- "OVP" redirects here. For the company, see RIV.
The Revelli automatic rifle (Italian: Moschetto Automatico Revelli), also known as the OVP (sometimes incorrectly attributed as the OVP 1918), was an Italian submachine gun that was produced by Officine di Villar Perosa.
History[]
The Revelli was developed from the Villar Perosa twin-barreled machine gun, which had seen use by the Italian Army during World War II. The Italian High Command requested a single-barreled infantry carbine version of the Villar Perosa; their request was fulfilled by Beretta who developed the M1918 in early 1918. Revelli's previous prototype, the FIAT, had been rejected by the Italian Army, so he decided to develop a new take on the concept.
This new gun was developed in the 1920s and was offered for commercial export. Since the term "submachine gun" had not been coined, it was marketed as the "Revelli automatic rifle". Throughout the 1920s, Abiel Revelli took the weapon to various countries to demonstrate it, and it was investigated by the British Army, among others. However, sales were few and it failed to gain traction, so it was never produced in large quantities.
The Revelli saw some combat usage by during the Italo-Ethiopian War in 1935. It continued to be used in a limited capacity in the North African campaign during World War II, although it was issued in substantially fewer numbers than the Beretta Model 38.
Design[]
The Revelli was a blowback-operated submachine gun and internally functioned identically to the Villar Perosa, from which it was made. The cocking system was redesigned as a wrap-around sleeve that ran along the length of the receiver. Like the Villar Perosa, the Revelli fed through 25-round top-fed magazines; due to the magazine placement, the sights were offset to the left side. The rear sight consisted of a two-stage notch.
Gallery[]
References[]
- The World's Submachine Guns, Nelson & Lockhoven, 1963
- Modern Firearms, Cadiou & Richard, 1975
- Infantry Weapons of World War II, J. Suermondt, 2004
- Weapon, R. Holmes, 2006
- The Illustrated World Encyclopedia of Guns, Fowler & North, 2011
External links[]
| |||||||||||