath of the 1929 financial crisis, the new board of directors shifted the focus of the rebranded FNA towards military contracts, while retaining the Lorenzotti name for commercial guns.

In September 1929 F.N.A. (still known as Lorenzotti) began military productions, obtaining a Royal Navy contract to convert 10,500 Fucili mod.91 to Moschetti per T.S configuration [8]: these are the 10,500 Moschetti per T.S. marked "Lorenzotti Brescia", which in fact very often feature receivers from other manufacturers, especially Terni 1897-1919 productions.
Then, in May 1930, FNA obtained a contract to produce 22,000 mod.91 Moschetti per T.S. from scratch [8] (with stocks supplied by Terni); with the advance money of this contract the firm was able to purchase and set up the new production lines for these "weapons of war".
Paradoxically, the first barrels to emerge from these production lines were often mounted on weapons intended for the civilian market. This civilian production will continue (probably with barrels rejected by the very narrow tolerances of military testing) until 1936.
The first weapons of military production (about 3000) began to be tested and delivered at the end of 1932, delivering another 19,000 in 1933.
In December 1933, citing a new order from the Royal Navy, it seems that another 8000 muskets were in an advanced state of production, with 3100 already in the process testing complete with newly produced stocks. [8]

Then FNA struggled for some years to get big contracts. They got the exclusivity to produce Balilla small carbines, but the international economical crisis limited the Fascist government to fullfil the numbers originally promised. They were finally helped by IRI (Institute for Industrial Reconstruction) funds that helped them stay afloat until 1938 and WW2 arrived, with several new contracts fueled by the Italian Royal Army.

As World War II unfolded, new contracts from the Italian Royal Army led to exponential growth in production. FNA expanded its facilities by acquiring the old MIDA production plants in Via Apollonio [7], boosting production from the 100 guns produced daily in 1932 to about 300 Carcanos per day in 1942, alongside other firearms like the Breda 30 LMGs, starting sometimes around 1939.
During the war, FNA developed and produced various firearms, including the "Sossi" mod.40 pistol, the FNAB-43 SMG (allegedly from an Armaguerra design) and the Pavesi mod. 1938 and mod. 1942 8x59 semiautomatic rifles, which remained at the prototype stages.

In September 1943, German forces occupied the factory plants, overseeing the continuation of production with a focus on Moschettos [8], Breda 40 LMGs (1733 produced Oct 1943 to Oct 1944, plus 443 produced within Nov 1944) SMGs (such as the Armaguerra-designed FNAB-43), and subcontracting for M1935 pistol parts.
FNA likely played a significant role in the conversion of Carcanos to 8x57JS in January-March 1945 [9].
The factory was subsequently occupied by partisans in April 1945.

After the war, production continued intermittently, and the factory in 1947 fell under the control of F.I.M. (Fondo di finanziamento dell'Industria Meccanica), helping OM (Officine Meccaniche - Brescia, formerly Silvestri&Gordoni) productions and fulfilling foreign orders such as converting Carcanos to 8x57 for the Egyptian government. In 1956, the conglomerate Breda-Beretta-Hispano Suiza acquired FNA, leading to its permanent closure in 1957. [2]

Today, its main buildings house lawyer offices, and the primary production plant has been transformed into a parking lot. The plants in Via Apollonio are today a technical high school.

ARMAGUERRA

Anonima Revelli Manifattura Armi Guerra - Genova
S.A. Armaguerra - Cremona

In 1934, self-proclaimed gun engineer Gino Revelli, son of the renowned Abiel Bethel Revelli, approached Genoan entrepreneur Ettore Francesco Nasturzio with a prototype for a semi-automatic rifle intended for the Ministry of War. Nasturzio agreed to finance the prototype development, investing around 100,000 lire in the project. [10]
The first working model was crafted in a company workshop located in Poggio Rusco, near Mantua.

