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| 8mm Breda vs. 8mm Mauser |
| 8x59mm Breda, Italian Machine Gun Cartridge |
| The 8x59mm Breda cartridge was introduced in 1935 for the 1937 Italian Breda Model 38 machine-gun. The 8mm Breda replaced the 6.5x52mm Mannlicher- Carcano as a more effective machine gun cartridge. |
| It is easy to mistake this cartridge for the popular 8mm German Mauser, as it is only app. 1/10" longer, and has a .023" thicker base diameter at the top of the extractor groove. Also, note the bottleneck is app. .097" higher than the 8mm Mauser. The 8mm Breda has a slightly rebated rim. On my micrometer, the projectile diameter on the 8mm Breda was 8.28mm vs 8.08mm on a 8mm Mauser. |
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| Please see different variations below: |
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| 8mm Mauser |
| 8mm Breda |
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| .SMI 941 Head Stamp, 1941, Dark, almost black, lacquered steel case, with copper clad steel projectile. 3 Crimp Primer. SMI: denotes Societa Metallurgica Italiana Military Arsenal |
| SMI 940 Head Stamp, 1940 Brass case, with copper clad steel projectile. SMI: denotes Societa Metallurgica Italiana Military Arsenal |
| $ 3.75 per Cartridge |
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| $ 3.75 per Cartridge |
| "BPD 37" Head Stamp, First Year! 1937 with a H/S. Brass case, with nickel clad steel projectile. BPD: denotes Bombrimi Parodi-Delfino Colleferro Italy Military Arsenal ? LIMIT ONE |
| .SMI 944 Head Stamp, 1944, light brown lacquered Steel case, with copper clad steel projectile. 3 crimped primer. SMI: denotes Societa Metallurgica Italiana Military Arsenal |
| $ 4.75 per Cartridge |
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| $ 3.75 per Cartridge |
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| $3.75 per Cartridge |
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| $4.75 per Cartridge |
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| SMI 941 Head Stamp, 1941 Brass case, with copper clad steel projectile. SMI: denotes Societa Metallurgica Italiana Military Arsenal Only a Few, Limit One. |
| SMI 938 Head Stamp, 1938 Brass case, with copper clad steel projectile. SMI: denotes Societa Metallurgica Italiana Military Arsenal Only a Few, Limit One. |
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| This Hotchkiss feed stripe was used to feed 20 rounds or more into the machine gun. They are of complicated construction and the empty cases were put back into the tray by the gun feed mechanism. So the tray was ejected from the gun complete with its 20 cases - very tidy battlefield, and cleanup. |
| More information on this gun and cartridge at the bottom of this page. |
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| It is very interesting to note that the 8mm Breda Machine Gun Cartridge isn't an 8mm at all, but a 8.28 mm, which is more then the .325" caliber (.325" projectile is 8.21mm) this maybe why no other firearm has ever been chambered in this caliber for production made firearms. |
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| We would like to thank all the IAA Forum members that helped us on the information on this page. If you like ammunition please join the IAA |