Villar Perosa submachine gun
submachine gun
The Pistola Mitragliatrice Fiat Mod. 1915, commonly nicknamed the Villar Perosa, was an Italian portable automatic weapon developed during World War I by the Officine di Villar Perosa.
As it was designed to use 9×19mm ammunition, it is said to be the first submachine gun, although not a true submachine gun by modern standards. Due to its extremely high rate of fire, it was nicknamed Pernacchia (literally raspberry) by its operators.
Design
The Villar Perosa was designed as a portable double-barrel machine gun firing a handgun round. It consisted of two independent coupled weapons, each with its own barrel, firing mechanism, and separate 25-round magazine.
Sighting was adjustable for elevation on the infantry model, with five positions available ranging from 100 to 500 meters in 100 meter intervals through a hole in the receiver, and it suffered from handling issues in the early periods of the war as the large shield mount was cumbersome and had a large profile, and later in the war it was replaced with a bipod, which although it didn't provide as much stability as the shield, it was much more mobile and liked by the crews. As the gun lacked any stock it could not be shouldered and fired, use of the gun on the assault typically involved the use of the Bassi mount, or some other mount to hold the gun.
The Villar Perosa operated on a delayed-blowback action. On the forward part of each bolts is an extension housing a guided slot.
The public source identifies “Villar Perosa submachine gun” as submachine gun. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Villar, Perosa and submachine.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Villar Perosa submachine gun”, the useful work is to connect “submachine gun” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q547245. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1915.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Villar Perosa submachine gun”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Villar Perosa submachine gun primary sources, Villar Perosa submachine gun archive and Villar research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Villar Perosa submachine gun”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Villar Perosa submachine gun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.