The greatest gun channel ever. no gimmicks, no BS, just a man who clearly cares about about the history of firearms. I commend you for being so dedicated to your channel. your explanations and historical retellings are always interesting and you clearly have a vast knowledge of the history. I just think it's awesome, you don't seem to be about money or popularity, you just act genuinely and make great videos. thanks for such quality work.
@@Wurmo A lot of these guns, he's not allowed to shoot. Obviously, many of them are museum items, or are so rare/old that firing them would be too damaging to them, and in a lot of cases the ammunition isn't available.
wow I didn't realize it was so small. You don't really get a good idea of how big it is from pictures in books. Also the simplicity of this gun is fascinating.
WW1 planes didn't fly very high. At least from the ground. If they were launched in the mountains or in this case, on the ground in the winter, then yes... gloves needed.
@@danielburgess7785 what om saying is that gloves were non escentuals ..big difference fighting hundreds of feet vs thousands of feet.... at either rate gloves were a part of everything in the alps and but not a big thing all the time and not in the summer...way around
@@fahey7335 You think chemical weapons were a dead end? Granted it's frowned upon today as a weapon, but it still fulfills its purpose exceptionally well - that purpose of course being death and destruction on such a scale humankind as a whole would generally agree that it is "a bit too much", even by the twisted standards of war.
That is actually a really well thought out little rig - for the right application. Very impressed, especially given it was a complete blank slate before this and the MP-18. It seems beautifully engineered, especially given its funky look, but perhaps a little finicky and fine around the magazine mounts. I'm so glad you touched on the independent fire technique for ground use. It was my first thought when you demonstrated the triggers - a great way to continuously dump 25 rounds a pop downfield without a reload interval... but I can see the loader getting in the way of the gunner.
That was it's originally intended use. To defend passages through the barbed wire or alpine trails, with short burst of very high ROF, like a long range shotgun. Then they see that it was great in clearing enemy trenches too.
The Cody Museum was way cooler than I expected. Top notch museum in 4 parts, The firearm museum can only be described as exhaustive. It has libraries of sporting and military firearms. The Yellowstone region natural history museum is very nice, and the Plains Indians Museum is very impressive. The section about Buffalo Bill himself is also really neat and has a lot of cool firearms and artifacts mixed in. It was something I didn't originally plan to go see, but when one of our days to be spent in Yellowstone was waylaid by rain, sunburn and some organizational issues, we went and I was so happy we did.
I've only ever seen this gun fired in BF1 and if that is an honest reflection of the rate of fire of this weapon, even as a single weapon the rate of fire is scary.
Banhammer72 in the game the gun fires much slower than it did in reality. EACH barrel on the Villar fired about 1,800 rounds a minute, both combined clocking in at 3,200 a minute. For comparison, the M134D minigun shoots around 3-4000 rounds per minute depending on configuration, which is insane. This ridicuoousness made the Villar Perosa capable of firing over 50 rounds a second. Speed up a clip of the gun firing in BF1 about 2-3 times normal speed (you could do the math) it's just ridiculous
I haven't seen one of these before, my first reaction was "Uh, what the hell is that? Where's the rest of it?" but, having seen it up close, that thing is beautiful in it's simplicity.
In theory each gun had a crew of 5 and another dozen men that carried ammunitions from the rear. Two such teams made up a Villar Perosa platoon and all infantry companies included one since 1917. It seems a lot of support for a weapon so underpowered and when I saw it in museums I believed it was something that the troops would rather bury and forget but from all accounts I've read it was instead much appreciated and more effective than it looks , some troops not disdaining to seize more than allowed from a depot if the opportunity arised. The austrohungarians too used the ones captured or built their own copies. Certainly in a fluid situation it was easier to change position, advance and provide support in comparison to an heavy fiat machinegun that was the only other option.
Glad to finally see you finally got to do a video on this weapon. I asked you in July of last year if you had come across one. You said you had but had not had an opportunity to do a video on it. Great to see it come together, and the fun and it's transport chest is just an amazing find. Good job as always Ian. I am so very envious of you being able to put your hands on So much firearms history. A passion that we share for sure.
Wow. I had no idea there were still some around. I asked The Great War about the Beretta 1918 during their Italian Weapons segment and even they knew relatively little of it.
Pierre LeDouche there are 2 kits the slow heavy inacurate maxim and the quick close range villar, (the first is on bigger maps where the maxim is usable amd the other on trench and bunker maps where the maxim hinders your ability,) (also they look nothing alike multiple people don't say something exists without experience backing it up)
@Pierre LeDouche Yeah yeah nice long irrelevant comment but you tried to correct the dude that was correct. Yes, theres a sentry kit in BF1 with a maxim gun. Noone at all is denying that. But theres a second sentry kit with a villar perosa instead of the maxim gun (its only a sentry kit per se in multiplayer, but in the campaign mission the dude does grab a villar perrosa as well).
I must say, I really admire your knowledge of these weapons' history, usage and workings, and your clear, comprehensive explanations. As someone who couldn't tell you what a firing pin was three days ago, just randomly jumping around these videos has already given me a much better understanding of the evolution, usage, and (scarily-simple) workings of firearms.
@@D8W2P4 the sound is MUCH higher because Villa Perosa fires more bullets than the MG-42 You can see what I'm saying here: ua-cam.com/video/WLFA8VXVkRQ/v-deo.html
The hollyweird substitute for a mg17 is hilarious but I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that substitution! Cheers Long live Sean Connery and Harrison Ford!
Well the Village Perosa isn't really "forgotten" anymore. Battlefield 1 has it and they made it kinda unrealistic to what it's like in real life. The gun doesn't have a shoulder stock, but it somehow doesn't have that much recoil.
***** Still. If you actually use this gun for its original purpose (anti aircraft), it does around 2-5 damage to an aircraft if you fire both magazines.
Dillon C Keep in mind in BF1 you're firing a 9mm submachine gun from the ground at planes. Planes that are in the sky. That's not the guns intended use, it was designed to be fired from aircraft at aircraft, not from the ground.
***** They should've put the gun in the gunner seat of planes. It would be cool just to get close to enemy aircraft and fire 50 rounds in their backside, reload and do it all again. The other LMGs are kinda boring on the planes.