This prototype marked the inception of the Armaguerra Mod.39 Semiautomatic rifle, leading to the foundation of the Società Anonima Revelli Manifattura Armiguerra in Genoa on October 21st, 1936.
The company's share capital of 100,000 lire was divided into 100 shares of 1,000 lire each. The ownership breakdown was: 48% for Mr. Nasturzio, 3% for Mr. Adriano Montano, and 49% for Mr. Revelli. Mr. Revelli contributed his share of the capital by providing machinery and tools to set up the company's workshop in Villa Poma, village next to Poggio Rusco.

The Revelli rifle allegedly surpassed its competitors in the first tender initiated by the Ministry of War in 1938. However, the competition was canceled due to a "lack of innovative characteristics" in the submitted models.

In a subsequent tender in 1939, the Armaguerra model, while still not meeting all requirements, emerged victorious. On December 21st 1938 Gino Revelli filed his patent, noteing Nasturzio as co-holder.

Securing an order for 50,000 guns (later increased to 103,000)[10] prompted the Armaguerra board to establish its own factory instead of just selling the license of production of the mod. 39 to another firm. They also got encouraged in this investment by the Italian government's promise of 25 years of work to substitute all Fucili mod.91 and by the promise approximately 15 million lire for machinery, along with an additional contract for 300,000 Mod.38 rifles.

With the army contract in their hands, the newly formed S.A. Armaguerra started the construction of a new production plant in Cremona. This location was chosen allegedly because of some pressures from a local fascist leader (or as a favour to him), Farinacci. Construction of the Cremona plant took about two years, with production starting in 1940 using machinery from Germany and Czechoslovakia, the latter one's order partially interrupted by the Germans invading Czechoslovakia in March 1939. [10] On September 30th 1941 the company changed name, becoming S.A. Armaguerra, with Tito Nasturzio as its CEO.

Just a handful of pre production 7.35 mod. 39 semiautomatic rifles were allegedly produced before the whole mod.38/39 7.35 project was abandoned with the outbreak of war. The War ministry required to switch the mod.39 rifles production to 6.5x52, but this conversion took some time for research and development. By the time the plant was ready for mass production, the War ministry halted semiautomatic rifles production entirely, due to wartime cost concerns, while some sources claim a "mechanical unreliability".

This decision proved economically challenging for Armaguerra, which had invested significantly in the new Cremona plant. The Italian government effectively voided overnight a 12 million lire contract overnight, resulting in heavy financial penalties.

The Italian army also would find itself issuing tons of brand new Fucile corto mod.91/38 but none of the "specialised" rifles for the best shooters of the squad. This wasn't really a top priority, and was covered temporarily with the old mod.91 rifles, but definetly wasn't the final solution.

To address the need for specialized rifles for elite squad members, a compromise solution emerged—the Fucile mod. 91/40.
The Fucile mod. 91/40 was the merging of the Armaguerra mod. 39 with a Fucile mod.91. It kept the Armaguerra total length, its rear sights gradutated from 200 to 500meters, while using the Carcano Action, barrel profile and mod.1891 stock, shortened to the new barrel length.
This rifle, despite being formally adopted, remained at the prototype stage, with just a handful produced.
The final solution arrived with the adoption of the standard production 91/41 model, which swapped the 91/40 sight with a proprietary adjustable sights similar to the ones on the Moschettos, and with side sling swivels added to ease the use of the rifle for all corps.

With this new army contract of 300,000 mod. 91/41 rifles (replacing the previous contract for mod.38 guns) and a check for 70,740,200 liras to cover the initial expenses, Armaguerra opened at full swing its brand new production plants of Cremona, delivering about 50,000 rifles within September 1943, with 6000 rifles in the final testing process. [10]
Most probably, looking through the barrel markings we have, production started around July- october 1942 and they managed to produce most of the barrels they needed within September 1943, leaving only other parts to be completed.
By the end of production in 1945 looks like Armaguerra managed to assemble about 270,000 guns, from the QA prefix to the RA.

