Breda Mod. 38 (8 mm)

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The Breda Mod. 38 on the 75/46 M43

Description

The 8 mm Breda Mod. 38, (or "Mitragliatrice Breda calibro 8 modello 38 per carri armati" in Italian) was a top magazine-fed machine gun used on tanks by the Regio Esercito (Italian Royal Army) during WWII, developed from the Breda Mod.37 machine gun. This weapon is present in-game on many light tanks, medium tanks, and a few tank destroyers in the Italian tech tree from Rank I-III.

In-game, its most often featured in both coaxial and anti-aircraft mounts, with the latter being fitted with forward-facing casing deflectors and left mounted "cartwheel" AA sights. The Breda Mod. 38 does not use a shoulder stock and utilizes vertical, top-feeding 24-round box magazines.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

Vehicles equipped with this weapon
Light tanks  AB 41 · AB 43 · L6/40 · L6/40 (31 Rgt.)
Medium tanks 
M11/39  M11/39
M13/40  M13/40 (I) · M13/40 (II) · M13/40 (III)
M14/41  M14/41 · M14/41 (47/40)
M15/42  M15/42
M16/43  Celere Sahariano
P40  P40 · P40 "G.C. Leoncello"
Tank destroyers  75/18 M41 · 75/46 M43 · Lancia 3Ro (100/17) · Breda 501

General info

The 8 mm Breda Mod. 38 fires at a fairly typical rate of around 550 RPM but is loaded from a relatively small 24-round box magazine, giving it only ~2.6 seconds of continuous firing time with ~8 seconds needed to reload.

Available ammunition

The standard belt for the 8 mm Breda Mod. 38 consists of API-T rounds. This means that the first round is an armour-piercing incendiary tracer bullet, the second round is an armour-piercing bullet, and the third round is an incendiary tracer bullet. The average armour penetration of these rounds is 10 mm of armour at 0 degrees from 10 m.

Comparison with analogues

  • 7.62 mm M1919A4 - American machine gun which runs on very long belts that allow it to fire for extended periods of time (even longer than the MG34) before reloading. The M1919A4 utilizes more armour-piercing rounds in its belts than the Breda.
  • 7.92 mm MG34 - German machine gun that can sustain a high rate of fire of around 900 rpm, vs the Breda Mod. 38 with its 550 rpm rate of fire. The MG34 runs on belts which allow it to fire for longer periods without reloading - something that the Breda struggles with. The high rate of fire also means that tracer rounds appear more often, which means that it can be easier to correct aim.
  • 7.62 mm DT - Soviet machine gun which uses pan magazines which have around 40 more rounds of ammunition than the Breda Mod. 38.
  • 7.92 mm BESA - British machine gun that uses long belts, similar to the M1919A4, which allow it to fire for long periods before reloading.
  • 7.7 mm Type 97 - Japanese machine gun that uses 20-round box magazines. Out of all nations' standard WWII coaxial machine guns, the Type 97 is probably the most similar to the Breda Mod. 38. Using just slightly less ammunition and with a similar rate of fire, this gun runs out of ammunition even more often than even the Breda, forcing the user to have to reload every few seconds. Players who know how to use the 7.7 mm Type 97 effectively will know how to use the Breda 38, and vice versa.
  • 7.5 mm MAC 31- French machine gun with a large drum magazine. This machine gun has a lot more ammunition but can have a similar fire rate to the Breda 38.
  • 8 mm Ksp m/36 - Swedish copy of the M1919A4 chambered in the 8x63 mm patron m/32 cartridge. This gun is very similar to the M1919A4 in performance.

Usage in battles

The 8 mm Breda Mod. 38 is the standard WWII Italian tank machine gun, being featured on almost every armoured vehicle in the Italian tech tree from Rank I-III, so players will often have to rely on them when faced with very lightly-armoured or open-topped enemy targets such as the GAZ-AAA (4M) or the rear end of a SU-76M.

Anti-ground vehicle

The Breda often runs out of ammo quickly in sustained fire, so aim for critical crew members in the enemy vehicle to ensure that it can't move or fire back as you reload. For trucks like the GAZ series or the CCKW 353 AA, spraying the truck's cab can knock out the driver, rendering it immobile and stop it from escaping. Firing at the truck's gun is unlikely to significantly damage it, but firing at the crew operating the gun is very likely to stop the vehicle from firing back at you until they can be replaced. Players can use this strategy to destroy trucks quickly and efficiently. Do take note when facing vehicles like the M16 MGMC, as even though its a half-track, its mostly armoured enough to keep the 8 mm rounds out of the crew compartment.

It is ill-advised to use the Breda Mod. 38 against fully-armoured targets as the weapon was intended to fight unarmoured infantry, not enemy tanks. Due to the low armour penetration and low calibre, the Breda 38 is unlikely to pierce any armoured vehicles from any direction. This gun can instead be used to mark enemy targets, knock down bushes, or help range targets for the main gun.

Anti-aircraft

As an anti-aircraft weapon, the Breda Mod. 38 is a mediocre option, but often the only one in regards to early Italian vehicles. Due to the relatively small calibre, low penetration, low ammunition count and long reload, this gun is unlikely to be very effective against attacking planes. Furthermore, the standard early Italian roof mounts, like the one on the M13/40 and the P40, will only allow the Breda to rotate up and down on a vertical axis. If a vehicle with this mount is suddenly unable to rotate its turret due to damage or otherwise, the machine gun will be fixed and become unable to effectively target enemies.

Therefore, leave anti-aircraft work to dedicated SPAAs or vehicles armed with more capable machine guns unless absolutely necessary.

