Before it ceased operations on a fateful February day in 2017, Olympic Arms, Inc.—headquartered in Olympia, WA—was known as a prime manufacturer of AR-15 variants for the civilian and law enforcement markets. Established in 1982 as the brand under which Robert C. Schuetz of SGW (Schuetzen Gun Works) manufactured and sold AR-15 derivatives, Olympic Arms established itself as an innovator. It was the first to offer free-floating aluminum handguards or pistol caliber conversions for America’s rifle; they were also the first company to experiment successfully with a redesigned upper receiver that would integrate a recoil buffer over the bolt carrier group and barrel, allowing an AR-15 to be equipped with a side-folding stock — or none at all.

Olympic Arms was also one of the first-ever manufacturers of AR-15 pistols: indeed, the aforementioned top recoil buffer allowed its OA-93, OA-96, and OA-98 pistols to do without a buffer tube behind the lower receiver. While that system did provide the basis for a good, super-compact, short-barrel rifle (the OA-93 TCP, with a side-folding stock and a 6.5-inch barrel), Olympic Arms would indeed go on to develop an SBR based on a standard AR-15 layout.

ENTER THE “STUBBY”

The reason why Olympic Arms decided to follow that road when they had a bufferless design (arguably better, albeit with room for improvement) already in production; given the short barrel length, which would make it subject to the provisions of the National Firearms Act, the 1994 assault weapons ban that was in effect back in the day was likely not a factor in the decision.

It’s more likely that the company decided to market a product that would be more appealing to military, law enforcement, and government customers by providing prompt drop-in compatibility with pre-existing, select-fire M16 or semi-automatic AR-15 lower receivers for entry/CQB operations or for close protection details. And indeed, Olympic Arms was offering 6.5-inch BBL drop-in uppers to MIL/LE customers as early as 1998.

The first factory complete SBRs based on those uppers would be launched circa 1999, dubbed the K23B “Stubby”. Built around an Olympic Arms MFR lower receiver with standard controls and chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO, the Stubby was by no means the first “micro M16” to hit the global markets – products such as the La France Specialties M16K and the M2 Corp. M16C, M16X, and M16SP had been around for a while, and that’s not mentioning Colt’s early Model 607 carbines dating as far back as 1965 – but it was definitely one of the shortest-barreled to be produced in quantities that could be considered “significant” by any standard, and was very shortly followed by other very similar competitors such as the DPMS “Kitty Kat.” For all intents and purposes, the K23B Stubby did pave the way.

SHORT AND BRUTAL

The Stubby featured an A2 upper receiver with a 6.5-inch cold-hammer forged barrel, a Smith Enterprises Vortex flash hider, an A2-style front sight equipped with a front sling swivel but no bayonet lug, and a free-float cylindrical aluminum handguard that was a short version of the version used by Olympic Arms on their line of match-grade AR-15 variants. As such, the K23B does not feature a delta ring, nor a handguard cap.

It’s worth noting that Olympic Arms was the first company to introduce a free-float handguard for the AR-15. A new flat-top version would be launched around 2004. It would come with an M4A1-type removable carry handle mounted on a top Picatinny rail and a quad-rail machined aluminum handguard, making it more compatible with the many accessories that were becoming increasingly popular back in the day… and that today we just can’t seem to do without. This last version was in production — or at least available — all the way until Olympic Arms ceased operations.

The carry handle on the Stubby was fixed and featured a familiar, A2 fully adjustable rear sight. The bolt and bolt carrier group were, likewise, standard for an A2 variant, and as such the Stubby came with a standard recoil buffer, buffer tube, and six-position collapsing stock. Manufactured out of black polymer, the stock of the Stubby was more akin in design to that of the M16A1 carbine, M733, or early the Colt Commando (XM177), but all the standard A2 features were otherwise there (including a brass deflector in front of the forward assist and some major fencing around the magazine catch.)

Of course, such a small carbine (barely 20 inches long with the stock collapsed) would suffer severe overgassing problems and timing issues without a properly tuned gas system. Olympic Arms went solved this problem with a pigtail gas tube: essentially a carbine-length gas tube shortened to PDW length by wrapping it in at least two loops around the barrel. The length that the gas has to travel to reach the gas key and push the bolt back is the same as on an 11.5-inch or 14.5-inch carbine, ideally reducing pressures to levels that guarantee sufficient reliability.

From direct experience, and experience of other users, that’s actually easier said than done. Firing a 5.56mm firearm with a 6.5-inch barrel is truly brutal in terms of concussion and muzzle blast, even outdoors, becoming particularly uncomfortable for the shooter after just a few rounds in rapid fire. Shooting it in low-light conditions or indoors will quickly become taxing to the shooter’s eyes and ears. Owners of the rare K23Bs in Italy, where this article was written, were quick to nickname it the “portable flashbang dispenser.”

Additionally, such a short barrel does not do a proper job at stabilizing ball ammo for engaging targets farther than thirty feet or so away – but that’s par for the course, the K23B was always meant for extreme CQB. Simply put, the Stubby barrel is just too short, not allowing enough time for the propellant to burn properly and for gases to reach optimal pressure levels. Trying to hit anything at 50 meters, or approximately 55 yards, is essentially a coin toss.

Finally, the pigtail gas tube is an excellent solution that reduces recoil in semi-automatic rifles and the cyclic rate of fully-automatic rifles when the barrel is at least 11.5 inches long… but on a 6.5-inch barrel, the levels of torque can easily become too high for the gas tube to bear. As such, the most commonly reported issue with the K23B is the rupture of the retaining pin, causing the gas tube to come out of the gas block and make the gun completely useless until it could be repaired.

A system such as the TwinTube, patented by Tim LaFrance for his M16K, would have been a better solution. But then again, back when the K23B came out, Olympic Arms was focusing on bufferless AR designs, and their first SBR had been such a design, with the K23B being more of an afterthought for compatibility with pre-existing M16 lowers. Something’s always gotta give.

AN OBJECT OF DESIRE

It’s quite clear that the Stubby was never a key product for Olympic Arms, but more like a footnote in their MIL/LE catalog; a version for the U.S. civilian market, dubbed the K23P and featuring a pistol-length recoil buffer and buffer tube, came to be without much success at a time when arm braces were still a long time from appearing. However, there is at least one place where the K23B has risen to an almost cult status among shooters and firearms enthusiasts: Italy. And that’s where we found the sample pictured in this article, at the Armeria Red Point gun store in Ostia, just outside of Rome.