After September 8th 1943, with the Germans occupying the whole of northern Italy, the Armaguerra production plant was under direct german occupation, forcing the plant to produce guns (mostly to complete the mod. 91/41 they had ongoing) and subcontract parts for other factories, in order to help in the german war effort.
German sources claim that they managed to produce 41.850 91/41rifles between october 1943 and October 1944.[8]
Board of directors and the workers tried their best to obstruct the productions as possible, creating several problems to impede progress. But they needed to do little, since the ongoing of the war severally crippled civilian and military transports, hindering the factory output on every step of production, from the lack of workers to the lack of raw materials, to the lack of trucks to move the final products.

Nonetheless the Germans in 1944 insisted in forcing the productions of several guns:
- Convert mod.91/41 guns to 8x57JS
- produce 150.000 mod.1935 pistols
- Produce many other small arms projects rejected by the Italian government (OG 43 and OG 44, designed by Oliani Giuseppe), ordering about 10,000 SMGs [10]

Of these, only a few rifles got converted to 8x57 "with no real practical use" and only couple hundred pistols were assembled, with pieces previuously obtained from Beretta and other subcontractors. The Armaguerra workers got injured, menaced and driven into german HQ several times in order to obtain some improvement in the collaboration, which apparently didn't arrive.

At some point between November 1944 and February 1945, tired of the workers obstructionism and fearing an allied advance, the german forces requisitioned and transferred most Armaguerra machineries North, to the Garda antiaerial galleries near Campione del Garda first [10] and to the "Gondar" barracks in Vipiteno/Sterzing later, in order to continue 8mm Carcano conversions in safer and more controllable installations. The Vipiteno facility was ready to start production by March 1945 [11]
Allegedly the author of this moving was a certain "Doct. Smend", who wanted to organize a desperate defense on the Tyrol region. The Armaguerra directors point out that this person was still free and not prosecuted, passing as a civilian techinician as of May 1945. [10]

After WW2 the old Genoan enterpreneur along with its CEO reopened the factory plants under the new "Officine Meccaniche Cremonesi" name, to produce small motors to convert bikes into "motorcycles", but this venture failed within 1948.
Then the Plants were converted to produce mechanical tools for the civilian market, with the "A.S.P.I. Tamini" firm first, and with the Boldrini and Wonder later.

Today its spaces had been converted as a shopping mall and the old production plants are covers for car parkings.

OTHER ITALIAN GUN FACTORIES

BREDA

S.A. Ernesto Breda

The Breda Industry began its activities in 1886 when Paduan Engineer and Enterpreneur Ernesto Breda bought an old Mechanical and locomotive factory in Milan, founding the " Ing. Ernesto Breda e C. First big contract was for the Romenian Railways in 1891, kickstarting an exponential growth of the factory. In 1899 it became Società Italiana Ernesto Breda per Costruzioni Meccaniche, and while Locomotives remained the main focus, the new Sesto San Giovanni plants produced many other machineries and tools, included some agricultural tractors and machines.
During WW1 Breda had to convert most of the production lines to the War effort, producing Bombs, Cannons, Artillery tractors, Airplanes, and many others. The profits were extremely high, but so was the need to expand the plants, so Breda invested a lot of money, even building a steel mill and a complete research laboratory complex.
This of course caused several issues in converting back to exclusive civilian productions in the crippled italian economy of the late 10s/early 20s, and Breda kept and expanded its military related production lines.
in 1926 they moved most of their arm production in a new plant in the Industrial Town of Brescia, where it slowly developed as a small citadel, especially with the 1934-1943 army contracts for Breda mod.1937 8x59 HMG and 20mm AA Autocannons.

FRATELLI GRAZIAN - VERONA

ANELOTTI E GUALLA - BRESCIA

Anelotti G. e Cav. P. Gualla

An award-winning arms manufacturer, it began producing the Allievi Tiratori rifle from 1926 onward.
It was based in via Luzzago 10 Brescia, behind the old Toschi- Castelli/MIDA factory located in Via Milano.

PRIVATE AMMO FACTORIES

SMI

Società Metallurgica Italiana

The Società Mettallurgica Italiana (Italian Metallurgical Society) was founded in Florence in 1886, with the contribution of French and Italian capitals, to produce metal wares.

