Costa Rican Breda PG: The First Burst-Fire Rifle

The Breda PG ("Presa Gas" - Gas Operated) was developed by Sestilio Fiorini in 1931 and put into production at Breda's factory in Rome. It was offered as a weapon for commercial sale and export, as well as being one of the several entrants in Italy's semiautomatic rifle trials in the late 1930s. Unlike most of the other competitors in that trial, the Breda PG did actually find a commercial buyer (albeit a small one).
The government of Costa Rica purchased 800 PG rifles. These were designated Moschetto Automatico, as they were equipped with a 4-round burst option as well as semiautomatic They fired from an open bolt (in both semiauto and burst modes) and were chambered for the 7x57mm Mauser cartridge, which was a common and popular round in Latin America at the time.
The Italian military trials rifle was somewhat different. In addition to using the standard Italian 6.5x52mm Carcano cartridge, it was semiautomatic only and fired from a closed bolt. These were designated Fucil Semiautomatico, and only a few hundred were made (at most).
Both versions used large detachable box magazines, including 20-, 30- and even 50-round varieties. The Costa Rican version of the gun shows some elements of the coming assault rifle style of firearm, but it's rifle caliber cartridge and open bolt operation (and its awkward handling) prevented it from showcasing the possibilities of that style of firearm.
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[@gustavocarreras6447]

I'm a gunsmith in Costa Rica, and a costumer has one of these in his collection, and this video has been a great help. Thank you.

[@soulwolf1756]

Beautiful weapon 😍

[@user-tc4cx9xo5n]

Que bien mae!!

[@brandonblackfyre5783]

He is a VERY LUCKY man, I heard these are EXTREMELY RARE & barely ever seen.... Not to mention the price being EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE to actually buy a REAL Breda PG.*

[@robosoldier11]

Pretty cool. I'd love to see some reproductions come to the market some day. Though I can understand the guy not wanting to risk his rather unique historical item.

[@VickiVampiressYT]

Fun fact for those of you coming here from Battlefield V: DICE's weapon artists actually use Ian's videos and expertise regularly when modeling, rigging, texturing and animating the guns in game. Ian's videos are incredibly useful reference material.

[@re-gaming3913]

Wow that's interesting. How did you find that out?

[@onkelirohsjasmintee5613]

Dice said that, they used him for all guns in Bf5 and when the MG 42 is overheated, the character switches the barrels like Ian did in his mg42/34 video.

[@VickiVampiressYT]

@@re-gaming3913 Forgotten Weapons is mentioned in the credits, and I know a few people working at DICE who mentioned it. Also, any 3D artist looking to model a gun usually lands on this channel (myself included), so it's kind of a no-brainer.

[@yahboiyaa4922]

@@VickiVampiressYT model yourself a big gold star.

[@DK-nv9zu]

DICE should join his Patreon page

[@Jukkaimaru]

"Oh, it's burstfire? How many rounds?" "One to four, functionally at random! :D" "..."

[@KevinPlayzReal]

Probably a good way to test your luck at the enemy

[@five5105]

"It's Costa Rica, it's a jungle." "What could go wrong?"

[@PaulA-fp3vs]

And it rains a lot.

[@brokenursa9986]

It's highly volcanic.

[@pedrojimenezrojas6207]

A Jumanji like rainforest indeed lol

[@pedrojimenezrojas6207]

Heinz we do have heavy rainforest and jungle area, I don't think it was said to offend Costa Rica

[@Oppned1]

I laughed more than I dare admit at that remark (or those remarks?) Love Ian's sense of humor

[@ShawarmaFarmer]

2 hours disassembly time is still better than the 2 weeks needed for a G11

[@jordansedlacek5627]

Or the need to resurrect Einstein for the AN-94

[@jackandersen1262]

Tequila Cured Salmon Carpaccio With Vodka Foam you mean just popping open the plastic case and take the the action out? To actually deal with the clockwork in the gun, you have to be a armorer.

[@ireviewshtuff]

@@jackandersen1262 *Sorcerer

[@f.gutierrez6590]

@@ireviewshtuff Kraut Space Wizard*

[@yongli8276]

F. Gutiérrez Gunsmith of the gods*

[@your_local_dungeon_master]

"You know what would make this gun better?" "Letting egregious amounts of dirt into the action?" "Yes!"