The Stubby was approved for import and distribution on the Italian civilian market in March 2001, and it is considered a handgun by Italian law, which does not distinguish pistols from rifles by the presence of components like a buttstock or the intended shooting stance, but rather by the overall length vs. barrel length ratio (“intended to be fired from the shoulder” isn’t a thing, here.)

The Italian gun laws have been significantly improved from the year 2011 onwards, with some hiccups following the 2015 wave of terror attacks in Europe. However, back in 2001, the law (passed in 1975) assigned oversight on the Italian civilian firearm market to a central commission composed of “experts” (mostly from the military and law enforcement) with regulatory powers similar to that of the ATF in the United States and full freedom of interpretation as of what constituted a “common” firearm and what was a banned “weapon of war”, albeit somewhat tied to the National Proofing House.

The history of such a commission would warrant an article on its own. But, right now it’s sufficient to say that if it was for the mindset of the members of such commission (dissolved in 2011), the Olympic Arms Stubby would have never made it to the Italian market. As the (quite reliable) rumors have it, however, politicians entered the chat, or to be more specific, one politician, very prominent in Italy and extremely controversial, who held the office of Prime Minister four times from 1994 to 2011.

This specific politician, who passed away in 2023, relied on his personal private security detail even when he was Prime Minister and would have had the right to a state security detail; as such, he wanted his private security to have the closest thing available to the Colt Commando, Heckler & Koch MP5 (later MP7), and a G36C that were standard for that kind of close protection duties in Europe.

The Italian importer for Olympic Arms – the now long defunct ATP (Action Tactical Products), headquartered in the northern town of Lesa – imported an unknown “minimum quantity order” of K23Bs, anywhere between ten and twenty samples, almost all of those immediately purchased privately by the personal bodyguards of the aforementioned politician, the others all sold on the civilian market and becoming the first “super-short” AR-15 on sale in the country. Many others would follow.

Back in the day, the Stubby was marketed in Italy chiefly towards private security guards – particularly those employed in cash-in-transit duties – but the extremly high price made it largely unattainable on a security guard paycheck, and all samples ended up in the ownership of private collectors with extremely deep pockets. Even nowadays, on the Italian second-hand gun market, the Stubby does not command any less than 3,800 euros, or just over $4,000 U.S. dollars.

Guaranteed, they’ll all be in essentially mint, as-new condition, but with the high number of better alternatives currently available to Italian shooters, including locally made models, you would need to see the K23B Stubby as a grail gun to spend so much money on one.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

By Pierangelo Tendas

Unlike former fellow Axis powers Germany and Japan, Italy was never forced to disarm and disband its forces in the aftermath of World War II. The events of the late stages of the war and the location at the center of the Mediterranean Sea made the country, now a republic, a key ally in a new world whose climate was rapidly turning chilly as the Cold War mounted.

The post-WWII Italian military was largely equipped with U.S. handovers, specifically M1 Garand .30-06 caliber rifles, for which Winchester also donated manufacturing machinery to Beretta and Breda. When NATO adopted the new 7.62×51mm as its standard unified service rifle caliber in 1954, the Italian Army arsenal in Terni took up the job of converting existing Garand rifles to the new cartridge, while Beretta and Breda started the manufacture of 7.62mm caliber M1s for foreign sales, most notably for Denmark.

The lessons learned of WWII, however, ushered in a new era where bolt-action, semi-automatic rifles, and light automatic rifles would be replaced – at least tentatively – by select-fire individual weapons that would cover most if not all roles in modern infantry. If the Belgian FN FAL and the Spanish CETME – improved to become the Heckler & Koch G3 – would become by far the most successful in the category of individual weapons we today know as “battle rifles”, the U.S. would spend years and millions of dollars in an attempt to develop a totally new, totally domestic new service rifle that would still retain as many features of the beloved M1 Garand as possible; the result, the M14, is still controversial among historians and gun enthusiasts alike, and its tenure before replacement was very short if compared to its international counterparts.

Cash-strapped post-war Italy had to standardize doing what it could with what it had. A team of Beretta engineers headed by Domenico Salza and Vittorio Valle – both of whom had learned their trade from Tullio Marengoni, Beretta’s head engineer before and during WWII and the inventor of the MAB series of sub-machine guns – was tasked to create a new service rifle for the Italian military that could be produced with existing technologies.

The solution was simple: at first, existing M1 Garand rifles were modified to feed through detachable 20-round, double-stack, single-feed box magazines; the solution, known as the “Garand Type E”, would later be further modified into a select-fire rifle with a shorter handguard and a peculiar muzzle device. The Beretta Modello 1959, or BM59 for short, was born. It’s deployment in the Italian military started in 1962.

IF IT WORKS, DON’T CHANGE IT

The BM59 was designed to be built around an essentially unmodified Garand action and a slightly modified Garand gas system and sear. Taking cues from another firearm that the Italian government had received in droves by the U.S. after WWII – the M1 carbine, and more specifically its select-fire counterpart, the M2 – the Beretta engineering team installed a fire selector on the left side of the receiver which, when switched from “S” (“Semiautomatico”) to “A” (“Automatico”), would activate a U.S. M2 Carbine style disconnector lever assembly, allowing the BM59 to fire in full-automatic, at a cyclic rate of approximately 750 rounds per minute.

As anybody who has ever shoulder-fired 7.62×51mm NATO battle rifle in full-automatic, recoil was harsh… to say the least. In order to mitigate such a punishing factor, Beretta would issue every BM59 with a folding metal bipod, which allowed more accurate semi-automatic fire and provided a stable platform for full-automatic, sustained covering fire; note that back in the day, the standard support weapon for the Italian Armed Forces was the locally-built 7.62×51mm Beretta Mg.42/59 universal machine-gun, which required at least two men to carry and operate at squad level.

Additionally, all BM59 rifles would be equipped from the factory with a muzzle device called “Tri-Compensatore” (“tri-compensator”), which dubbed as a flash hider, muzzle brake, and rifle grenade launcher. Much like many other NATO armies at that time, the Italian military made extensive use of rifle grenades, particularly the 75mm Energa manufactured in Belgium by MECAR and known in the U.S. service as the M28 rifle grenade; the BM59 would, thus, also come equipped with a flip-up grenade leaf sight (“Alidada” in Italian) which, when raised, would also act as a cut-off valve, preventing any gas from reaching the piston.