Lots of clever and practical design ideas went into this little gun! The fact that there has been better ideas since (or before) does not detract from that.
I'm pretty sure I've seen pictures of this on a ring mount for the observer. I always thought that I wasn't seeing it right because it was just too small. So glad to see this!
it's pretty interesting watching those videos and learn the technology that they where using in WW1! i mean they had to figure out so many patents like this one that is pretty simple yet effective! cool video
For being one of the very first SMG's, I gotta say they did a fantastic job on designing it. I really don't see anything totally wrong with any of its design, other than I'd say the way you look down the sights would probably be nearly impossible in action.
As you explained, this gun isn't that bad considering the use for which it was made. In air warfare if you have a second on target, that is a long time. If you consider that some of the WWI aircraft, especially the early ones, were pushers that placed the observer/gunner in the front of the airplane, this weapon makes pretty good sense. The interrupter gear, or more accurately, the propeller position trigger mechanism made smaller, more nimble single seat fighters dominate over the two seaters.
Kornel Cajka Many UA-cam's does that. Simple history, C&Rsenal, and so many other. World War One in general has become very popular, since bf1 came out.
This is the true Italian 9mm 'Fiat' amidst all anti-aircraft machine guns fitted to aircrafts from the beginning to the end of the First World War. Apart from the Villa-Perosa SMG with a really small total ammunition capacity, this compact and well-made weapon posed a threat to first-time pilots armed with revolvers or completely unarmed members of the aristocracy who expressed their displeasure with aircraft that were armed, either by waving their fists overhead and other gestures. Descendants of noble families, with romantic views of a new type of army - aviation, with yet unexplored combat roles and capabilities. But some pilots really enjoyed being members of the new branch of the armed forces. Just before the war, the aristocracy saw flying as their own new pastime, and when the war broke out they saw their squadrons as the last refuge of "true chivalry, courage, sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct" in complete madness. We are talking about characters who most likely thought that it should be enough to outwit the opponent with flying skills, and when you get on his tail, the "loser" would have to greet the "winner" like a real officer and a real gentleman and fly to the home airport. And I guess, because of the humiliation he suffered, he should supposedly never fly again. Except after the war. From the bullets that the pilots will soon start firing at them, most of these romantics will close their eyes forever. But ordinary men, who were certainly not made of the stuff that "separates the gentlemen from the rest," quickly learned most of the secrets of air combat. That's why these young guys could quickly learn to keep their eyes wide open and constantly scan the entire sky.. Because the side with the height advantage can turn that height into speed and when they decide to attack, these guys have a better chance of winning. Only with these advantages. Be the first to see the enemy, then approach it from the direction of the Sun and attack it so that each pilot chooses one plane to attack. If the enemy has more agile planes and great pilots, you can always break contact with the enemy with the speed accumulated while you were diving...
These were still in use during the second world war. Italian units in the CSIR ( corpo spedicion Italia en Russo) were issued a number of these guns, and there are pictures of them in use with a bipods.
Nicolò 91 No I mean I metal detect as a hobby. I haven't found this gun (just a lot of coins), but as a fellow metal detector I was curious about your story. I detect in Finland
I wonder why they did not simply take the pairs apart, mount them on shoulder stocks, and use them as two individual submachine guns. Seems to me that burst ROF could have been quite useful at times, even if a bit fast for others.
AnimeSunglasses Cadorna was an idiot, not Italy. Sadly, the leaders of the nation dodn't understand that they had to take care of the troops, but thry did also good things. The defeat of Caporetto was the Cadorna fault, ok, but the only Italian fault was to not understand that Cadorna was not suited for that war...
I bet this guy's views has exponentially increased since Battlefield 1 released. I search for a weapon used in BF1 and pretty much all of them are this guy
Ians been around and producing high quality content for years. If it takes a goddamn video game of all things to finally boost his popularity then so be it.
"unstoppable" is more appropriate. The italians produced 14.564 MGs and 836 millions of rounds for them, so more than 57.000 rounds for weapon, or almost 29.000 rounds for barrel. Obviously they had not all been fired during the war, but that gives you the figures.
+Neutron Alchemist Are you sure all of that ammunition was meant only for these MG's? As far as i understood it's chamebered in a pistol cartridge, the same as the standard Italian one of the time.
Vuk Bozic Yeah, but those pistols were not destined to the whole army. They were used only by the officiers, and not all of them. the Glisenti 1910, and later the Beretta 1915 were chambered in 9mm glisenti. But many officers were still armed with the Bodeo 1888 and the revolver Tettoni in 10.35mm Italian. Many others used the Ruby semiauto in .32 ACP. I would be very surprised if the pistols fired more than half a million Glisenti rounds in the whole war.
You sure? The reload speed is litterally a nightmare and the guns fire rate and ammo capacity only means that it'll generally be able to down two enemies at a time for a typical player.
Thanks for clearing that up. I always wondered why the gun(s) in the movie had mags out the top. I couldn't believe they were actually magazines and had to have been weird mounts of some sort.
This is an _excellent_ video on the Villar, and I'm very happy you explained things a lot better than the various books (like Hogg's) books where they ponder over rationalizing this particular firearm.
It's kinda like the sights on the Mosin Nagant. IMO it is simply wishful thinking for a average soldier to hit shots at the kinds of distances that some of those old sights go up to
Evan Doyle One theory is that it was for rifleman to shoot "volley" style, like archer regiments. But then again many pistols had ladders sights. Another theory is that is was just the manufacturers trying to promise more range. I'm not sure, maybe just wishful thinking?
Well aviation combat at the era this was employed where maintained at distances of about 2-20m in acrobatic esc dogfighting. This gun made sense to use early in the war it wasent till as mentioned it was outdated synchronized MGs.
K'nextreme Productions 50 rounds seems fine to me. At the time that the gun was under development, the idea of large scale dogfighting that would come in a few years wasn't even a thought. The gun was designed under the idea that observers using a plane may encounter an enemy observer, not 50 enemy fighters. So, believing that the enemy would only be one plane at a time, it fit the role. Also, very large capacity magazines that were reliable were almost nonexistent at the time. Having a 25 round magazine that functioned well was a feat in itself
K'nextreme Productions 3:31 here the guy explains the logic behind the small magazines... wich under a dogfight perspective makes totally sense... did you even watch the video?
