Bodeo Model 1889

Last updated
Bodeo Model 1889
Italy revolver, Modello 1889, Pistola a Rotazione, System Bodeo, Caliber 10.35 mm, made in 1918 - National World War I Museum - Kansas City, MO - DSC07468.JPG
A Bodeo Model 1889, with folding trigger.
Type Service revolver
Place of origin Kingdom of Italy
Service history
Used by Royal Italian Army
Wars Italo-Turkish War
Boxer Rebellion
World War I
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
Spanish Civil War
World War II
Production history
Produced1889 to c. 1931
Specifications
Mass950 g (2 lb 2 oz)
Length232 mm (9.1 in)
Barrel  length115 mm (4.5 in)

Cartridge 10.35mm Ordinanza Italiana
Action [[Single Action]
Muzzle velocity 256 m/s (840 ft/s) [1]
Feed system6 round cylinder
SightsFixed iron sights

The Bodeo Model 1889 (Italian : Pistola a Rotazione, Sistema Bodeo, Modello 1889) was an Italian revolver named after the head of the Italian firearm commission, Carlo Bodeo. It was produced by a wide variety of manufacturers between 1889 and 1931 in both Spain and Italy. The Bodeo was employed by the Royal Italian Army in World War I, the Interwar Italian colonial wars, and World War II. The Bodeo was manufactured in three distinct varieties, the Tipo A for Enlisted soldiers, the Tipo B for Officers.

Contents

History

Made by a large variety of Italian gun-makers, the Bodeo became the service revolver of the Italian Army in 1891. [2] The revolver was named after the head of the Italian commission that recommended its adoption, Carlo Bodeo. [3] It remained the principle handgun of the Italian Army until it was increasingly supplanted by the Glisenti Model 1910. [2] The revolver was never declared obsolete and remained as a reserve weapon until the end of World War II. [4] The Italian manufacturers identified with the production of the Bodeo include: Societa Siderurgica Glisenti, Castelli of Brescia, Metallurgica Bresciana, and Vincenzo Bernardelli of Gardone Val Trompia. [5] During World War I, Spanish manufacturers Errasti and Arrostegui of Eibar produced the Bodeo for the Italian government. [5] The Italians nicknamed this revolver coscia d’agnello ("leg of lamb"). During World War II, the Wehrmacht designated the Bodeo as Revolver 680(i) when utilized as an alternative firearm. [6]

Design details

The Bodeo Model 1889 is a solid-framed, six-shot revolver. [5] The barrel, the cylinder, the trigger components, the loading gate, the ejection rod, the springs and the screws were made in steel; while the frame, the backplate, and the ejection rod collar were made of iron. An external hammer block drop safety was designed and retrofitted to many revolvers in 1894, though this external hammer block safety was replaced with an internal safety during an arsenal refinishing program in 1915. [7] Prior to World War I, the infantry version of the Bodeo was originally produced "in the white". The Italians underwent a program to arsenal refinish many revolvers in 1915, with changes including bluing the revolvers and installation of an internal hammer block drop safety. Later models of the Bodeo were blued from the factory. [8]

Variations

The revolver was designed in two distinct versions: The Type A Enlisted model, with an octagonal-barreled version with a folding trigger; and a Type B officer's model, with round-barreled version designed with a trigger guard, [3] The octagonal-barreled version was produced for rank and file Italian soldiers, while the round-barreled version was produced for non-commissioned officers and field officers. [5] The folding trigger version was produced in greater numbers. [4]

1890 Production Tipo A Bodeo with correct in the white finish and external safety Sistema bodeo.jpg
1890 Production Tipo A Bodeo with correct in the white finish and external safety
WW1 Production Tipo A Bodeo with internal hammer block safety and blued finish Bodeo Holster.jpg
WW1 Production Tipo A Bodeo with internal hammer block safety and blued finish