Its main copper processing plant was opened in Livorno in 1887; in 1899 the rolling mill in Mammiano and the pin and nail factory in Limestre, in the province of Pistoia, were purchased. The company has been listed on the stock exchange since 1897; in 1902 the Orlando family, one of the oldest Italian industrial dynasties in the shipbuilding, steel, telecommunications and energy sectors, took control of SMI and the three production plants.

In 1910, a large state contract was entrusted to SMI, thus the Campo Tizzoro plant was established, opened in 1911, for the production of ammunition for pistols, rifles, muskets and light artillery shells for the Italian army and navy;

In 1915, with WW1 ongoing, the Fornaci di Barga plant in the province of Lucca was built, opened in 1916.

In 1920, GIM (Generale Industrie Metallurgiche) was founded, a holding company of the Orlando family, listed on the stock exchange in 1930.

In 1935, the majority of the Metallurgica Bresciana già Tempini was aquired and the production plants kept to produce military hardware and metal wares. MBT will kept his denomination until 1958 when SMI completely bought it off.

During the Second World War all SMI plants were bombed, but only the Livorno factory was destroyed.

SMI kept its ammo production along the decades, producing 6.5x52 ammo until the 1970s.
In the 1990s-2000s SMI turned most of its production to laminated metals and minuteries, and in 2006 become known as KME group S.p.a.

B.P.D. - Colleferro

Bombrini Parodi Delfino

Company founded in 1912 by Giovanni Bombrini and Leopoldo Parodi Delfino, with headquarters in Colleferro (RM). It was created as a consequence of the Italian-Turkish War of 1911-1912 to participate in military supplies. The main manufacturing plant was completed in 1913.

With Italy's entry into the First World War, production was almost completely converted to meet the needs of the war effort. The factory contributed to the production of powder, ammunition, and hand grenades.

After the First World War, the factory was partly converted for civilian production, such as fertilizers, insecticides, lime, and cement.

In the 1930s, new metallurgical and mechanical plants were built for the direct production of cartridges, precision instruments, and artillery shells.

Production growth continued exponentially thanks to the wars in Ethiopia, Spain, and the Second World War, leading to the expansion of factories and attracting new citizens to neighboring population centers.

After the Second World War, the factory continued to produce powders and cartridges for military arsenals, along with propellants for rockets and missiles.

In 1968, it was purchased by SNIA (later Montedison), maintaining the BPD nomenclature until 1990, when it was definitively acquired by FiatAvio S.p.A.

S.I.G.M.A - Bologna

Società Italiana Generale Munizioni ed Armi - Bologna

Born in the village of Casaralta (near Bologna) as a subcontractor for the Officine Meccaniche Reggiane, it operated between 1913 and 1919, producing metal parts for ammunitions.
On December 12th 1916 received a contract to produce 175 million "ammo parts" for the Bologna National ammunition factory (Pirotecnico Bologna).

Its S-B marking can be found on Bologna marked mod.91 clips

L.B.C.

S.A. Società Italiana Munizioni Leon Beaux & Co - Milano

Historic arms and ammunition company located in Milan in via Dante 14.

Found on mod.91 clips

L.P.

La Precisa - Brescia - Teano Scalo

Metal factory located in Brescia, which apparently moved to Teano Scalo after the Second World War.

Found on mod.91 clips

INUF

Fratelli Inuggi - Omegna

Historical metal industry company located in Omegna, still active today.

Found on mod.91 clips

R.R. - M.

S.A. Robinetterie Riunite - Milano

Metal industry company located in Milano in via Solari 69. Operative 1905-1970.

Found on mod.91 clips

L.L.

S.A. Le Lamiere - Milano

Metal Industry company located in Milano in via Cesare Balbo 16.

Found on mod.91 clips

M.U.G.

S.A. Metallurgica Ugo Gaggiottini

Historical metal factory located in Rome, previously known as Ditta Gaggiottini Ugo & De Carolis Adolfo.
It was subcontracted during the 1st world war to produce 140.000 artillery primers mod.85/99 for the Capua Pyrotechnic factory.
In the 1920s and 30s collaborated in the construction of several public buildings in Rome; in 1935 won a bronze medal at the Bruxelles EXPO.