Extended 50 rounds magazines were used by the aerial SMGs. However this gun has never been designed to be an aircraft SMG. It only happened that the first 350 samples (of over 14.000 produced) had been given to the Air Force (that, at that time, was a branch of the Army) cause the Army wanted the weapon ready to be mass produced first to start to field it. The MGs used on the aircrafts had a different mounting, without the round plate and with normal aerial sights. The round plate was intended to be used on the field with the shield. When used with the shield, the plate was integral part of the protection, and the hole sight was the only opening in it. As for the rate of fire, it serves the same purpose of the 1200 rpm ROF of the MG-42. they both had not been designed for suppression fire (heavy MGs were intended for that role), but to cover obligatory passages (through the barbed wires, or the mountain trails) and fire only when you actually see the enemy. Since the enemy is no stupid, he is visible only for a brief time, and, for this, a huge ROF is required to hit him. In 1916 Capt. Bassi, creator of the Arditi, begun to use it, without the shield, to clear the enemy trenches. A stretch ot trench is 20m long at best. With a single burst of the Villar Perosa you can saturate it without even seeing. That's useful, since the assaults were often performed at night.
Synchronization gears existed and were used in 1915. The First World War started in 1914. that is probably less than a year from outbreak to the use of a synchronization gears. Not to mention the French and Royal Flying Corps used deflector wedges, or propeller guards that would deflect bullets off the prop before synchronization gears. I am not entirely sure how accurate you are when you say that a 9mm round could easily destroy an airplane. A lot of people call first world war planes extremely flimsy which I would agree with, but they still took a surprising amount of hits before going down. I apologize in advance if I have taken this the wrong way, but what i am hearing is that you think a 9mm could down an aircraft just as proficiently as an IMG 08. This is a gross over exaggeration.
Decibel I think the point is more that you can easily get a bullet to penetrate so it can theoretically do damage. If I remember correctly, the advantage of the wood and canvas construction was that bullets passing through were relatively harmless unless they hit internals, which was unlikely. There is no spalling or deformation.
I understand the argument. My problem is that I see this review as an attempt to grant the Villar Perosa relevance, when it was simply a conceptual design that theoretically made some sense, but was not widely implemented. It appears that he attempts to pass the Villar Perosa off as a viable dogfighting weapon at a time when synchronization gears existed (they existed in 1915, a quick google search will provide you with this basic information). To quote the video: "In 1915 aircraft in World War One were still pretty early; at that point you didn't really have the heavy, synchronized, belt-fed forward facing machine guns on aircraft. They hadn't developed synchronizers yet." Therefore, he is blatantly spreading misinformation to an audience that will simply take his word for it. From the basic understanding of aircraft during WWI (which i doubt he is a specialist on, so this can be forgiven), to guns and weapons systems (which he should be extremely familiar with considering his position, his job, and that he is doing a video about a weapon) he appears misinformed and that is obviously a poor quality when attempting to educate people on a certain topic and that the popularity he is receiving is because of a video game he apparently did the research for. This looks bad on him, Forgotten Weapons, and DICE. Thanks for the reply, I realize I can come off as off putting, but i am simply just passionate about military history, a topic I have been studying for years.
Don't tell me to settle down and belittle my arguments in reference to an inaccurate and unsubstiative assumption of my age. I can comment on my grievances with the video all I want, especially when I support my argument with easily accessible evidence. What you fail to understand from my comment is that I am questioning his comments and explanations of available technology, and the widespread use of the aforementioned technology. The Villar Perosa was not widespread, so making generalizations on an assumption of widespread use is incorrect. Look up the Fokker E. III, it was built in 1915, saw widespread use by the Germans and the Austro-Hungarians, and used synchronization gears. This was one of the first true fighter aircraft. About 250 of them were built; this is widespread use.
This gun has never been designed to be an aircraft SMG. It only happened that the first 350 samples (of over 14.000 produced) had been given to the Air Force (that, at that time, was a branch of the Army) cause the Army wanted the weapon ready to be mass produced first to start to field it. The MGs used on the aircrafts had a different mounting, without the round plate and with normal aerial sights. The round plate was intended to be used on the field with the shield. When used with the shield, the plate was integral part of the protection, and the hole sight was the only opening in it. Its rate of fire serves the same purpose of the 1200 rpm ROF of the MG-42. they both had not been designed for suppression fire (heavy MGs were intended for that role), but to cover obligatory passages (through the barbed wires, or the mountain trails) and fire only when you actually see the enemy. Since the enemy is no stupid, he is visible only for a brief time, and, for this, a huge ROF is required to hit him. In 1916 Capt. Bassi, creator of the Arditi, begun to use it, without the shield, to clear the enemy trenches. A stretch ot trench is 20m long at best. With a single burst of the Villar Perosa you can saturate it without even seeing. That's useful, since the assaults were often performed at night.
+Decibel (Late reply) The Italian use the French synchronization gear for their aircraft in WWI, and the first French gear didn't go into production after mid 1916. Please check your facts first.
When I saw the title of the video I was like "Oh, that's the weird double SMG thingy I've seen in my books!" and when I started watching I was like ".... it's TINY!" I apparently forgot how to google..
I know right?? Its almost like he runs a channel called ForgottenWeapons and has done literally hundreds of videos on guns from this era. Crazy coincidence right?
The greatest gun channel ever. no gimmicks, no BS, just a man who clearly cares about about the history of firearms. I commend you for being so dedicated to your channel. your explanations and historical retellings are always interesting and you clearly have a vast knowledge of the history. I just think it's awesome, you don't seem to be about money or popularity, you just act genuinely and make great videos. thanks for such quality work.
big pumkin head ass jim totally agree, and the presentor is the best
I just wish we got more shooting videos.
Wurmo If you want that try in range tv instead. FW is mostly history and mechanics
@@Wurmo A lot of these guns, he's not allowed to shoot. Obviously, many of them are museum items, or are so rare/old that firing them would be too damaging to them, and in a lot of cases the ammunition isn't available.
@@anzaca1 yet he does fire this one thoser... it was very Interesting
German soldiers on patrol
The first one: "Is that a man on a bicycle?"