The Type A Enlisted model has an 4.5" octagonal barrel with a distinctive iconic folding trigger. This variation was first produced by the Royal Arms Factory at Brescia from 1889–1891, then, by Glisenti at Brescia from 1891–1906. Early production Bodeo revolvers were produced in the white (i.e., unfinished), and will have an external hammer block safety. [8] Production was paused until the Italo-Turkish war in 1911, when production was resumed by Toschi e Castelli. Upon entering World War I in 1915, the Italians contracted with many private producers to produce Bodeo revolvers, including Toschi e Castelli, Mida Gia a Castelli, and Mida Brescia. The Italians also contracted several Spanish firms from Eibar to produce Bodeo Tipo A revolvers during the war. Later Italo-Turkish War and World War I variants of the Tipo A revolver will have an internal hammer block safety. Many early production Bodeo revolvers from pre-war production were arsenal re-blued and retrofitted with the internal hammer safety in 1915 in preparation for Italy's entrance to the war. [8] Production of Tipo A revolvers continued after the war until the late 1920s for a total production of approximately 300,000. All Italian manufactured Tipo A revolvers have a year of manufacture stamped on the left side of the frame, while some Eibar-contracted revolvers lack this year marking. [8]

The Tipo B Revolvers can be distinguished from Tipo A revolvers by the presence of a trigger guard. This variation was manufactured by many firms both before and after World War I, and many Tipo B revolvers were adopted for use by local police forces, as well as the Italian custom's officers. [9]


Design details

The Bodeo Model 1889 is a solid-framed, six-shot revolver. [5] The barrel, the cylinder, the trigger components, the loading gate, the ejection rod, the springs and the screws were made in steel; while the frame, the backplate, and the ejection rod collar were made of iron. An external hammer block drop safety was designed and retrofitted to many revolvers in 1894, though this external hammer block safety was replaced with an internal safety during an arsenal refinishing program in 1915. [10] Prior to World War I, the infantry version of the Bodeo was originally produced "in the white". The Italians underwent a program to arsenal refinish many revolvers in 1915, with changes including bluing the revolvers and installation of an internal hammer block drop safety. Later models of the Bodeo were blued from the factory. [8]


Mechanics

The Bodeo was considered simple and robust. [3] Due to the revolver being produced by a multitude of manufacturers, the quality of the weapon varied greatly, with the early production models made by the Brescia Arsenal and Glisenti Brescia between 1889-1906 showing much greater workmanship and quality than wartime production models.

Frames were made from a wide variety of materials ranging from brass to brazed copper plates. [11] The loading gate was connected to the hammer via the Abadie patent [4] with the barrel screwed into the frame. [3] Ejection was achieved by the rod normally housed in the hollow axis pin. [3] The hammer block was designed to prevent firing unless the trigger was fully cocked. [4]

Users

Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg  Kingdom of Italy

Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Nazi Germany (Designated as Revolver 680(i).)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolver</span> Firearm with a cylinder holding cartridges

A revolver is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six cartridges, before needing to be reloaded, revolvers are commonly called six shooters or sixguns. Due to their rotating cylinder mechanism, they may also be called wheel guns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colt Single Action Army</span> Service revolver

The Colt Single Action Army is a single-action revolver handgun. It was designed for the U.S. government service revolver trials of 1872 by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company and was adopted as the standard-issued pistol of the U.S. Army from 1873 to 1892.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colt Anaconda</span> Revolver

The Colt Anaconda is a large frame double-action revolver featuring a full length under-barrel ejection-rod lug and six round cylinder, designed and produced by the Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1990. Chambered for the powerful .44 Magnum and .45 Colt centerfire ammunition cartridges, the Anaconda marked the Hartford, Connecticut firm's first foray into the popular large-bore Magnum pistol market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethan Allen (armsmaker)</span> American Arms maker

Ethan Allen was a major American arms maker from Massachusetts. He is unrelated to the revolutionary Ethan Allen. His first firearm, the "Pocket rifle" was developed in 1836, and his first patent was granted in 1837.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mannlicher M1894</span> Semi-automatic pistol

The Mannlicher M1894 was an early blow-forward semi-automatic pistol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walther P38</span> Type of semi-automatic pistol

