The big submachine gun — The Villar Perosa OVP Submachine GunThe Villar Perosa Submachine Gun
The big submachine gun — The Villar Perosa OVP Submachine GunThe Villar Perosa Submachine Gun stretches the term submachine gun pretty thinly. Technically it is an SMG, chambered for a pistol cartridge, the 9mm Glistenti (similar to the 9mm para). Design in Italy by Bethel Abiel Revelli during World War I, it was originally intended to be an aircraft weapon. However, its 9mm cartridge did not provide the necessary range or power for dogfighting. So the Italian military adopted it for ground use. Unfortunatly it was big and bulky (6.5 kg, 14.3 pounds), having the size and weight of a light machine gun, but with the short range, power, and accuracy of a submachine gun. In others words it was kind of like a tommy gun, except that it couldn’t be wielded easily and used in close quarters. It was kind of like a machine gun, except that it had a short range and couldn’t be used in long distance warfare. I imagine this gun caused the deaths of many Italians soldiers during the Great War.The Villar Perosa OVP Submachine Gun is also famous in film history, being used by Indiana Jones’ father (Sean Connery) in the scene where he accidently blows off his own tailplane while fending off a German fighter. -- source link
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