Variara submachine gun
Encyclopedia
The Variara submachine gun (in Italian
Mitra Variara) is an insurgency weapon
clandestinely designed and made by the Italian Resistance, which might have originated from a difficulty in getting automatic weapons by whatever means, including theft
or Allied airdrops
in the Piedmont
area sometime in 1944.
The real circumstances of its genesis are still unclear. Hearsay has it, that it was created by FIAT
workers with experience in gun making, and that the name Variara came from a partisan unit which, in turn, had been named after one of its casualties. At any rate, unlike earlier scratch-built guns (basically Sten Gun copies), the Variara was a completely original project mixing different characteristics borrowed from a wide array of contemporary firearms:
Details on length of service and production figures are uncertain and maybe impossible to make clear, since documents are scarce and only a handful of Variara submachine guns are preserved in Italian museums.
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
Mitra Variara) is an insurgency weapon
Insurgency weapon
An insurgency weapon is a weapon, most often a firearm, intended for use by insurgents to engage in guerrilla warfare against an occupier, or for use by rebels against an established government...
clandestinely designed and made by the Italian Resistance, which might have originated from a difficulty in getting automatic weapons by whatever means, including theft
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
or Allied airdrops
Airdrop
An airdrop is a type of airlift, developed during World War II to resupply otherwise inaccessible troops, who themselves may have been airborne forces. In some cases, it is used to refer to the airborne assault itself. Early airdrops were conducted by dropping or pushing padded bundles from...
in the Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
area sometime in 1944.
The real circumstances of its genesis are still unclear. Hearsay has it, that it was created by FIAT
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
workers with experience in gun making, and that the name Variara came from a partisan unit which, in turn, had been named after one of its casualties. At any rate, unlike earlier scratch-built guns (basically Sten Gun copies), the Variara was a completely original project mixing different characteristics borrowed from a wide array of contemporary firearms:
- the bolt, the receiverReceiver (firearms)In firearms terminology, the receiver is the part of a firearm that houses the operating parts. The receiver usually contains the bolt carrier group, trigger group, and magazine port. In most handguns, the receiver, or frame, holds the magazine well or rotary magazine as well as the trigger mechanism...
and the firing mechanism of the Sten Gun, - the folding stock and magazines of the FNAB-43FNAB-43The FNAB-43 is an Italian designed and developed submachinegun manufactured from 1943 to 1944. The first prototype was built in 1942 and the 7,000 built by the FNA-B were issued to German and Italian RSI units fighting in Northern Italy...
, - the safetySafety (firearms)In firearms, a safety or safety catch is a mechanism used to help prevent the accidental discharge of a firearm, helping to ensure safer handling....
of the MP40MP40The MP 38 and MP 40 , often called Schmeisser, were submachine guns developed in Nazi Germany and used extensively by paratroopers, tank crews, platoon and squad leaders, and other troops during World War II.-Development:The MP 40 descended from its predecessor, the MP 38, which was in turn based... - the dual-trigger firing mechanism (single shot and full auto) from the Beretta Model 38.
Details on length of service and production figures are uncertain and maybe impossible to make clear, since documents are scarce and only a handful of Variara submachine guns are preserved in Italian museums.
See also
- Italian resistance movementItalian resistance movementThe Italian resistance is the umbrella term for the various partisan forces formed by pro-Allied Italians during World War II...
- Błyskawica submachine gun, another clandestinely-made weapon