The Second: "It looks like he has something on the handleba-"
*BARATATATATAT*
Austro-Hungarians*
@@itdbfrtwthm germans also, there were also some german divisions on the italian front
In ww2 it would be "3 germans walk into a BAR"
It's more like
PRRRR. PRRRR.
@@товарищАлександр-ч7г tre online time germana fought on the Italian front was at the battle of Caporetto, just that time tho
*"A Sentry kit has been located near your location."*
ItsArctic nah m8 Russian 1895 or nothin
*I HATE HELLREIGELS*
Itz Joeee SO DO I! FUCKING HELLRIEGEL
*light sentry
I don’t need ptsd from any more of those things,
'you need a slower fire rate'
Are you suggesting... we need LESS dakka? Heresy!
Automated Miner FOR THE EMPEROR
WAAAAAGH!
You want slower fire? Faster fire? We have a DLC for that, $9.99 each
@@spazmonkey2131 *xeno screams intensifies*
wow I didn't realize it was so small. You don't really get a good idea of how big it is from pictures in books. Also the simplicity of this gun is fascinating.
Its not every day that you see a 9mm chambered gun with HMG firing mechanism, thats why its confusing
Did anyone else think that all those magazines aligned in that case was a beautiful sight??
totally
Ohhhh so the "Automatico" m1918 is just a re purposed half a Villar Perosa. That's so cool to know after having used both in Battlefield 1.
Nonprophet The 1918 was also a real gun, check it out!
The magazine release is probably explained by having to wear gloves when flying at altitude.
WW1 planes didn't fly very high. At least from the ground. If they were launched in the mountains or in this case, on the ground in the winter, then yes... gloves needed.
@@jerryf3375 Time you looked into standard kit for flyers of that period.
@@danielburgess7785 what om saying is that gloves were non escentuals ..big difference fighting hundreds of feet vs thousands of feet.... at either rate gloves were a part of everything in the alps and but not a big thing all the time and not in the summer...way around
@@jerryf3375 Are you familiar with the wind?
Hardly altitude...it is WW1 remember.
Germany: "We have developed war gas and zeppelins,What have you made Italy?"
Italy: "Machine gun bicycle!"
Germany: "Mein Gott..."
germany lost the war, we instead defended our country from austria hungary !!!
@@occhiodisauron25 And then "elected" a small idiot with a giant ego problem....... Interesting thing: 1994, you did it again! ;-)
@@tHiNk413 I did not understand a shit about what you said!
not even the google translator can use
@@fahey7335 You think chemical weapons were a dead end? Granted it's frowned upon today as a weapon, but it still fulfills its purpose exceptionally well - that purpose of course being death and destruction on such a scale humankind as a whole would generally agree that it is "a bit too much", even by the twisted standards of war.
occhio di sauron I did not understand a shit
Well ahead of its time, in 1915 Italy releases an AA gun meant for shooting down quadcopter drones.
If it was something like 20g or 12g it would be sweet. Full auto #4buckshot would come in handy for drones
That is actually a really well thought out little rig - for the right application. Very impressed, especially given it was a complete blank slate before this and the MP-18. It seems beautifully engineered, especially given its funky look, but perhaps a little finicky and fine around the magazine mounts. I'm so glad you touched on the independent fire technique for ground use. It was my first thought when you demonstrated the triggers - a great way to continuously dump 25 rounds a pop downfield without a reload interval... but I can see the loader getting in the way of the gunner.
This would be awesome for defending choke points. I imagine this covering the entrance to a bunker through a firing port.
That was it's originally intended use. To defend passages through the barbed wire or alpine trails, with short burst of very high ROF, like a long range shotgun. Then they see that it was great in clearing enemy trenches too.
The Cody Museum was way cooler than I expected. Top notch museum in 4 parts, The firearm museum can only be described as exhaustive. It has libraries of sporting and military firearms. The Yellowstone region natural history museum is very nice, and the Plains Indians Museum is very impressive. The section about Buffalo Bill himself is also really neat and has a lot of cool firearms and artifacts mixed in. It was something I didn't originally plan to go see, but when one of our days to be spent in Yellowstone was waylaid by rain, sunburn and some organizational issues, we went and I was so happy we did.
The bike mounted version would be every cycle couriers dream!😂
5:44 theres a damn fidget spinner at the end of the barrels
Lol
BF1 bicycle DLC coming soon...
Taylor Pinkham salad fingers
Colombian Coffee very good! Did you learn that word on the game theorists kid?
we only need bikes with bazookas
oh wait
Do you like rusty spoons?
And bicycle armor coming soon....
WHY DIDNT DICE PUT IN A BICYCLE JUST FOR THIS
XyerZen yo they should mount them to the motorcycles sidecar
XyerZen that would have been fucking hilarious
imagine a bike, assaulting and shooting a flag and actually conquering it lmao
Sentry pulls up on a bike. Sprays into you and your gang. Pulls off
Bicycle or no deal
“Dad, Are we hit?”
“More or less. Son I’m sorry, they got us.”
🙄🙄🙄
thanks to battlefield one you guys are getting a lot more views
A-Task Productions yup
I think you're right; I read it somewhere too.
Pierre LeDouche he is in the credits
They included this gun in Battlefield One? Nice idea, I must say.
@@MrCmon113 There is a lot of experimental, prototype guns in BF1 - without them it'd be mostly bolt action rifles.
Isnt this the sentry kit in Monte Grappa for BF1?
George Carrillo yes it is
George Carrillo yes
dont run just bayonet charge into him instead
and in fao fortress
George Carrillo yep it is
I've only ever seen this gun fired in BF1 and if that is an honest reflection of the rate of fire of this weapon, even as a single weapon the rate of fire is scary.
Banhammer72 in the game the gun fires much slower than it did in reality. EACH barrel on the Villar fired about 1,800 rounds a minute, both combined clocking in at 3,200 a minute. For comparison, the M134D minigun shoots around 3-4000 rounds per minute depending on configuration, which is insane. This ridicuoousness made the Villar Perosa capable of firing over 50 rounds a second. Speed up a clip of the gun firing in BF1 about 2-3 times normal speed (you could do the math) it's just ridiculous
@@Antiganos next thing we know we're going to have dual mg 42's in bf5
@@agooddemoman8603 I never played BFV but I wouldn't be surprised given what I've seen
Well, a single villar perosa does exist in BF1. It’s literally the automatico m1918
Apparently that gun with the two upsets mags is not a villar person it’s a common misconception but the fire rate is scary realistic
One of my friends got to met gun jesus at defcon in vegas today, cool shit.
so jelly
Douglas Fulmer So was I.