The grenade sight was pre-set for target at 50, 75, and 100 meters, and marked specifically “Energa” at the bottom. The grenade sight and bipod were all in one assembly with the gas valve and front sight tower; when the Energa grenade was phased out in favor of the improved-capability Super Energa, the leaf sights were replaced with new ones, which were pre-sighted to 75-, 100-, and 120-meter increments.

Being based on the Garand action, the BM59 featured a charging handle on the right side of the receiver, a hold-open button to the left, and the same type of front and adjustable rear sight used on the U.S. M1 rifle. The front-in, rock-back magazine was held in place by a paddle catch to the rear of the magwell; the safety was located in front of the trigger guard, and consisted of a flat plate that could be pushed in and out with the shooter’s index finger. The safety plate was perforated, so that BM59 rifles could be secured with a chain or a metal rod when held on a rack – once again just like the Garand.

Additionally, the BM59 also featured a winter trigger in form of an up-folding lever that would normally lay flat against the bottom of the action, to the right of the trigger guard. When necessary, it could be folded down to allow the BM59 to be fired with mittens or heavy gloves.

THREE SUITS FOR THE SAME RIFLE

The Beretta BM59 rifle would be manufactured in three main variants, the most commonly available being the BM59 ITAL, known by the Italian military simply as the FAL, standing for “Fucile automatico leggero” (“Light automatic rifle”). The BM59 ITAL was the baseline model with a standard fixed stock, which hosted a cleaning and maintenance tool behind a trapdoor in the buttplate. An export version, known as the BM59 Mk.1, came without the distinctive “tri-compensator” device on the muzzle.

The second variant – less common in Italian arsenals, but by far the most popular among troops due to its lower weight and easier maneuverability – was the ITAL-TA, with TA standing for “Truppe Alpine” (“Alpine troops”), initially conceived for the Italian Army’s mountain regiments. The ITAL-TA variant came from factory with a vertical brown plastic pistol grip and a side-folding two-strut metal stock; a variant of the ITAL-TA, known in Italy as the ITAL-Para (from “Paracadutisti”) and marketed internationally as the Mk.3, came with a removable tri-compensator device, turning it into an even more compact package to be secured to a paratrooper’s harness before launch.

Finally, two squad automatic weapon variants were proposed, dubbed the Mk.2 and Mk.4 respectively, with the Mk.2 featuring a full wooden stock and the Mk.4 coming with a brown polymer pistol grip. Both were essentially a baseline BM59 ITAL rifle with a fixed stock and vertical pistol grip, not unlike what the U.S. had experimented with in the M14E2/M14A1 – and not unlike it, the Mk.2 and Mk.4 were lackluster in their intended function due to the limitations of the 20-round magazine. The Italian military never adopted the BM59 Mk.2 and Mk.4; export sales were however made to Indonesia and Nigeria, which later proceeded to manufacture them under license respectively as the SP.3 rifle at the Bandung Weapons Factory (now known as PT Pindad), and as the NR-2 rifle at the Kaduna plant (now known as the Defense Industries Corporation of Nigeria, or DICON), which is why this last pattern is known chiefly as the “Nigerian type.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, the BM59 was never adapted or modified for sniper or designated marksman purposes. Being based on an unmodified M1 Garand action, the BM59 ejected spent cases from the top, which meant that it could be reloaded by topping off the magazine with 10-round stripper clips (and, indeed, all BM59 rifles came with a dedicated clip guide), but also that it could only be equipped with a side-mounted scope, much like the M1D Garand. By the 1960s, when the BM59 rifle was introduced in Italian service, this was already an outdated solution; while some pictures do exist of Italian Army paratroopers using side-mounted optics on their BM59 rifles, this was by no means a widely adopted solution, but rather a limited-scale concoction by the most elite frontline units of the Italian military to overcome the limitations of their service rifles.

For the same reason, and unlike the M14, no attempt to turn existing BM59s into DMRs was made after the Italian military switched to 5.56×45mm NATO. Other weapon systems had been adopted to fulfill that niche by that point, and now that the AR-70/90 has been phased out in favor of the ARX-160 and ARX-200, the problem can be officially considered as solved.

THE LAST OF ITS KIND

The Beretta BM59 rifle would go on to serve with the Italian military officially until 1990, being retained as a rear-line and reserve rifle for a few more years afterward, as its replacement with the new AR-70/90 5.56mm weapon system was gradual. This makes the BM59 arguably the longest-serving battle rifle having been based on a classic, pre-WWII stock and action design.

As of today, with the Beretta ARX-160 and ARX-200 being universally in service with the Italian military, and with tens of thousands of AR-70/90 rifles in reserve – so many, indeed, that upon their replacement, the Italian government donated many of them to Albania to facilitate the latter’s transition to NATO standards – the BM59 doesn’t fulfill any operational role in its motherland any longer, and like the M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, MAB sub-machine guns, and Carcano rifles, it is confined to ceremonial duties.

The BM59 also saw distribution on the civilian markets, both in Italy and abroad. In the 1960s, Beretta manufactured very small quantities – approximately 1,700 samples overall – of the BM62 semi-automatic rifle; chambered in 308 Winchester, it came from factory with a five-round magazine and lacked the “tri-compensator” and flip-up grenade sight/gas cutout.

As laws concerning modern sporting rifles relaxed in Italy, and with the country having nothing similar to the “once a machine-gun, always a machine-gun” rule that is in place in the U.S., the Nuova Jäger S.r.l. company would first launch a rifle called the M99 – essentially a Beretta BM62 assembled using old BM59 components – only to flood the Italian civilian market with a huge quantity of proper BM59 rifles from dismissed Italian military stocks, properly refurbished and converted to semi-automatic only. In the following years, other companies, such as Redolfi Armi, did the same. After so many years, the BM59 is no longer an impossible dream for European shooters.

At the same time, Nuova Jäger introduced a line of dedicated accessories for the BM59, including a specific Picatinny scope mount. A similar product is offered by Sadlak Industries in the U.S., providing plenty of clearance for the top-ejecting action while no longer requiring a scope to be side-mounted. Too late to allow the Italian military to convert their BM59s to designated marksman rifles, but welcome news for shooters in Italy and elsewhere that wants to get the best out of their rifle.

