Breda Modello 1924
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Barrel
- 450 mm
- Weight, empty
- 10.60 kg
- Introduced
- 1924
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Breda Modello 1924 (Mitragliatrice Breda Tipo 5C) was an Italian light machine gun designed by Societa Italiana Ernesto Breda and adopted in 1924 as one of the first purpose-built light machine guns of the post-First World War era. Conceived alongside the rival Fiat Mod. 26 to replace the SIA Mod. 1918, it was chambered in the standard 6.5x52mm Carcano cartridge and operated by short recoil from a closed bolt, the barrel and bolt being joined by a clamp that disconnected by sliding laterally during recoil. It fed from a 20-round box magazine permanently fixed to the right side of the receiver, charged in place from special horseshoe chargers or ordinary Carcano rifle clips, and was fitted with an unusually early quick-change barrel that separated from its sleeve with a half turn. The convertible design carried dual spade grips for use as a flexible aircraft gun and a wooden stock with bipod for the infantry role. Roughly 2,000 were taken into Italian service as the Modello 24, and the concept was refined through the 5G and the Models of 1928 and 1929 before culminating in the mass-issued Breda 30 of 1930.
Before the infamous Breda 30 became the standard squad automatic of Mussolini's army, there was the Modello 1924 - the awkward first draft. Designed by Ernesto Breda's engineers as a convertible gun that could wear aircraft spade grips one day and an infantry stock the next, it pioneered the strange clamp-locked short-recoil action, the fixed clip-fed side magazine, and the half-turn quick-change barrel that would define the family. Only about 2,000 were taken into service before Breda spent the rest of the decade ironing out the concept into the gun Italian infantry would curse across North Africa.
The Modello 1924 is the first production stage of the Breda light-machine-gun lineage. Dimensions (overall length 950 mm, height 680 mm, width 340 mm) are taken from a surviving BREDA MOD. 5C specimen (Brescia, 1927) in the Museums Victoria collection; barrel length, weight (~10.6 kg) and the 500 rpm cyclic rate are quoted from the closely related production Breda 30 that evolved directly from it and may differ slightly for the 5C. The side magazine was fixed to the receiver and reloaded by clips rather than detached. Cartridge dimensions follow the canonical GunSpec 6.5x52mm Carcano entry.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Societa Italiana Ernesto Breda per Costruzioni Meccaniche (Breda Meccanica Bresciana)
- Category
- Machine Gun
- Country
- Italy
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1924 to 1930
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 450 mm
- Overall length
- 950 mm
- Height
- 680 mm
- Width
- 340 mm
- Weight, empty
- 10.60 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Short recoil
- Firing mechanism
- Striker fired
- Trigger
- Single stage
- Capacity
- 20
- Magazine
- Fixed box
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 630 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 2074 J
- Effective range
- 800 m
- Rate of fire
- 500 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.
Short recoil clamp locked action
Closed bolt operation
Fixed side mounted 20 round box magazine- Horseshoe or rifle clip charged
Quick change barrel half turn
Convertible aircraft spade grips and infantry stock bipod
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 261 machine guns | 10.60 kg | 10.50 kg | Near the median |
| Overall lengthAmong 260 machine guns | 950 mm | 1156 mm | Shorter than about 90% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 257 machine guns | 450 mm | 605 mm | Shorter than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 222 machine guns | 20 | 50 | Holds fewer rounds than about 90% |
Answers
Questions about the Breda Modello 1924
How much does the Breda Modello 1924 weigh?
The Breda Modello 1924 weighs 10.60 kg (23.37 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Breda Modello 1924?
The Breda Modello 1924 is chambered in 6.5x52mm Carcano.
How many rounds does the Breda Modello 1924 hold?
The Breda Modello 1924 holds 20 rounds, fed from a fixed box magazine.
How long is the Breda Modello 1924?
The Breda Modello 1924 is 950 mm (37.4 in) long overall, with a 450 mm (17.7 in) barrel.
Who makes the Breda Modello 1924?
The Breda Modello 1924 is made by Societa Italiana Ernesto Breda per Costruzioni Meccaniche (Breda Meccanica Bresciana) (Italy). It was designed by Societa Italiana Ernesto Breda.
When was the Breda Modello 1924 introduced?
The Breda Modello 1924 was introduced in 1924 and discontinued in 1930.
How does the Breda Modello 1924 operate?
The Breda Modello 1924 uses a short recoil action, and its firing mechanism is striker 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
- Royal Italian Army (Regio Esercito)
- 1924
Provenance
Confidence in this record
70%
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.
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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/breda-m1924' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "breda-m1924", "name": "Breda Modello 1924", "manufacturer": { "id": "breda-meccanica-bresciana", "name": "Societa Italiana Ernesto Breda per Costruzioni Meccaniche (Breda Meccanica Bresciana)", "countryCode": "IT", "foundedYear": 1953, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": "active", "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": true, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-04-26 23:12:00", "updatedAt": "2026-04-26 23:12:00", "version": "bcd84c8e18fcb4eca4f9603a2bf09df64bb647cb4417c2ff37ad614a53b709df" }, "category": { "id": "machine-gun", "name": "Machine Gun", "description": "Fully automatic firearms for sustained fire" }, "country_of_origin": "IT", "year_introduced": 1924, "barrel_length_mm": 450, "weight_empty_g": 10600, "action_type": "short_recoil"}