Beretta MAB 38/44 Special Model 1
- Category
- Submachine Gun
- Barrel
- Not recorded
- Weight, empty
- Not recorded
- Introduced
- Not recorded
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Beretta MAB 38/44 Special Model 1 is an Italian 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, a post-war special-pattern development of the wartime Moschetto Automatico Beretta 38/44 built on the same simplified closed-bolt, blowback, hammer-fired mechanism. Unlike the standard 38/44's fixed wooden stock, the 'Special' pattern was fitted with an MP 40-style under-folding metal stock and an extended magazine well, producing a more compact weapon aimed at export and vehicle/paratroop-style use while retaining the family's hallmark twin-trigger arrangement in which the forward trigger fires semi-automatically and the rear trigger fires fully automatically. It feeds from the same detachable box magazines of up to 40 rounds and preserves the accuracy and reliability that made the Beretta MAB 38 series one of the most respected submachine guns of the era.
Where the wartime 38/44 kept the elegant fixed walnut stock of the MAB 38 line, the post-war 'Special' bolted on a stamped MP 40-style under-folding stock lifted straight from the German playbook - turning Tullio Marengoni's refined Italian submachine gun into a compact, export-friendly folder for a Cold War market that wanted its firepower to travel light.
The '38/44 Special' pattern is distinguished from the standard fixed-stock 38/44 mainly by its MP 40-style under-folding stock and extended magazine well; it belongs to Beretta's post-war special/export developments of the 38/44 line that also included telescoping wire-stock and standard rifle-stock models. Model-specific dimensions and weights for the folding-stock Special are poorly documented in accessible sources, so overall length, barrel length, and weight are left null rather than carrying over the fixed-stock 38/44 figures; caliber, action, twin-trigger mechanism, feed, and rate of fire follow the shared 38/44 family design.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Beretta
- Category
- Submachine Gun
- Country
- Italy
- Status
- Discontinued
- Variant of
- Special folding stock
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Blowback
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single stage
- Capacity
- 40
- Magazine
- Detachable box
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Steel
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 380 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 538 J
- Effective range
- 200 m
- Maximum range
- 300 m
- Rate of fire
- 550 rpm
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Under folding stock- Mp40 style folding stock
Extended magazine well
Dual trigger system
Closed bolt firing
Hammer fired
Stamped steel receiver
Detachable box magazine
Standing
How it compares
This record has too few measurements to compare with others yet.
Answers
Questions about the Beretta MAB 38/44 Special Model 1
What caliber is the Beretta MAB 38/44 Special Model 1?
The Beretta MAB 38/44 Special Model 1 is chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum.
How many rounds does the Beretta MAB 38/44 Special Model 1 hold?
The Beretta MAB 38/44 Special Model 1 holds 40 rounds, fed from a detachable box magazine.
Who makes the Beretta MAB 38/44 Special Model 1?
The Beretta MAB 38/44 Special Model 1 is made by Beretta (Italy). It was designed by Tullio Marengoni.
How does the Beretta MAB 38/44 Special Model 1 operate?
The Beretta MAB 38/44 Special Model 1 uses a blowback action, and its firing mechanism is hammer fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Italian Armed Forces
- Italy
Provenance
Confidence in this record
60%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/beretta-mab-38-44-special-model-1' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "beretta-mab-38-44-special-model-1", "name": "Beretta MAB 38/44 Special Model 1", "manufacturer": { "id": "beretta", "name": "Beretta", "countryCode": "IT", "foundedYear": 1526, "website": "https://www.beretta.com", "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-02-11 23:44:38", "updatedAt": "2026-02-18 03:43:40", "version": "8b9fe1893419c995aa99c862828f03dd5729ecd351a2fed53e95d04b9a47918f" }, "category": { "id": "submachine-gun", "name": "Submachine Gun", "description": "Automatic firearms chambered in pistol calibers" }, "country_of_origin": "IT", "year_introduced": null, "barrel_length_mm": null, "weight_empty_g": null, "action_type": "blowback"}