As far as American shooters are concerned, BM62 rifles are way more rare and collectable in the U.S. than they are in Europe. BERBEN (the first ever U.S.-based Beretta subsidiary) imported but a few in the 1980s; around the same time, Springfield Armory sold their own BM59-based semi-automatic rifles, assembling them in the U.S. with a mix of locally made and imported parts. Today, for American collectors, the best way to get their hands on a BM59 are the James River Armory build, and parts kits.

After numerous more-or-less successful attempts to create a semi-automatic military rifle, the Italian Army officially introduced a self-loading rifle on the eve of World War II, the Fucile Armaguerra Modello 39. But the project was not under a good star.

In 1938, the Italian armed forces had begun rearming to the new Carcano rifle models 91/38 chambered for the more powerful 7.35x51mm cartridge. In addition, the army was looking for a semi-automatic rifle in the new caliber to complement its armament.

The Società Anonima Revelli Manifattura Armaguerra of Genoa submitted a prototype for a test firing in the spring of 1939. It was designed by Gino Revelli, a son of the well-known gun designer Abiel Bethel Revelli di Beaumont. By the way, the weapon got its name from the telegraph code of the company: Armaguerra. The recoil-operated rifle has two sling lugs, the front one of which also serves as a cocking handle. The operator grabs the sling near the lug, pushes in a spring-loaded release button, and then pulls the lug and bolt to the rear. The cartridge feed is from a standard 6-rounds clip. It is loaded into the gun from the top and drops out after the last cartridge is fired. After that, the breech remains in its rear position, allowing quick reloading. In front of the trigger guard is the bolt catch button, but it must be used with great care. The breechblock only moves forward when the feeder is depressed, for example with a finger. But then it rushes forward at high speed.

In the comparative tests, the Model 39 held its own against the competition and the test commission subsequently ordered 10,000 pieces. This was a great success – but also a problem, because the factory buildings in Genoa were simply too small to fulfill such an order. The company therefore acquired additional land in Cremona and built a new factory there. However, while serial production was still being set up, the army suddenly canceled its order. On June 10, 1940, Italy had declared war on Great Britain and France and entered World War II on the side of the Axis powers. The country’s own manufacturing capacity was not sufficient to complete the replacement of all Carcanos to the new caliber in the foreseeable future. In addition, the Army was concerned about a reliable ammunition supply with two different calibers in front-line use. Interestingly, the year of manufacture is stamped on the weapons in two chronologies. When the fascists seized power in 1922, the new rulers also introduced a new calendar: the first day of the first year of the Era Fascista was marked by the swearing-in of Benito Mussolini as prime minister on October 29, 1922. The XVIII of the specimen shown here is therefore a Roman 18 and, thus, also stands for 1940.

And so, all rifle production in the new caliber was stopped and returned to the old standard 6.5x52mm caliber. Gino Revelli then went back to work and changed the caliber of his weapon to 6.5mm, as well. Production got off to a slow start and by June 1942 the Army had only about 100 pieces in its inventory. Shortly thereafter, production ended, and the Cremona factory completely retooled to produce the bolt-action Carcano model 1891. The Armaguerra Modello 39 had simply come along at the worst possible time and it was a missed opportunity to give the soldiers an advantage on the battlefield.

The serial number 7 shown here went under the hammer at Rock Island Auctions in December 2016 and reached a moderate $11,500. The Armaguerra is one of the rarest Italian military rifles, but it is not as sought after by collectors as, for example, the more common German Mauser G41(M) semi-automatic rifle, which often fetches much higher prices.

Technical Data:

by Pierangelo Tendas –

The Sabatti S.p.A. company of Italy has been well known for decades both in its home country and abroad for its bespoke like of hunting shotguns and rifles. In the mid-2000s, the company shifted its core business towards long-range competition shooting and tactical precision rifles, whose rise of popularity on the international markets has been partially hindered so far essentially only by issues with export and distribution.

And yet, what most hunters and shooters worldwide do not know about Sabatti, is that they may well be the world’s oldest barrel manufacturers in existence today.

The earliest records of Sabatti’s activity in the Val Trompia region of northern Italy – the “Italian Gun Valley” – date back to the early 1700s, when Lodovico Sabatti was active as a manufacturer of matchlock pistols and most importantly as a “cannoniere” (barrel maker). By the 19^th Century, the Sabatti family was known and held in high regard for their barrels and flint locks, which were used by other manufacturers to complete their own guns for commercial sales and for the militaries that fought the battles leading to the unification of Italy.

As of today, the manufacture of barrels for third parties still makes up for a substantial portion of Sabatti’s industrial activity. There are so many companies that bought barrels from Sabatti in the past decades that chances are, you may own a bolt-action rifle built with a Sabatti barrel and not even know it. Stocks of Sabatti barrels are well documented to have been used in some lots of Remington 700 and Browning bolt-action rifles, and today they are the sole suppliers of the barrels used on the bolt-action rifles manufactured by Benelli and Franchi (among many others). And that’s not counting shotgun barrels. Unbeknownst to most, Sabatti is what is rightfully called a major barrel supplier in the industry.

A company with such a long history and experience could not hold back for long from taking a huge step in terms of innovation once their core business shifted towards the precision shooting, long-range hunting, and tactical applications market. If the past few centuries had been spent by the Sabatti family mastering the art of making good, long-lasting, accurate barrels, now it was time to make them better, under all points of view: more solid, more accurate, easier to clean and maintain, and with a longer service life.

No Cheap-Out

Right from the very get-go, Sabatti established that the new, improved barrels they set out to conceive had to be easy to manufacture by cold hammer forging. A wise choice, indeed: not only is cold hammer forging a well-regarded, tried, and true barrel manufacturing technique, but is also one that the company had been using for decades and was well equipped for. After all, with such a widely appreciated technology already at hand, already in use to manufacture such widely appreciated products, there was literally no reason for Sabatti to stray from the path from an industrial point of view and set out to design a new barrel that would later require the development of entirely new manufacturing technologies.

