SNIPER RIFLES
FUCILE MOD. 91 CON OTTICA
Some experiments to integrate aiming optics on the Mod. 1891 rifles date back to the period immediately preceding the First World War, following the example of other nations that were carrying out similar experiments, especially with machine guns and other portable weapons.​
Italy realized the urgency of developing a scoped rifle only in the first months of the war, when, in May-July 1915, the Italian officers, particularly conspicuous for their uniforms of a different style from those of the infantrymen and accompanied from their distinctie transverse blue band, were decimated by Austro-Hungarian snipers.
Already by the end of the year the first courses for sharpshooters were approved, while a specific scope was selected for the rifle mod. 91.
Two optic systems were approved and put into mainstream production:
- The "Amigues" Optic, named after its French designer;
Mounted sliding the mount over two dovetail joints welded on the receiver, then fixed in position with two screws positioned each on one base of the scope. Fine crosshair sight.
- The "Scheibler" optics produced by the company La Filotecnica, led by Eng. Salmoiraghi;
This was mounted using two bases welded on the breech. The front base was essentially a sleeve with a dovetailed crowbar attachment on top, while the rear one was simply an attachment base with a screw.
To mount the optics, the rear attachment of the scope was hooked under the screw of the rear base, while the front part was slid transversally, so that it fit onto the crowbar attachment, and locked in position with a lever on the left side of the optics mount, then screwing tightly the screw of the rear mount.
The first rifles with optics began to be distributed to specifically trained soldiers in the early months of 1916. Overall, between 150 and 250 rifles with optics were produced and distributed during the First World War.
Rifles with other types of optics have been found, but at the moment there is not enough information to properly talk about them.
In the 1930s, once the rifles assembled during the Great War were put into storage, some experiments were carried out with various types of optics, both by public and private manufacturers, but that ended in nothing in terms of final adoption.
Fucile mod.38 optic
During the development of the mod.38 rifles in 7.35x51 it was decided to also adopt a rifle for sharpshooters, with a 650mm barrel and equipped with optics, to be issued to one soldier for each infantry Platoon. This project was later discarded, probably for the adoption of a semi-automatic rifle for three squad members.
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An optic was also designed and built at a prototype level specifically for the Fucile corto mod. 38, but this too was not followed up, mainly for economic reasons and for the sudden halt of production for 7.35x51 weapons.
Subsequently, during WW2, mod.41 rifles with optics and 8x59 Breda rifles with optics (obtained from rifles used for ammunition testing) will be proposed and designed, but none of these projects went beyond the prototype and pre-production phase.
Second World War
In 1939, 83 rifles with dovetail mount (Amigues) and 39 rifles with "peg mount" (Scheibler/Filotecnica) were still present in the warehouses, plus another "83 model 91 rifles already modified with peg mount".
122 rifles were distributed to the various Territorial Army Corps to be assigned in the fortifications and barracks of the Border Guard.
On March 6th 1941, in view of the next spring offensive in the theater of the Epirus mountains in Greece, the General Staff urgently requested the sending of 40 scoped rifles for sharpshooters in the Greek theater. Given the little warning of this request before the end of the conflict (Greece will be conquered by April 30th) we have no certainty that this order was actually carried out and if the rifles were delivered to fighting troops.
As of May 1942, there were approximately 119 Model 91 scoped rifles available for future military operations.
Most of these are, to date, missing or destroyed.