I haven't seen one of these before, my first reaction was "Uh, what the hell is that? Where's the rest of it?" but, having seen it up close, that thing is beautiful in it's simplicity.
Need to put this on my bicycle for EDC.
It would be great for your last line of defense in your bedroom if you have 5 dudes invade your home 😂😂
You have a real talent for making the past come alive. You are always prepared with the facts. You are also a very good speaker. Thank you!
One of the most beautiful machines/weapons you've ever shown us. TY Ian!
In theory each gun had a crew of 5 and another dozen men that carried ammunitions from the rear. Two such teams made up a Villar Perosa platoon and all infantry companies included one since 1917. It seems a lot of support for a weapon so underpowered and when I saw it in museums I believed it was something that the troops would rather bury and forget but from all accounts I've read it was instead much appreciated and more effective than it looks
, some troops not disdaining to seize more than allowed from a depot if the opportunity arised. The austrohungarians too used the ones captured or built their own copies. Certainly in a fluid situation it was easier to change position, advance and provide support in comparison to an heavy fiat machinegun that was the only other option.
Glad to finally see you finally got to do a video on this weapon. I asked you in July of last year if you had come across one. You said you had but had not had an opportunity to do a video on it. Great to see it come together, and the fun and it's transport chest is just an amazing find.
Good job as always Ian. I am so very envious of you being able to put your hands on So much firearms history. A passion that we share for sure.
Battlefield 1 is really making this awesome channel grow bigger
Fuzeit Up yup
Atleast that game does 1 thing right
And made the comment section pure cancer
Wow, nice gun. It's like that old sewing machine. Brass and iron. Almost steam punk ..
I agree, it's beautiful in its simplicity
DrSid42 WW1 was a huge inspiration for steampunk culuture alongside Victorian, hence why you see resemblance
Wow. I had no idea there were still some around.
I asked The Great War about the Beretta 1918 during their Italian Weapons segment and even they knew relatively little of it.
Views must be way up cause of bf1. I've been subscribed for a year or so though, keep up the good work!
Caveira138 does it matter why they're watching it?
Nope, just making a comment. I think it's great that people are taking an interest in such an important war.
OfficerBootyReportin4Duty ya effin improve our kd
Why Jimmy you have no idea what you are talking about.
I'd argue it might be the most important war in human history, even more than WWII - as without the Great War there would be no WWII.
This and a suit of armor in Bf1 :,)
On some Italian online maps in BF1 you can get a Villar Perosa
@Pierre LeDouche He's talking about the Italian campaign missions.
Pierre LeDouche there are 2 kits the slow heavy inacurate maxim and the quick close range villar, (the first is on bigger maps where the maxim is usable amd the other on trench and bunker maps where the maxim hinders your ability,) (also they look nothing alike multiple people don't say something exists without experience backing it up)
@Pierre LeDouche
Yeah yeah nice long irrelevant comment but you tried to correct the dude that was correct.
Yes, theres a sentry kit in BF1 with a maxim gun. Noone at all is denying that.
But theres a second sentry kit with a villar perosa instead of the maxim gun (its only a sentry kit per se in multiplayer, but in the campaign mission the dude does grab a villar perrosa as well).
I must say, I really admire your knowledge of these weapons' history, usage and workings, and your clear, comprehensive explanations. As someone who couldn't tell you what a firing pin was three days ago, just randomly jumping around these videos has already given me a much better understanding of the evolution, usage, and (scarily-simple) workings of firearms.
Goofy levers and mag release is 'cause aircraft gunner would be wearing heavy gloves. Love your vids, great first name too!
A test fire sure would be cool! I understand why you didn't, but it sure would have been cool.
I feel like he didn't because these guns in this configuration is rare. I'm sad he couldn't though.
Basically turn the volume down on a MG-42 and you have the sound of this gun.
Not at all.
@@D8W2P4 the sound is MUCH higher because Villa Perosa fires more bullets than the MG-42
You can see what I'm saying here:
ua-cam.com/video/WLFA8VXVkRQ/v-deo.html
how the fuck does a soldier hold this in BF1?
It has a pistol grip in the BF1 version
that version is for planes, it need the proper emplacement
Panda King Beersy I'm wondering why in BF1 this gun has 25bullets only even if 25 is not divisible by 2 and it actually should have 50 bullets^^
Kev Messer It's likely to simplify the UI. Programing to specially show two separate magazines is just a waste of time if they can just say it is one.
Kev Messer I guess that had to make it less over powered than it already it.
Wouldn't mind seeing that bike rig setup show up in BF1.
Isn' t these the mounted gun in Indiana Jones 3 ?
A prop gun made to look like this, yes.
Thank you Ian.
"11 o'clock!"
"What happens at 11 o'clock?"
That was the first thing that came in my mind
Exactly what came to my mind when I saw it. Had to re-look it up to make sure. In the movie it's actually to Berreta Model 38/42s rigged upside down.
The Villar Perosa has got to be one of the most badass weapon ever manufactured.
"Son, I'm sorry, but they got us."
Reference game incredibly on point.
Lightbringer Cosplay daaaaaaaaamn, you beat me to it.......
The hollyweird substitute for a mg17 is hilarious but I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that substitution! Cheers
Long live Sean Connery and Harrison Ford!
DAD! ARE WE HIT?
@@domandriacchi9082
"... More or lesh..."
Thanks to this channel, I realize I now need a bicycle mounted machine gun.
Well the Village Perosa isn't really "forgotten" anymore. Battlefield 1 has it and they made it kinda unrealistic to what it's like in real life. The gun doesn't have a shoulder stock, but it somehow doesn't have that much recoil.
***** Still. If you actually use this gun for its original purpose (anti aircraft), it does around 2-5 damage to an aircraft if you fire both magazines.