This is not a cheap-out by any means. Indeed, more like a rationalization of industrial effort: the new barrels were to be easy to manufacture with the technology the company already had, so they could be put on the market easily and repay the investment just as rapidly, while at the same time not requiring long waiting times to satisfy customer demand.

The research and development phase lasted for years and included both extensive testing and a lengthy study on previous, well-established solutions including conventional rifling, polygon rifling, and 5R, not limited to technical examination of samples but rather reinforced by a thorough investigation of designs and patents dating as far back as the early 1970s, at the very least.

In the mind of Sabatti engineers, it soon became very clear that quality steel and perfectly executed cold hammer forging wouldn’t be enough to achieve the quantum leap they had in mind. They had to go at the heart of the barrel: the rifling.

As mentioned, the research and development phase went thoroughly through the pros and cons of conventional, polygon, and 5R rifling patterns. Sabatti engineers wanted to come out with a new type of barrel that would offer optimal performance with alltypes of ammunition, from factory to reloads, from low-pressure to the hottest loads, from standard to leadless and monolithic. No corners were cut, and no expense spared in the lengthy evaluation and development process.

The Secret Sauce

There is a reason why the final product was called “Multi-Radial Rifling”, or MRR for short: the MRR rifling pattern is characterized by two different, alternating rifling radii that go way back to the barrel extension and feature softer edges between the lands and the grooves.

When looking inside an MRR barrel with a borescope, an expert eye may get that old-style impression of the very shallow “microgroove” rifling used by old Marlin rifles and other similar firearms. That feeling would be largely incorrect: microgrooving is an extremely fast, but extremely shallow rifling pattern that doesn’t last long with high pressure loads, aggressive propellants, and, likewise, aggressive cleaning. MRR barrels are everything but.

The impression of a shallower grooving is given by the mentioned softer edges between the lands and grooves. As we’ll see, it’s all there for a reason. The alternating radii going back to the barrel extension end up modifying the forcing cone geometry in an optimal way for each given caliber, allowing the bullet to better align with the rifling right from the start. The chamber neck and what little amount of free-bore exists guide the bullet intothe rifling more precisely and with more stability than found with traditional rifling patterns.

It’s worth pointing out that twist rates of MRR barrels have been optimized for each given caliber, but do not depart much from industry standards: we’re talking typically 1:11in instead of 1:12in for 7.62mm/.308/.30-cal. in general, 1.8in for 6.5mm, and 1:8.25in for .260 Remington – for example, that is. It’s not the twist rate that marks the difference between standard, 5R, polygon, and MRR rifling.

With softer edges between lands and grooves, the bullet traveling through the barrel is deformed and pressure-formed around a circumference, but not cut at the surface like standard or polygon rifling would. The MRR rifling with its softer edges allows the bullet to better fill the lands and grooves, allowing very little, if any, of the gas generated by the detonation of the propellant to escape around the lands. Essentially, in MRR barrels, the bullets seal the barrel as they’re traveling through it, maximizing the propulsion efficiency of the expanding gases.

All the Pros, None of the Cons

The unique features of the MRR barrels make for a long list of pros, which the expert reader may already have guessed. A better bullet-bore alignment provided by a modified forcing cone, optimized twist rate and softer edges allow the bullet to better engage the rifling and thus benefit from better stabilization, which leads to higher accuracy.

At the same time, the “bore seal effect” of a bullet filling the lands and grooves almost completely as it travels down the barrel optimizes propulsion and allows for higher muzzle velocity levels – up to 12% over standard values according to Sabatti in most cases for factory loads, even higher in certain instances with handloads.

Softer land-to-groove edges – which, as we said above, do not cut through the bullet – also eliminate most friction, which is detrimental to both accuracy and barrel service life. Less friction between bullet and rifling also means less fouling, particularly a much lower level of copper or other aggressive metal residues depositing in the lands. Normally, those deposits need to be removed with likewise aggressive chemical cleaners and sometimes scraped away with metal swabs. Nothing of that is good for the barrel’s service life, and indeed nothing like that is actually required on an MRR barrel at any point.

Sabatti’s MRR barrels are overall cleaner, and easier to return to pristine condition: a soft swab with a small amount of CLP is usually enough to remove fouling after even a long shooting session. Abrasive paste or polish pads aren’t necessary to clean the bore, but can be used for lapping, if needed, as they won’t ruin the land-to-groove edges as they would with a traditional rifling.

Accuracy is guaranteed and documented from the factory by Sabatti to be sub-MOA at 100 meters (109.361 yards specifically) with factory ammunition, and to be constant with all MRR barrels, on all Sabatti rifles.

As of today, MRR barrels are a Sabatti exclusive. First introduced in 2017 with the Tactical Syn bolt-action long-range shooting rifle, by 2018 MRR barrels were used on all of Sabatti’s .308/7.62mm and 6.5mm/.284 caliber hunting, long-range shooting, and tactical rifles. As of today, essentially all of Sabatti’s centerfire bolt-action rifles – hunting, sport shooting, tactical – either come standard from factory with an MRR barrel or are available with one as an option. In 2021, Sabatti introduced the SAR Sport semi-automatic rifle – a DMR-style AR-15 variant in 5.56×45mm – which, as of today, is the only non-bolt-action rifle to feature an MRR barrel.

This said, Sabatti can manufacture MRR barrels of all profiles, and for all calibers. Rumors of MRR barrels being manufactured by Sabatti for M4-type select-fire carbines for foreign military contracts have been circulating for a couple of years, but the company, which is otherwise usually pretty talkative, has so far kept tight-lipped about those rumors.

Dedicated Ammo…?

While the MRR rifling pattern has been conceived to perform well with any sort of factory load, handload, and with any type of bullet, the potential exists to improve the performance of MRR barrels even further. In 2021, Sabatti announced the launch of MRR Bullets: a line of dedicated reloading bullets designed to perfectly match the key features of MRR barrels in terms of weight and geometry and help hand-loaders to get the best out of their Sabatti rifles and its multi-radial rifling,

Sabatti’s MRR bullets are all leadless monolithic, and their patented design offers better engagement of the MRR rifling pattern’s typical forcing cone geometry.

Sabatti’s MRR bullets are available in three lines – Green Hunting, Green Sport, and Green Long Range – all manufactured from copper alloy, and all optimized for an intended use: the Green Hunting line bullets feature a polymer tip for better energy transfer and expansion upon impact, while the Green Long Range line bullets are heavier than the “average” Green Sport for better performance at longer distances.