Found on mod.91 and Breda mod.30 LMG clips

PRIVATE SUBCONTRACTORS

BAYONETS

Metallurgica F.lli Polotti fu Giacomo

Polotti Santo e figli - Lumezzane

Historical company producing bayonets and Blades for the Italian Army, located in Lumezzane Piatucco, near Brescia.
Not to be confused with Lumezzane Pieve located Polotti Angelo e F.llo fu Pietro, AKA "Polotti Scherma" or with Polotti Fratello

Its "PS" marking can be found on many Moschetto bayonets.

Serafino e Andrea eredi Gnutti

Historic company founded in Lumezzane San Sebastiano (near Brescia) in 1860 by Giacomo Gnutti, then passed to his sons Serafino and Andrea.
Supplier of blades and bayonets for the Royal Army, as well as small metal parts and various metallurgical components.
Still operating as Eredi Gnutti Metalli.

Its markings can be found on mod.91 bayonets from the First World War and on TS mod.91/38 buttplates produced during the Second World War.

Coltellerie Riunite di Caslino e Maniago

Founded in 1907 as Marx & C. by the German entrepreneur Albert Marx, it had Factories in Maniago (Udine) and Caslino (Erba).
Producer of bayonets for the Royal Army during the First World War. The Maniago headquarters were occupied by Austrian troops in November 1917, forcing the workers to move to the Casilino plant and to a new plant in the Brescia region.

ROCCA

Fabbrica d'armi Rocca Giacomo Primo & Figli
Ditta Rocca G. Primo

Metallurgical company of Lumezzane supplying the Royal Army, the Royal Navy (Tettoni flare guns) and the Royal Air Force (guns and accessories, armament parts, bomb racks, turrets, bomb release controls).
Founded in 1885.

Its markings are impressed on 1940-42 Bayonets and on the sear of numerous bolts.

FRANCHI

Luigi Franchi - Fabbrica d'Armi da caccia e da difesa - Brescia
Società Anonima Luigi Franchi - Brescia

INFOS MOSTLY GATHERED BY THE RESEARCH OF VAGANTE, POSTED ON POLVEREDOSICARTUCCE.COM

Historic Brescia arms company, still active (does the Franchi SPAS 12 ring any bells?).
Heir of a long line of entreperneurs involved in the siderurgical sector, in 1901 Luigi Franchi start a gun factory activity with Ferdinando Colturi, that will later detach himself from this endeavour, joining Lorenzotti in the founding of Colturi & Lorenzotti in 1907.
The original store and workshop is in Viale Giuoco del Pallone n.17 (now Via Calatafimi, Brescia).
in 1911 he manages to buy out a section of the Fabbrica Bresciana di Armi, big gun firm at the turn of the century, expanding its production lines and commercial capacities.
on December 31st 1927 the firm become a proper Company, a Società Anonima, with shareholders and a council of investors, but the direction remain firmly in the family reins.
During the Second World War it produced bayonets (Second and third type M38) and receivers for Carcanos, along with SMG (TZ 45 and others) bolts, employing 200 workers.
After WW2 the firm goes back to producing civilian shotguns, while probably collaborating with FNA to convert Carcanos to 8x57 for the Egyptian government in 1952-53.
After a slow but steady growth, in the 1970s the firm start a slow decline, that ends in 2007 when it become a branch of Benelli.

You can find its marking on Bayonets and Carcano receivers

METAL PARTS

F.A.L.C.

Fabbrica Armi Lario - Como

Located in Camerlata, today within the city of Como, allegedly in Via Scalabrini.
Certainly existing in 1905, supplier of the R.E. during the First World War, acquired by MIDA in 1917.
After the dissolution of MIDA, it resumed its arms production activities independently, producing hunting shotguns.
Closed in 1929, acquired by Beretta who moved the machinery to Gardone VT

Marking found on several bolt bodies.