Dillon C Keep in mind in BF1 you're firing a 9mm submachine gun from the ground at planes. Planes that are in the sky. That's not the guns intended use, it was designed to be fired from aircraft at aircraft, not from the ground.
***** They should've put the gun in the gunner seat of planes. It would be cool just to get close to enemy aircraft and fire 50 rounds in their backside, reload and do it all again. The other LMGs are kinda boring on the planes.
***** I could also imagine them allowing you to choose your gunner weapon between the normal LMG and then this gun in Battlefield 1.
Swamp Dump I know, but planes were made from wood and weak materials back then. A few 9mm bullets would sink right into the plane.
I've seen photos of WWI aircraft with those little twin mount guns... NEVER knew what type they were... until now. Thank you!
Damn that bicycle with this gun is one of the most scariest thing I've seen!
Lots of clever and practical design ideas went into this little gun! The fact that there has been better ideas since (or before) does not detract from that.
And the smart transport box...you could become attached to this beauty of a firearm.Stunning!
Well done Ian,,,first rate chat.
I'm pretty sure I've seen pictures of this on a ring mount for the observer. I always thought that I wasn't seeing it right because it was just too small. So glad to see this!
it's pretty interesting watching those videos and learn the technology that they where using in WW1! i mean they had to figure out so many patents like this one that is pretty simple yet effective! cool video
I'm here from battlefield 1. Now I keep watching all these videos.
So simple yet solid as a rock and tiny. I actually like it.
a sentry kit is nearby on your position
Excellent video. Especially enjoyed the image of a 2,500rpm SMG mounted on a bicycle haha
Only to be fired whilst going Downhill...
all its missing is some badass armor and a grenade and you're good.
DASH89ER *Don't forget the club.
For being one of the very first SMG's, I gotta say they did a fantastic job on designing it. I really don't see anything totally wrong with any of its design, other than I'd say the way you look down the sights would probably be nearly impossible in action.
Amazing that it took them two years to figure out about adding a stock to it.
They did not figure it late becase they were dumb, but because the Villar Perosas became useless later
It had a tripode or it was lean on the trench with the shield so a tripode was not needed
How so? Did you miss the part that it was an aircraft machine gun?
That's a cute machine gun. It's like something you would see in a war movie about a dwarf detachment with tiny motorcycles and sidecars.
How exactly did this weapon fire so damn quickly?
Light bolt and heavy mainspring.
Forgotten Weapons does it matter if you fire standard 9mm para instead of glisenti ian?
Also magazines mounted on top so rounds enter chamber much faster, the villar was pretty innovative for a machine gun in 1915
“Look, someone glued together two Sten Guns with the magazines pointing up!”
I never realized how small they are
Kane Rises that's just because its a pistol cartridge
Me too.
I think this whole setup is so Italian, and beautiful. I really want this piece, but I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Buffalo Bill Center?.........put the fucking lotion in the basket!
The historical figure, not the film character
Dayne Nelson it's a joke dude
As you explained, this gun isn't that bad considering the use for which it was made. In air warfare if you have a second on target, that is a long time. If you consider that some of the WWI aircraft, especially the early ones, were pushers that placed the observer/gunner in the front of the airplane, this weapon makes pretty good sense.
The interrupter gear, or more accurately, the propeller position trigger mechanism made smaller, more nimble single seat fighters dominate over the two seaters.
is it just me or does he talk about every gun in BF1
Where do you think the game designers did their research?
Lol BF1 is too much
Kornel Cajka
Many UA-cam's does that. Simple history, C&Rsenal, and so many other.
World War One in general has become very popular, since bf1 came out.
Kornel Cajka Yeah,no such thing as WW1 weapons exists.
Kornel Cajka yes you fucking genius that's because every gun from battlefield 1 is old, collectible, famous, etc. you're obviously not a gun person
This is the true Italian 9mm 'Fiat' amidst all anti-aircraft machine guns fitted to aircrafts from the beginning to the end of the First World War. Apart from the Villa-Perosa SMG with a really small total ammunition capacity, this compact and well-made weapon posed a threat to first-time pilots armed with revolvers or completely unarmed members of the aristocracy who expressed their displeasure with aircraft that were armed, either by waving their fists overhead and other gestures. Descendants of noble families, with romantic views of a new type of army - aviation, with yet unexplored combat roles and capabilities. But some pilots really enjoyed being members of the new branch of the armed forces. Just before the war, the aristocracy saw flying as their own new pastime, and when the war broke out they saw their squadrons as the last refuge of "true chivalry, courage, sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct" in complete madness. We are talking about characters who most likely thought that it should be enough to outwit the opponent with flying skills, and when you get on his tail, the "loser" would have to greet the "winner" like a real officer and a real gentleman and fly to the home airport. And I guess, because of the humiliation he suffered, he should supposedly never fly again. Except after the war. From the bullets that the pilots will soon start firing at them, most of these romantics will close their eyes forever. But ordinary men, who were certainly not made of the stuff that "separates the gentlemen from the rest," quickly learned most of the secrets of air combat. That's why these young guys could quickly learn to keep their eyes wide open and constantly scan the entire sky.. Because the side with the height advantage can turn that height into speed and when they decide to attack, these guys have a better chance of winning. Only with these advantages. Be the first to see the enemy, then approach it from the direction of the Sun and attack it so that each pilot chooses one plane to attack. If the enemy has more agile planes and great pilots, you can always break contact with the enemy with the speed accumulated while you were diving...
The reloader would have a hell of a job since each magazine would empty in about a second.
These were still in use during the second world war. Italian units in the CSIR ( corpo spedicion Italia en Russo) were issued a number of these guns, and there are pictures of them in use with a bipods.
my father found this machine gun with metal detector:)
I metal detect too. Tell us the story!
Orkel2 near Asiago 20 years ago,you found where?
Nicolò 91 No I mean I metal detect as a hobby. I haven't found this gun (just a lot of coins), but as a fellow metal detector I was curious about your story. I detect in Finland
che culo vorrei trovare anche io cose del genere con il metal detector
nonsapevo comechiamarmi eheh devi andare in posti poco conosciuti di sicuro ce ne sono altre:)
Along with the FG-42, MG-81, The Villar Perosa, is on my top 10 list of all time favorites. Thanks for posting this fascinating video
I wonder why they did not simply take the pairs apart, mount them on shoulder stocks, and use them as two individual submachine guns. Seems to me that burst ROF could have been quite useful at times, even if a bit fast for others.