The Walther P38 is a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol that was developed by Carl Walther GmbH as the service pistol of the Wehrmacht at the beginning of World War II. It was intended to replace the comparatively complex and expensive to produce Luger P08. Moving the production lines to the more easily mass producible P38 once World War II started took longer than expected, leading to the P08 remaining in production until September 1942 and copies remained in service until the end of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beretta M1918</span> Carbine, Submachine gun (MIDA prototype)

The Moschetto Automatico Revelli-Beretta Mod. 1915 was a self-loading carbine that entered service in 1918 with the Italian Armed Forces. Designed as a semi-automatic carbine, the weapon came with an overhead inserted magazine, an unconventional design based on the simplicity of allowing a spent round to be replaced using assistance from gravity. The gun was made from half of a Villar-Perosa aircraft submachine gun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrington & Richardson</span> Firearms brand

Harrington & Richardson Arms Company is an American brand of firearms and a subsidiary of JJE Capital Holdings. H&R ceased independent production February 27, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smith & Wesson Model 15</span> Revolver

The Smith & Wesson Model 15, initially the Smith & Wesson K-38 Combat Masterpiece, is a six-shot double-action revolver with adjustable open sights produced by Smith & Wesson on the medium-size "K" frame. It is chambered for the .38 Special cartridge and is fitted with a 4-inch (100 mm) barrel, though additional barrel options have been offered at various times during its production. It is essentially a shorter barrel version of the Smith & Wesson Model 14 and an adjustable-sight version of the seminal Smith & Wesson Model 10 with target shooting features.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remington Model 1858</span> Revolver

The Remington-Beals Model Revolvers along with subsequent models and variations were percussion revolvers manufactured by Eliphalet Remington & Sons in .31 (Pocket) .36 (Navy) or .44 (Army) caliber, used during the American Civil War, and was the beginning of a successful line of medium and large frame pistols. They are commonly, though inaccurately, referred to as the Model 1858 due to the patent markings on its New Model barrels, "PATENTED SEPT. 14, 1858/E. REMINGTON & SONS, ILION, NEW YORK, U.S.A./NEW MODEL."; although wide scale production did not start until 1861.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Handgun</span> Short-barreled firearm designed to be held and used with one hand

A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun which needs to be held by both hands and braced against the shoulder. Handguns have shorter effective ranges compared to long guns, and are much harder to shoot accurately. While most early handguns are single-shot pistols, the two most common types of handguns used in modern times are revolvers and semi-automatic pistols, although other handguns such as derringers and machine pistols also see infrequent usage.

Llama Firearms, officially known as Llama-Gabilondo y Cia SA, was a Spanish arms company founded in 1904 under the name Gabilondo and Urresti. Its headquarters were in Eibar in the Basque Country, Spain, but they also had workshops during different times in Elgoibar and Vitoria. The company manufactured moderate-priced revolvers and self-chambering pistols in a wide variety of models. These were popular mainly in the European and Latin American export market, as well as domestically in Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colt New Service</span> Revolver

The Colt New Service is a large frame, large caliber, double-action revolver made by Colt from 1898 until 1941. Made in various calibers, the .45 Colt version with a 5½" barrel, was adopted by the U.S. Armed Forces as the Model 1909.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glisenti Model 1910</span> Service pistol

The Glisenti Model 1910 was a 9 mm calibre semi-automatic service pistol produced by the Italian company Società Siderurgica Glisenti. It was put in production in 1910 to replace the aging Bodeo Model 1889. It saw extensive service in World War I and World War II with the Royal Italian Army. The Model 1910 has a complex and weak firing system which mandates that the pistol ought to use weaker cartridges than pistols of comparable calibre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MAS 1873 revolver</span> Service Revolver

The service revolver model 1873 Chamelot-Delvigne was the first double-action revolver used by the French Army. It was produced by Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne from 1873 to 1887 in about 337,000 copies. Although replaced by the Modele 1892 revolver, it was nevertheless widely used during the First World War and issued to reserve units in 1940. The French Resistance made widespread use of it during the German occupation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tranter (revolver)</span> Revolver