FIVM

Fabbrica Italiana Viti e Minuterie metalliche

Located in Milan.
November 30th 1938, marked in the Gazzetta Ufficiale, allowed to complete the purchase and installation of machineries to explete its functions.
January 1941 - October 1941, reported as a "military production company, thus its employees and workers were considered essentials to war efforts.
March 22nd 1947, requesting a mortgage from Intesa San Paolo bank
November 1953- march 1954 - Intesa San Paolo inquiry on the ongoing business

Marking found on several bolt parts.

INDUSTRIA ARMI GALESI

COLLEBEATO BRESCIA

Gun factory founded in 1910 in Collebeato, Brescia, manufacturer of small caliber automatic pistols.

Its marking (GALESI) can be found on the hammer of some bolts.

AUSONIA

Fabbrica Italiana Viti e Minuterie metalliche

Founded in 1919 in Maniago, near Udine, was a steel mill specialized in metalware suche as knives and laminate products.
Still operational today.

Marking found on the buttplate of 1943 TS carbines.

LAGOSTINA

S.A. Ing. Emilio Lagostina

Company of cutlery, pots, pans and steel products founded in 1901 in Omegna (Novara).
Developed rapidly, it would be one of the first manufacturers of stainless steel cookware in the 1930s.
After contributing to the war effort during World War II, he returned to the cookware market, focusing only on stainless steel products and pressure cookers.
Thanks to the advertising genius of Osvaldo Cavandoli and his character "La Linea", in the 70s Lagostina became a company immediately recognized by all Italians.
Company still operational today.

Marking found on the buttplate of some mod.41 rifles.

Ditta Gaetano Fugini

Historical company of cutting tools (knives, surgeon's tools, gardening tools, etc.) based in Brescia in Corso Magenta 3.
Founded before 1835 by Luigi Fugini, in 1876 it passed to Gaetano Fugini, who expanded its equipment and production capacity. In 1890 the company passed to Giuseppe Fugini, who continued the company's expansion, also expanding its commercial capabilities, distributing catalogs and making agreements with various institutions.

During the First World War, fearing a possible Austrian advance in the region, Giuseppe moved the production plants to Arcellasco, a hamlet of Erba, in the province of Como; here Fugini expanded the company's capabilities by also dedicating itself to steel molding.
Company still operational today.

Marking found on the buttplate of some Moschettos (GF was a recognized subcontractor of Beretta)

Caproni-Aeronautica-Bergamasca-Cab-Distintivo-Numerato-Per-Dipendenti.jpg

C.A.B.

Cantieri Aeronautici Bergamaschi - Airone
Caproni Aeronautica Bergamasca

TBP

BAKELITE

LAMPA - MILANO

S.A. Lavorazioni Applicazioni Materie Plastiche e Affini - Milano

Company specialized in plastic materials, resins, tin processing and related products.
Operating from the second half of the 1930s to the 1940s, it was based in Milan in via Valtorta 9.
Over the years it also collaborated with the "Castelli-Gerosa" company, a historic manufacturer of medals and badges, today known as O.M.E.A.

Manufacturers of gun oilers mod.91-38

AGOSTINI - F.A.L.C. - S.A.

S.A. Fabbrica Agostini Augusto Lavorazioni Celluloide - Milano

Factory of articles related to plastic materials, there are several patents of them for sacred representations.
Located in Milan in via Ampère 116 from 1933 to 1943.

Manufacturer of gun oilers mod.91-38-41

RADI - Riva s/G

Company specializing in telephones, resins and electrical systems, founded in 1927 by Serafino Radi, with headquarters in Rovereto and Riva del Garda.
The Riva del Garda factory was closed in 1968, while the Rovereto plant was purchased by the American Rheem, becoming Rheem-Radi in 1969.

Manufacturer of gun oilers mod.91-38-41

LEATHER

REJNA

S.A. Achille Rejna

Historical company founded in 1885 in Milan, specializing in leather and harnesses for horses and carriages. Over the years it developed enormously, especially for the production of springs and ball bearings, becoming one of the national leaders in this field.
Company supplying the Royal Army since the early 1900s.

Supplier of leather holsters for Moschettos, 1935.