Ultimately, that's exactly what they did.
Ahh, good to know that they did SOMETHING that made sense in WWI. Especially in Italy.
AnimeSunglasses What do you mean exactly when saying "especially in Italy" ?
I've been watching the channel The Great War a lot.
The phrase "Cadorna was an IDIOT" has been recurring.
AnimeSunglasses Cadorna was an idiot, not Italy. Sadly, the leaders of the nation dodn't understand that they had to take care of the troops, but thry did also good things. The defeat of Caporetto was the Cadorna fault, ok, but the only Italian fault was to not understand that Cadorna was not suited for that war...
Always something unique and awesome on this channel. Thanks for all that you do!
Excellent vid, thanks! Any chance for you to make a video review of the OVP M1918 SMG in the near future?
I just have to find one first... :)
Good point. I just thought you were able to get your hands on one at the Beretta Museum last month...
The Charging levers and mag releases are awesome.
Shoutout to my Isonzo players in 2022.
Avanti Savoia to you too.
What a cute little machine gun. I kind of like that sight. I might make one on some homemade garage build sometime.
so OP
Sí
this is a very odd and very cool gun. I like that on the mag's the backs are open so you can easily see how much amount you have.
Is this a functional example?
Yes.
+Forgotten Weapons Realy? OMG, no safety check before pushing triggers!!!
Just kidding🍻
Yay, just came home. Right on schedule.
I bet this guy's views has exponentially increased since Battlefield 1 released. I search for a weapon used in BF1 and pretty much all of them are this guy
Ians been around and producing high quality content for years. If it takes a goddamn video game of all things to finally boost his popularity then so be it.
sergeantbigmac I first saw his PAK 43 75mm gun video. Best video ever!
I LOVE that little gun, wish I had one for mounting on my RV, can you imagine the response to road rage with one of those in I40?
Lots of battlefield 1 fans coming in
Sí
Blows my mind some of the cool stuff that’s on UA-cam.
So tiny and simple! Was it at all "reliable"?
Yeah, quite reliable
"unstoppable" is more appropriate. The italians produced 14.564 MGs and 836 millions of rounds for them, so more than 57.000 rounds for weapon, or almost 29.000 rounds for barrel. Obviously they had not all been fired during the war, but that gives you the figures.
Robert
It's crudely simple ._.
+Neutron Alchemist Are you sure all of that ammunition was meant only for these MG's? As far as i understood it's chamebered in a pistol cartridge, the same as the standard Italian one of the time.
Vuk Bozic Yeah, but those pistols were not destined to the whole army. They were used only by the officiers, and not all of them. the Glisenti 1910, and later the Beretta 1915 were chambered in 9mm glisenti. But many officers were still armed with the Bodeo 1888 and the revolver Tettoni in 10.35mm Italian. Many others used the Ruby semiauto in .32 ACP. I would be very surprised if the pistols fired more than half a million Glisenti rounds in the whole war.
I´ve been waiting for a closer look on this gun for years. Great video Ian!
This gun is so over powered in battle field 1
EasyOrange see a sentry,it's time to spam gas hehehe
You sure? The reload speed is litterally a nightmare and the guns fire rate and ammo capacity only means that it'll generally be able to down two enemies at a time for a typical player.
perosa is op
Andrew Heard Did you ever get in a 1v1 vs a perosa
Gesperrt i had 1v1 against sentry kit mg32. With the villar a magazine was enough to kill him , and he had most of his life
Battlefield 1?
You've probably come across it before that!
Try Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...
oh shit when in the movie?
Mrjonnyea
On the biplane: Jones Snr uses it to shoot away the tail.
+Sam Russell That's exactly the scene I thought of lol, and yet for some reason my mind still didn't realize this gun was the one he used.
Sam Russell those are berretas.
@@majorboogimos2249 yes but mocked up to look like VPs.
That whole kit is so badass, wish I had the money to get my hands on one of those.
This was the gun they used in the BiPlane VS Me109 scene in the third Indiana Jones movie. I am sure of it.
It was a prop gun made of Beretta 38s.
Thanks for clearing that up. I always wondered why the gun(s) in the movie had mags out the top. I couldn't believe they were actually magazines and had to have been weird mounts of some sort.
This is an _excellent_ video on the Villar, and I'm very happy you explained things a lot better than the various books (like Hogg's) books where they ponder over rationalizing this particular firearm.
Why do many antique guns have such long ranges on the sights? Seems like a 9mm would be somewhat ineffective at 500 meters.
true
It's kinda like the sights on the Mosin Nagant. IMO it is simply wishful thinking for a average soldier to hit shots at the kinds of distances that some of those old sights go up to
Evan Doyle One theory is that it was for rifleman to shoot "volley" style, like archer regiments. But then again many pistols had ladders sights. Another theory is that is was just the manufacturers trying to promise more range. I'm not sure, maybe just wishful thinking?
WhisperingDomination Mosins max out at about 8-1000m, but I secretly want to try hitting something at 2000m maxed sights because, Russia I guess..
Well aviation combat at the era this was employed where maintained at distances of about 2-20m in acrobatic esc dogfighting.
This gun made sense to use early in the war it wasent till as mentioned it was outdated synchronized MGs.
The illustration for this gun in "the world's worst weapons" made it look MUCH bigger.
Why not simply split it in two ag give them to a couple of soldiers?
They did it, the beretta ovp and the beretta automatico m1918
Goks The giggly Goks That's for the video game nerds out there to understand what the gun is.
HockeyCrab exactly I generally call it MAB 18 or Beretta M1918 the name automatico is totally invented.
An amazingly graceful and efficient design. Thanks for sharing.
The small magazines seem poorly thought out for a weapon developed as an aircraft weapon.