Notable mounts

The Breda Mod. 38 is featured all over the M13, M14, and M15 medium tank series. If all of the machine guns were functional, the M13/40 (I) would almost have the most machine guns of any reserve tank (1 x roof, 1 x turret coaxial, 2 x bow/hull), second only to the American M2A4.

The Semovente 75/46 M43 is the first in the M43 series to feature a machine gun. Despite its downsides, the Breda 38 can be refreshingly useful for self-defence and target marking on this vehicle. Unlike the medium tank mounts before it, this Breda 38 is pintle-mounted and can achieve both vertical and horizontal traverse.

In the M11/39, the Breda 38 is featured in a twin mount inside of a fully operational, small turret on the roof of the vehicle. These guns are fired and loaded solely by the commander. Although the vertical elevation is not great, these can be used as a makeshift anti-aircraft weapon. A similar mount to the M11/39's was commonly fitted in the CV-35 tankette for anti-infantry use.

In the Breda 501, two Breda 38s are mounted on independent pintle mounts on the rear of the vehicle facing backwards over the engine deck, in similar fashion to the American LVT(A)(1). These guns can be selected by players and used to defend the vehicle against unarmoured targets or low-flying planes attacking from the rear, similar to aircraft tail gunners. Two of the Breda 501's five crew members are allocated to these guns and can be swapped out for knocked-out gun or driver crew if needed.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Decent rate of fire
  • Slightly larger calibre than 7.62 mm MGs
  • Very common on Italian vehicles, easy to learn when moving to new vehicles

Cons:

  • Short magazine
  • Long reload time
  • Low penetration
  • Medium tank anti-aircraft roof mounts only allow vertical movement

History

In 1937, the Breda Mod.37 medium machine gun was adopted by the Royal Italian Army for infantry use. These guns used the unique 8x59 mm RB Breda cartridge in 20-round trays that would store spent casings. The Breda Mod.37 quickly gained a reputation of being massively overweight, being difficult to load, and having a slow rate of fire.

Regardless of the drawbacks, the Breda Mod.37 was developed into the Breda Mod. 38 for dedicated use in armoured vehicles. This version used a 24-round box magazine and was praised for being very easy to disassemble and fire for long periods without overheating. It was frequently mounted as a coaxial, hull-mounted, or roof mounted weapon.

The Breda Mod. 38 was used throughout WWII in almost all of Italy's tanks during the war, starting with vehicles like the L3/35, M11/39, and L6/40 in 1939 and ending with vehicles like the M15/42, P40, and Celere Sahariano in 1943. British and Australian forces encountered this weapon in North Africa, alongside the Breda Mod.37. Some of these guns were captured and used by the Commonwealth as they captured and used M13 and M14 tanks to supplement their vehicle shortage.

On September 3rd, 1943, Italy signed the Armistice of Cassibile with the Allies, effectively ending Italy's participation as an Axis power. Nazi Germany and the remainders of fascist Italy still fought on however, so the Germans quickly captured and reused many former Italian Army vehicles and weaponry. In German hands, the Breda Mod. 38 was designated the Kampfwagen-Maschinengewehr 350(i), or "Fighting vehicle machine gun 350 (italy)". It was used by the Wehrmacht in captured Italian tanks, as the weapon was designed to be used, until the end of the war in 1945.

Although discontinued by Breda and not used in tank designs for the post-war Esercito Italiano, Breda Mod. 38 machine guns were still in use with M13/40 medium tanks refurbished and used by Egypt in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Royal Afghan Army also used Breda 38s in their CV-35 tankettes until the late 1950s, likely when the unusual 8 mm ammunition started to run out.

The original Breda Mod.37, however, chambered in 7.92 mm Mauser, was used by the Portuguese Army into the 1960s.

Media

Images

  • M11/39 with twin Breda Mod. 38 machine guns

  • Twin rear-facing Breda Mod. 38 on the Breda 501

  • Breda Mod. 38 in coaxial mount on the AB 41

See also

External links


Tank machine guns
USA 
7.62 mm  M37 · M60D · M73 · M240 · M1919A4 · Mk.52
12.7 mm  FN M3P · M2HB · M80 · M85
Germany 
5.56 mm  MG4
7.62 mm  C6 · MG3A1
7.92 mm  MG13 Dreyse · MG34 · MG37(t) · MG42
12.7 mm  S.MG.50
USSR 
7.62 mm  DT · PKMB · PKT · PKTM · RP-46 · SGMT
12.7 mm  DK · DShK · 6P49 · NSVT
14.5 mm  KPVT
Britain 
7.62 mm  Browning MG4 · L3A1 · L8A1 · L8A2 · L37A1 · L37A2 · L94A1
7.7 mm  Vickers
7.92 mm  BESA
12.7 mm  L21A1
Japan 
6.5 mm  Type 91
7.62 mm  Type 74
7.7 mm  Type 97
12.7 mm  Type 60 (B)
China 
5.8 mm  QJT
7.62 mm  Type 55 · Type 59 · Type 86
12.7 mm  QJC88A · Type 54
14.5 mm  QJG02
Italy 
7.62 mm  Beretta MG42/59 · FN MAG 60-40
8 mm  34/40M · Breda Mod. 38
13.2 mm  Breda Model 31
France 
7.5 mm  AAT-52 · MAC 31
7.62 mm  A-A-F1N
8 mm  Hotchkiss Mle 1914
Sweden 
6.5 mm  ksp m/14-29
7.62 mm  ksp 39 C · ksp 58 · ksp 94
8 mm  ksp m/36 · ksp m/39B
12.7 mm  ksp 88

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