Sabatti MRR reloading bullets are sold in 50-count packages, with calibers and bullet weight availability varying from line to line: the Green Hunting MRR bullets are available in .264 123-grain, .270 120-grain, .284 13-grain, and .30 caliber 152- and 167-grain variants; the Green Sport and Green Long Range MRR bullets are all available in .30-caliber only, respectively in 152-, 158-, 160- and 176-grain options.

The price per box is pretty steep in their homeland of Italy, but one can’t really put a price on quality – particularly if quality comes in the form of patented geometry bullets manufactured out of solid copper alloy billet. As of today, MRR bullets aren’t available on the U.S. market, but a lot of Sabatti rifles with MRR barrels are, and they can definitely give your traditional, polygon, or 5R barrels a run for their money.

By the mid-2010s, the Sabatti company – previously known and appreciated mainly for its extensive line of almost bespoke hunting rifles and shotguns – began to shift its focus, channeling decades of company experience into the manufacture of high-performance, high quality long-range rifles for competition shooting and tactical applications.

The first STR (Sabatti Tactical Rifle) model was launched in 2016 with a dedicated competition shooting version – aptly dubbed the STR Sport – entering the market one year later. Both would be phased out of production in 2021 with the launch of the current iteration of the STR Sport bolt-action rifle.

It was pretty ballsy of Sabatti to introduce a new flagship product in the midst of a global pandemic; unlike other manufacturers, whose production and development process slowed down or came to a total halt as COVID-19 struck, Sabatti never lost its focus on innovation, knowing all too well that the market would spark back to life sooner than later, and that by then the competition would be fiercer than ever.

The 2021 iteration of the STR Sport was developed jointly between Sabatti and Victrix Armaments, another well-known Italian manufacturer of long-range rifles. The result of such effort was a good all-round, long-range shooting platform, with an eye on all disciplines, in general, and PRS and F-Class competition, in particular. With the new platform, Sabatti’s aim is beating the competition in several key areas of performance and price.

STR Details

The STR line represented Sabatti’s first production of chassis rifles, and the 2021 iteration of the STR Sport further elaborates on the concept. Sabatti’s expertise with chassis rifles vastly improved with the years, but in the case of the STR Sport, the chassis represents Victrix Armaments’ contribution to the design: CNC-machined out of a block of 7075-T6 lightweight aluminum alloy, it is available in hard-coat anodized matte black or bright red colors, and in two versions: standard and F-Class, with the key difference being the handguard.

The standard Sabatti STR Sport rifle features a tighter handguard with M-LOK slots at 3, 6, and 9 o’clock, allowing the installation of Picatinny rail segments, bipods, weights, or other useful accessories.

The Sabatti STR Sport F-Class version comes instead with a larger “bag-rider” type handguard, with a wider flat bottom surface and three ARCA Swiss interface guides. Originally conceived for photography, the ARCA Swiss interface has gained wider acceptance among shooters due to its performance as a rock-solid mounting platform, particularly when it comes to the taller bipods and tripods. Anschutz interfaces are also available, upon request.

Regardless of the version, the chassis of the Sabatti STR Sport bolt-action rifle is set to accept AR-15 compatible pistol grips. The current iteration of the STR Sport rifle comes issued from the factory with a FAB Defense GRADUS rubberized, reduced-angle ergonomic grip, which can be removed and replaced with any other aftermarket AR-compatible grip at the shooter’s will.

The factory buttstock is a fixed, lightweight Sabatti and Victrix design, entirely manufactured out of aluminum, with two Q.D. sling swivel cups on both sides, a flat bag-riding bottom surface, and a manually adjustable cheek riser; a set of rubberized spacers can be used to adjust the length of pull. The buttstock is attached to the rear of the chassis via a screw, and it can be removed and replaced with other aftermarket buttstocks with a similar attachment system, such as those manufactured by MDT (Modular Driven Technologies) in Canada.

The chassis also includes the magazine well. The Sabatti STR Sport is available in three calibers –.308 Winchester (7.62×51mm), 6.5×47 Lapua, and 6.5 Creedmoor – and feeds through AICS (Accuracy International Chassis System) detachable box magazines whose capacity will vary depending on caliber; AICS magazines are normally available in 5- or 7-round versions, but higher capacity variants are also available from third party suppliers. An ambidextrous paddle release lever is located at the base of the trigger guard, and the shooter can easily access it with the trigger finger.

At the heart of the Sabatti STR Sport rifle is the company’s own patented Blizzard action – a short action with a three-lug bolt and a very tight 60° bolt throw for faster follow-up shots. Both the bolt and the receiver are CNC-machined from solid, high-strength special purpose steel; the receiver is then finished in black and features a top Picatinny rail for optics – available in a 0-, 10- or 20-MOA tilt to facilitate holdover in extreme long range shooting – while the bolt body is heat-treated, rectified, and subsequently hard chromed until it reaches the exact level of tolerance requested by the manufacturing process.

This allows the bolt body to offer both a higher level of resistance against corrosion, wear, and dirt, and to be a perfect fit for the receiver – just loose enough for a smooth, quick operation, and tight enough to prevent any wobble that may be detrimental to the rifle’s feel or accuracy. A signature feature of the Blizzard action is Sabatti’s own, patented “Guillotine-type” extractor, whose construction – in 17-4PH steel – and positioning were carefully studied to ensure reliable extraction in all conditions and to double as an additional safety feature. Sabatti’s “Guillotine-type” extractor is engineered to withstand prolonged use with high-pressure ammunition, to support the cartridge case rim when the bolt is locked, and to make sure that even in the event of massive pressure spikes, cases will be extracted reliably and without rupturing.

Other features of the Sabatti Blizzard action include a sliding safety located right behind the bolt handle, at quick and convenient thumb reach, and an interchangeable bolt knob, which is attached to the charging handle via a 5/16-inch thread and can thus be removed and replaced with any aftermarket knob to meet shooter’s preferences.

The Barrel

The barrel, also manufactured entirely by Sabatti, is probably the cherry on top of the STR Sport. Available in three lengths – 24-, 26- or 28-inch, with a 0.86-inch or 1.10-inch muzzle diameter and a protected thread for flash hiders, muzzle brakes, or sound suppressors – the barrel is cold hammer forged, finished in black, and features Sabatti’s proprietary MRR rifling pattern.