K'nextreme Productions 50 rounds seems fine to me. At the time that the gun was under development, the idea of large scale dogfighting that would come in a few years wasn't even a thought. The gun was designed under the idea that observers using a plane may encounter an enemy observer, not 50 enemy fighters. So, believing that the enemy would only be one plane at a time, it fit the role. Also, very large capacity magazines that were reliable were almost nonexistent at the time. Having a 25 round magazine that functioned well was a feat in itself
K'nextreme Productions
3:31 here the guy explains the logic behind the small magazines... wich under a dogfight perspective makes totally sense... did you even watch the video?
Extended 50 rounds magazines were used by the aerial SMGs. However this gun has never been designed to be an aircraft SMG. It only happened that the first 350 samples (of over 14.000 produced) had been given to the Air Force (that, at that time, was a branch of the Army) cause the Army wanted the weapon ready to be mass produced first to start to field it. The MGs used on the aircrafts had a different mounting, without the round plate and with normal aerial sights. The round plate was intended to be used on the field with the shield. When used with the shield, the plate was integral part of the protection, and the hole sight was the only opening in it.
As for the rate of fire, it serves the same purpose of the 1200 rpm ROF of the MG-42. they both had not been designed for suppression fire (heavy MGs were intended for that role), but to cover obligatory passages (through the barbed wires, or the mountain trails) and fire only when you actually see the enemy. Since the enemy is no stupid, he is visible only for a brief time, and, for this, a huge ROF is required to hit him.
In 1916 Capt. Bassi, creator of the Arditi, begun to use it, without the shield, to clear the enemy trenches. A stretch ot trench is 20m long at best. With a single burst of the Villar Perosa you can saturate it without even seeing. That's useful, since the assaults were often performed at night.
All those curved and rounded pieces, that almost clockwork-like sight mechanism; MP-18,I looks vintage, but this thing here, it looks *antique*
Synchronization gears existed and were used in 1915. The First World War started in 1914. that is probably less than a year from outbreak to the use of a synchronization gears. Not to mention the French and Royal Flying Corps used deflector wedges, or propeller guards that would deflect bullets off the prop before synchronization gears. I am not entirely sure how accurate you are when you say that a 9mm round could easily destroy an airplane. A lot of people call first world war planes extremely flimsy which I would agree with, but they still took a surprising amount of hits before going down. I apologize in advance if I have taken this the wrong way, but what i am hearing is that you think a 9mm could down an aircraft just as proficiently as an IMG 08. This is a gross over exaggeration.
Decibel
I think the point is more that you can easily get a bullet to penetrate so it can theoretically do damage.
If I remember correctly, the advantage of the wood and canvas construction was that bullets passing through were relatively harmless unless they hit internals, which was unlikely. There is no spalling or deformation.
I understand the argument. My problem is that I see this review as an attempt to grant the Villar Perosa relevance, when it was simply a conceptual design that theoretically made some sense, but was not widely implemented. It appears that he attempts to pass the Villar Perosa off as a viable dogfighting weapon at a time when synchronization gears existed (they existed in 1915, a quick google search will provide you with this basic information). To quote the video: "In 1915 aircraft in World War One were still pretty early; at that point you didn't really have the heavy, synchronized, belt-fed forward facing machine guns on aircraft. They hadn't developed synchronizers yet." Therefore, he is blatantly spreading misinformation to an audience that will simply take his word for it. From the basic understanding of aircraft during WWI (which i doubt he is a specialist on, so this can be forgiven), to guns and weapons systems (which he should be extremely familiar with considering his position, his job, and that he is doing a video about a weapon) he appears misinformed and that is obviously a poor quality when attempting to educate people on a certain topic and that the popularity he is receiving is because of a video game he apparently did the research for. This looks bad on him, Forgotten Weapons, and DICE. Thanks for the reply, I realize I can come off as off putting, but i am simply just passionate about military history, a topic I have been studying for years.
Don't tell me to settle down and belittle my arguments in reference to an inaccurate and unsubstiative assumption of my age. I can comment on my grievances with the video all I want, especially when I support my argument with easily accessible evidence. What you fail to understand from my comment is that I am questioning his comments and explanations of available technology, and the widespread use of the aforementioned technology. The Villar Perosa was not widespread, so making generalizations on an assumption of widespread use is incorrect. Look up the Fokker E. III, it was built in 1915, saw widespread use by the Germans and the Austro-Hungarians, and used synchronization gears. This was one of the first true fighter aircraft. About 250 of them were built; this is widespread use.
This gun has never been designed to be an aircraft SMG. It only happened that the first 350 samples (of over 14.000 produced) had been given to the Air Force (that, at that time, was a branch of the Army) cause the Army wanted the weapon ready to be mass produced first to start to field it. The MGs used on the aircrafts had a different mounting, without the round plate and with normal aerial sights. The round plate was intended to be used on the field with the shield. When used with the shield, the plate was integral part of the protection, and the hole sight was the only opening in it.
Its rate of fire serves the same purpose of the 1200 rpm ROF of the MG-42. they both had not been designed for suppression fire (heavy MGs were intended for that role), but to cover obligatory passages (through the barbed wires, or the mountain trails) and fire only when you actually see the enemy. Since the enemy is no stupid, he is visible only for a brief time, and, for this, a huge ROF is required to hit him.
In 1916 Capt. Bassi, creator of the Arditi, begun to use it, without the shield, to clear the enemy trenches. A stretch ot trench is 20m long at best. With a single burst of the Villar Perosa you can saturate it without even seeing. That's useful, since the assaults were often performed at night.
+Decibel (Late reply) The Italian use the French synchronization gear for their aircraft in WWI, and the first French gear didn't go into production after mid 1916. Please check your facts first.
When I saw the title of the video I was like "Oh, that's the weird double SMG thingy I've seen in my books!" and when I started watching I was like ".... it's TINY!" I apparently forgot how to google..
could standard 9mm or 9mm luger run through this?
No.
Forgotten Weapons
Damn, you respond quick.
A Sentry kit has been located in your location
Muhammad Faza *Gets killed by bayonet charger*
Impressive in its simplicity, but elaborate in its construction.
It's like you predicted what guns would be in bf1
Kristhopher Ramos it's almost as if these guns were used in ww1
Silent T I wasn't talking about if they were used in the actual war, I'm surprised he made videos on those specific weapons.
I know right?? Its almost like he runs a channel called ForgottenWeapons and has done literally hundreds of videos on guns from this era. Crazy coincidence right?