FNA-B Model 1943
- Category
- Submachine Gun
- Barrel
- 198 mm
- Weight, empty
- 3.25 kg
- Introduced
- 1943
About
What it is, and why it matters
The FNA-B Model 1943 is an Italian submachine gun chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum, manufactured by Fabbrica Nazionale d'Armi di Brescia during World War II. Unusually sophisticated for a wartime arm, it used a lever-delayed blowback action firing from a closed bolt with a two-piece bolt, giving it a controllable cyclic rate of around 400 rounds per minute. Its folding metal stock and a magazine housing that pivoted forward beneath the barrel made it compact, but its extensive milling and precision engineering made it expensive and slow to produce.
Built in Brescia by FNAB for the Italian Social Republic and German occupation forces late in the war, the FNAB-43 was prized for its refined engineering and controllable fire, but its costly machining meant it never reached mass production before the conflict ended.
Roughly 7,000 examples are commonly cited, though some sources suggest as few as about 1,000 were actually built, with serial numbers inflated to suggest larger production. The barrel shroud incorporated an integral muzzle brake and compensator.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Fabbrica Nazionale d'Armi di Brescia
- Category
- Submachine Gun
- Country
- Italy
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1943 to 1945
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 198 mm
- Overall length
- 790 mm
- Weight, empty
- 3.25 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Blowback
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single action
- Capacity
- 20
- Magazine
- Detachable box
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Slide
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Steel
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 381 m/s
- Effective range
- 100 m
- Rate of fire
- 400 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.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Lever delayed blowback
Two piece bolt
Closed bolt firing
Folding stock
Folding magazine housing
Muzzle brake compensator
Selective fire
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 201 9x19mm Parabellum submachine guns | 3.25 kg | 3.18 kg | Heavier than about 60% |
| Overall lengthAmong 200 9x19mm Parabellum submachine guns | 790 mm | 723 mm | Longer than about 60% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 202 9x19mm Parabellum submachine guns | 198 mm | 213 mm | Shorter than about 70% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 204 9x19mm Parabellum submachine guns | 20 | 32 | Among the smallest capacities |
Answers
Questions about the FNA-B Model 1943
How much does the FNA-B Model 1943 weigh?
The FNA-B Model 1943 weighs 3.25 kg (7.17 lb) empty.
What caliber is the FNA-B Model 1943?
The FNA-B Model 1943 is chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum.
How many rounds does the FNA-B Model 1943 hold?
The FNA-B Model 1943 holds 20 rounds, fed from a detachable box magazine.
How long is the FNA-B Model 1943?
The FNA-B Model 1943 is 790 mm (31.1 in) long overall, with a 198 mm (7.80 in) barrel.
Who makes the FNA-B Model 1943?
The FNA-B Model 1943 is made by Fabbrica Nazionale d'Armi di Brescia (Italy).
When was the FNA-B Model 1943 introduced?
The FNA-B Model 1943 was introduced in 1943 and discontinued in 1945.
How does the FNA-B Model 1943 operate?
The FNA-B Model 1943 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 Social Republic
- 1944
- Italian Resistance
- Italy
- Nazi Germany
- 1944
Provenance
Confidence in this record
82%
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/fna-brescia' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "fna-brescia", "name": "FNA-B Model 1943", "manufacturer": { "id": "fnab", "name": "Fabbrica Nazionale d'Armi di Brescia", "countryCode": "IT", "foundedYear": null, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-07-06 11:00:16", "updatedAt": "2026-07-06 11:00:16", "version": "c63533f07e9d3e92e58389ebaf7ea9a62f0780b3d998572229519c4a73476c35" }, "category": { "id": "submachine-gun", "name": "Submachine Gun", "description": "Automatic firearms chambered in pistol calibers" }, "country_of_origin": "IT", "year_introduced": 1943, "barrel_length_mm": 198, "weight_empty_g": 3250, "action_type": "blowback"}