MRR stands for “Multi-Radial Rifling”: first launched in 2011, MRR barrels are Sabatti’s own development, covered by numerous international patents, and are unique to Sabatti products, and heavily featured on the company’s tactical and sporting long-range rifles. MRR barrels were developed with accuracy in mind, with the goal to achieve levels of performance that couldn’t be matched by existing rifling patterns – including 5R – while at the same time allowing easy manufacture through cold hammer forging, a procedure that Sabatti has mastered over several decades and uses for the entirety of its barrel production.

Multi-radial rifling (MRR) can be described as a softer rifling if compared to both standard and polygon rifling, in that lands and grooves aren’t pronounced as one would normally find on a standard barrel. Additionally, MRR barrels feature a modified forcing cone geometry, providing for a better fit of the bullet to the rifling and alignment to the bore axis to begin with.

The MRR rifling is overall made to be a tighter fit on a bullet than the vast majority of conventional or polygon rifling patterns. When passing through an MRR barrel, the bullet will be deformed – albeit only ever so slightly, as the company stresses the low bullet deformation factor inherent to MRR rifling – but not cut, avoiding excessive levels of friction that may be detrimental to accuracy and service life. Indeed, not only do MRR barrels require less cleaning and maintenance than standard barrels and deliver muzzle velocities that are higher on average than most of the competition’s but are guaranteed from factory to deliver sub-MOA accuracy at 100 meters with factory ammunition.

Trigger

The Sabatti STR Sport comes from the factory with a match-grade, three-lever trigger of Sabatti’s own design and production. Sabatti’s rifles are currently not compatible with aftermarket triggers – including, sadly, those from the best-known manufacturers of custom triggers such as Elftmann, Timney, TriggerTech, or Jewell – but the truth is, they don’t need to be. Sabatti’s factory triggers are every bit as good as those highly regarded aftermarket competition alternatives. The STR Sport’s Match trigger is set at a 1.21 / 1.32-pound break and can be further adjusted by the shooter upon stripping the rifle.

Action Interface

And stripping the STR Sport – as well as any Sabatti rifle with a Blizzard action – is just as easy as taking out two screws, and so is putting it back, with no effect on accuracy. There is no bedding material that keeps the action and the chassis together; the two components are coupled by two hex screws – one behind the receiver, one right underneath the trunnion – in a manner that the company dubs “Azione sospesa” (“Suspended action”, or “hanging action”), because aside from those two engagement points, the barreled action is completely free to float over and within the chassis.

This eliminates all coupling tensions, which can potentially cause vibrations that are detrimental to accuracy. Given the construction of the barreled action, removing it from the chassis does not cause it to lose zero. The rifle will hold zero once reassembled as long as the proper torque settings for the two coupling screws are followed: in order to optimize performance, Sabatti recommends 5.9 foot pounds of torque for the rear screw and 6.6 foot pounds of torque for the front screw.

Range Time

Purists may wonder whether such a combination of a unique, almost oddball rifling pattern and a likewise one-of-a-kind coupling system would actually provide enhanced accuracy; we went to test the company claims in a hot, sunny summer day at a beautiful outdoor range just outside of Rome, Italy. Our test bed was a standard model Sabatti STR Sport in .308 Winchester (7.62×51mm), loaded with Fiocchi EXACTA factory ammunition. EXACTA is a commercial version of the loads manufactured by Fiocchi for the Italian Army, police and special forces snipers, and is loaded with American-made Sierra Match King 168-grain hollow-point boat-tail bullets.

At 300 meters, on a standard long range shooting target, the Sabatti STR Sport kept its accuracy promise, with only four out of fifteen rounds ending up in the second target circle, all others grouping tightly in the bullseye. We did not, unfortunately, have a chance to demonstrate how this level of accuracy improves even more dramatically with the use of Sabatti’s own MRR line of monolithic copper bullets, designed and manufactured by the company to optimize the performance of its Multi-Radial Rifling barrels. The Sabatti MRR bullets are dedicated to reloading enthusiasts and experts who want to get the best out of their Sabatti rifle and MRR barrel, and are available in three different lines – Green Hunting, Green Sport, and Green Long Range, all different in terms of specific features and bullet design depending on the intended use – and in .30, .270, 6.5 (.264) and 7mm (.284) calibers.

As this article is posted, Sabatti is preparing a unique version of the STR Sport for the North American market, dubbed the “Sabatti STR Sport US”, which will feature a 20-inch fluted barrel and a shorter handguard. The Sabatti STR Sport US rifle will debut in 2023.

The STR Sport rifle is a perfect example of Sabatti’s high level of craftsmanship and accuracy; it is a pity that Sabatti rifles aren’t better known among sport shooters in Europe and worldwide, because their price point is almost unbeatable for the type of features that they offer, and their quality and performance levels will easily rival or outmatch those of the best-known international brands. But the company is now adopting a more aggressive approach towards global markets, and it’s just a matter of time before the Sabatti name gains the recognition that it deserves.

In 1918, it was clear that the Italian Royal Army needed an automatic rifle. Though the various proposed projects seemed peter out, except for the Revelli OVP carbine issued by the Italian Army Air Corp. But things would change by the end of that year.

Under the direction of engineer Tullio Marengoni at the Pietro Beretta firearms factory, a prototype submachine gun was built. It was stamped “RE”, Regio Esercito (Italian Royal Army), serial number S1787, and was based on the Villar Perosa model 1915 submachine gun. It featured a fire rate delayer and a little button, which, when held with the thumb during operation, allowed the weapon to fire in fully automatic mode at about 300 rounds per minute.

Later, a new, more successful product was made starting in September 1918 at the Pietro Beretta firearms factory. The project was under the direction of engineer Marengoni, under the direct observation of Pietro Beretta, president of the firearms factory and with the cooperation of Lieutenant Colonel Abiel Revelli himself. This self-loading carbine, as it would be called today, was mass-produced for the Italian Army and built using different parts from other distinct firearms, probably to save material during the ongoing war.