The Tranter revolver was a double-action cap & ball revolver invented around 1856 by English firearms designer William Tranter (1816–1890). Originally operated with a special dual-trigger mechanism later models employed a single-trigger mechanism much the same as that found in the contemporary Beaumont–Adams revolver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smith & Wesson Model 1 1/2</span> Revolver

The Smith & Wesson Model 1+12 was Smith & Wesson's second .32 caliber revolver, intended to combine the small size and convenience of the .22 caliber Model 1 with the larger caliber of the 6-shot "belt sized" Model 2, which was introduced in 1861. Chambered in .32 Rimfire, its cylinder held 5 shots. It was produced in three varieties from 1865 through 1892, with total production exceeding 223,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smith & Wesson Model 2</span> Revolver

The Smith & Wesson Model 2, also referred to as the Smith & Wesson .38 Single Action, was a .38 caliber revolver produced in both single and double action by Smith & Wesson. The manufacturer's first of that caliber, its 5-shot cyclinder was chambered in .38 S&W. The single-action was produced in three varieties from 1876 through 1911, with total production exceeding 223,000 units; the double-action in three variants from 1880 to 1913, with total sales somewhat under one-million guns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lefaucheux M1854</span> Pinfire revolver

In 1854, Frenchman Eugene Lefaucheux introduced the Lefaucheux Model 1854, notable as being the first revolver to use self-contained metallic cartridges rather than loose powder, pistol ball, and percussion caps. The M1854 model was a single-action, pinfire revolver holding six rounds. It was a French military revolver chambered for the 12 mm pinfire cartridge, based on a design by Casimir Lefaucheux. The M1854 revolver spawned numerous variants, some of which were produced under license in other countries. It was widely exported during the 1860s and sold as both a military and civilian sidearm with either a short or long barrel. Most military models were produced only as single-action weapons, whereas civilian models were made primarily as double-action weapons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beretta Model 1915</span> Italian semi-automatic pistol

The Beretta Model 1915 or Beretta M1915 is a semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Beretta, designed by Tullio Marengoni who was the chief engineer in the company, to replace the Glisenti Model 1910 which had a complex and weak firing mechanism. It is the first semi-automatic pistol, manufactured by the company, and issued as a service pistol in Royal Italian Army during World War I. The total production of the Beretta M1915 is estimated about 350 during 1915-1918, and about 480 of Beretta M1915/1917. Some of the pistols were also used in World War II until 1945. Its open slide design later became the characteristic for other Beretta pistols such as Beretta M1923, Beretta M1934, Beretta M1935, Beretta M1951, Beretta 70, Beretta 92, Beretta Cheetah, and Beretta M9.

References

  1. Miller, David (2007). Fighting Men of World War II, Volume I: Axis Forces--Uniforms, Equipment, and Weapons (Fighting Men of World War II). Stackpole Books. p. 348. ISBN   978-0-8117-0277-5.
  2. 1 2 Hogg, Ian, Pistols of the World 4th Edition (2004) p. 49
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 McNab, Chris, The Great Book of Guns (2004) p. 105
  4. 1 2 3 4 Hogg, Ian, Military Small Arms of the 20th Century 7th Edition (2000) p. 59
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Hogg, Ian, Pistols of the World 4th Edition (2004) p. 50
  6. Luciano Salvatici. Pistole Militari Italiane
  7. Pettinelli, Ruggero F. (2015). Bodeo 1889. Il revolver degli italiani. Edisport Editoriale. p. 36. ISBN   978-8888593579.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Pettinelli, Ruggero F. (2015). Bodeo 1889. Il revolver degli italiani. Edisport Editoriale. p. 40. ISBN   978-8888593579.
  9. Pettinelli, Ruggero F. (2015). Bodeo 1889. Il revolver degli italiani. Edisport Editoriale. p. 78. ISBN   978-8888593579.
  10. Pettinelli, Ruggero F. (2015). Bodeo 1889. Il revolver degli italiani. Edisport Editoriale. p. 36. ISBN   978-8888593579.
  11. Kinard, Jeff. Pistols: an illustrated history of their impact, p. 157, ABC-CLIO, Inc. 2003.