This new automatic rifle, produced by Beretta and called the model 1918 semiautomatic carbine was made using designs and parts of some Italian weapons that were in service with the Italian army at the time, such as the trigger guard of the Vetterli rifle, like the first prototype made with the fire mode delayer, and the Villar Perosa Mod. 1915 twin submachine gun, separated and mounted on the wooden stock of the Italian Carcano M91 carbine, including its cavalry bayonet. The original M91 cavalry bayonet was triangular shaped, foldable, and exchangeable. But, on this new self-loading carbine, its blade was reduced to 25cm to adapt to the dimensions of the new barrel.

This self-loading carbine was 85cm long. Like the Villar Perosa, it fired 9mm Glisenti rounds, fed from 25-round mags, but in semi-automatic only, or short bursts, because of the addition of a trigger mechanism disconnector and that won’t allow fully automatic fire of the machine gun. Its sights were on the right side; the rear sight screwed into the bolt operating lever.

Documento N. 99 of the Comando Supremo dell’Esercito, Ufficio Ordinamento e Mobilitazione, dated 12 September 1918, with subject: “New Type of Infantry Regiment”, drafted by general Pietro Badoglio, stated that the submachine gun section is abolished in the new type of experimental battalion of the 9th Italian Army. Replacing it, says the document, would be three musketeer squads, each with two automatic muskets. Every platoon of the battalion would be made up of 37 men divided into a rifle squad, a light machine gun squad, and a squad of musketeers. The automatic firearm that came out the transformation of the Villar Perosa into an “automatic musket” never saw fighting, though, because the unit that got them was a reserve unit and operated far from the WWI front.

Some classes were instituted to train troops to use the automatic musket. Production ended on 28 November 1918. According to documents attributed to Pietro Beretta, the company made a few thousand of these automatic muskets.

Right after the conflict, this weapon, known as “moschetto automatico” (automatic musket), was given the name “moschetto automatico Revelli-Beretta” (MAR-B), according to Italian military manuals of the time. For example, in the manual: “Nozioni sulle armi portatili, sulle artiglierie e sul tiro” published by the Stabilimento Poligrafico per l’Amministrazione della Guerra di Roma, dated 1921, written by Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Mella, are the descriptions and technical specifications of every firearm adopted by the Italian Army. The MAR-B is included among the automatic firearms, along with the Glisenti Mod. 1910 and Beretta Mod. 1915 automatic pistols.

Inside the “Nozioni” (Notions) is described the history of the automatic musket in the Italian Army. This manual gives credit to the action of machine guns in battle and criticized the repeating rifles of the time, reporting them as “too much heavy”, and with “a range superior to what is needed”, and providing “the firing velocity” that is not comparable to the rate of fire of machine guns. Romeo Mella also criticized the transformation of repeating rifles into automatic firearms, affirming that it would lead to a considerable growth of their weight. He proposed as a solution the adoption of the MAR-B as the new “individual firearm of the soldier.”

The MAR-B was appreciated by Romeo Mella for its mechanical qualities but criticized for its lower performing ballistic qualities. It was reported as capable of only “intermittent firing,” which means semi-automatic; so, contrary to what some secondary sources state, it doesn’t fire in full-automatic and it is not a submachine gun. It’s probable that the MAR-B was limited to semi-automatic operation to limit the possible waste of rounds – a problem that was brought to light by the automatic Villar Perosa – because of its short, 25-rounds magazines and the way it was used in combat with short bursts provided by small pulls on the two triggers.

Unlike the Villar Perosa, the MAR-B has no safety switch. The magazine catch is an original piece different than the one present on the Villar Perosa and the sights are non-adjustable. The top of the receiver is stamped, like other Beretta’s products from World War 1, “Pietro Beretta–Brescia”. Today, the MAR-B is known as Beretta M1918, but this name seems to belong to another automatic musket chambered in 9mm Glisenti and dated 23 September 1918, that, later on, would become the Beretta M1918/30.

The forgotten weapon of the Italian Army, the MAR-B, has a quite short operational life of about nine years. This is much longer than the fielding life of the Villar Perosa, which was just about three years during WWI. The last official record of the MAR-B as an operational firearm in the Italian Army is dated 1928, almost ten years after its official adoption. On page number XXV of the “Tavole di Armi” by Romeo Mella, there’s a telegram dated 4 January 1928. It was drafted by Benito Mussolini, Chief of the Government and Minister of Foreign Affairs, to Luigi Federzoni, Minister of the Colonies e Giuliano Cora, Minister at Addis Ababa. In this telegram, Mussolini anticipates a peace treaty between Italy and Ethiopia, and brings up the possibility of selling Ras Tafari, the future emperor of Ethiopia, some thousand firearms. Among those sold were 48 MAR-Bs at the price of 100 Lire (90 USD) each, with ammunition at 0.12 Lire (0.11 USD) each. These firearms, including the MAR-B, were used during the War of Ethiopia against the Italians. A few photos of the Kebur Zabagna, the Ethiopian Imperial Guard, show the MAR-B in use by the Ethiopians.

Two photos by Istituto Luce named “Ascaro sull’attent,” (“Ascaro at attention”), dated 1936 and probably after the entry of the Italian troops into Addis Ababa, show an Ascaro troop holding a MAR-B. The photos are seen here and here. In February 1938, during the Italian military mission to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the operation chief, Captain Alfredo D’Aria of the Ufficio addestramento dello Stato Maggiore, writes to the Servizio informazioni militare to supply firearms to the Saudi Arabians. This included a 75mm Obice da 75/13 field gun with 5,000 shells and MAR-Bs (in the text mentioned as “moschetti mitragliatori M.915 Beretta Revelli”.)

The MAR-B was fielded for a short time during WWII. One example, modified by the VNS, “National Salvation Government”, the German occupation state in Serbia, was captured by Ivan Škrlj, a Slovenian, on 14 December 1944. This modified example is today conserved at the Upper Sava Museum in Jesenice, Slovenia.

The history of the MAR-B has been hidden in the shadows of small arms history and sometimes mystified as the first submachine gun design that anticipated the German MP 18/I. The MAR-B, if analyzed in depth, turns out to be very relevant in the history of small arms. In fact, it’s one of the first individual firearms to be used in an assault role, mass-produced, and adopted by an army.

This self-loading carbine was a weapon of the Italian Army, a fact which history has almost forgotten, favoring more spectacular stories, but those were all fantasies, in the end. The primary sources of the Italian Army and official manuals tell a much different reality, one that is truer and more reliable.