[@schwkrls]

*"So your first burst could be anything from 1 to 4 rounds"* wow

[@ryanmace8804]

@NerfBeard ' Hahaha! I didn't know Microsoft made a rifle! 😅😂🤣

[@jamesdillonmccracken]

@@ryanmace8804 Bethesda

[@tomau0506]

this is called ItAlIaN EnGinEEriNg

[@Momo_Kawashima]

@@tomau0506 yep, the same italian engineering that gave the world the submachinegun (fuck the mp18, the villar perosa is the world's first weapon to fire multiple pistol caliber rounds with one single trigger pull, it's by definition a submachinegun)

[@Momo_Kawashima]

@Taylor Chesal well what you want, the first one to be decent? Look at the Little Willy, it's the first tank ever and it's also a disgrace. Also it's not "the worse", it is out of the context of being mounted in the back of a biplane. Even tho the one-barrel version (also known as the Beretta m1918) is a fairly good one for its time

[@SinaelDOverom]

"First burst is gonna be a surprise" "Surprise" is a something you absolutely do not want to deal with when you are using a gun of any kind.

[@Vaasref]

Depends of your school, I learned that I must be surprised by the gun firing to be compensate the recoil and keep a stable sight picture. And many time on this channel or InRange Ian and Karl told us how they prefer no creeping trigger and gun that exactly when you want it to fire. So, ya it's different school.

[@edm240b9]

I know people should say that the shot should surprise you. But, like Karl said, I don’t wanna be surprised when my gun goes off

[@neutronalchemist3241]

The last burst of a magazine will always be a surprise, and you can't fix it by simply pulling the trigger again. However mind that this is a first. The subsequent implementations of the burst mechanism obviously improved it.

[@drmaudio]

"the round count of the first burst will be a surprise" Perfect! The only way to truly surprise my enemy is if I myself am surprised too! Excellent!

[@mrjockt]

Seeing this being disassembled, and seeing a few of the experimental automatic rifles of the same period, makes you really appreciate the simplicity of modern automatic rifles.

[@pennsylvaniafellow4409]

A 4-round burst of 7x57 Mauser sounds rather rough, recoil wise at least.

[@MrRedsjack]

Surprise burst

[@ryanmace8804]

Especially if you're not expecting it! 😅

[@qoph1988]

1930s people were made of stouter stuff

[@thenoneckpeoplerepresentat8074]

@@qoph1988 He’d be the type that puts a foam pad under his bra strap.

[@magoshighlands4074]

And for the poor fuck on the other end of it too

[@RvEijndhoven]

Flash of realization: The magazine probably has those huge holes so that the soldier firing it can tell at a glance how many shots will be in the first burst after firing it in semi-auto an unknown number of times.

[@henrikoldcorn]

If it didn’t have the holes they could at least be sure that it’s “not zero”.

[@garrettnino5137]

'Whole gun is labeled 69' Heh, nice

[@DrDerp-bd8hd]

Nice

[@suro5038]

Nice.

[@envrnmntlsm]

Nice

[@samhmi6225]

Nice

[@Dylan-kq6gb]

Nice

[@Mr9Guns]

Another rifle where it is pretty clear why it wasn't produced in large numbers.

[@DerTypDa]

Every time I read about a Breda gun I can only imagine the sound it makes when firing is BREDABREDABREDABREDABREDABREDA

[@moisesmontecillo7570]

It's a gun not a pokémon

[@Ethnarches]

This is one of my all time favorite firearms, even though likely it wasn't that great in practice but there's just something very cool about the whole design and look of the rifle.

[@williamchamberlain2263]

It does look very ... I don't know ; 'fast', maybe?

[@Regolith86]

So it's difficult to field strip, being very complex and requiring the use of a screwdriver, AND has massive holes in the magazine allowing dirt and crud to enter the action. That sounds....fun.

[@neutronalchemist3241]

What shown is not a field strip, but a disassembly of the rifle. A normal field strip (to clean the gas chamber, inspect and maybe replace the recoil spring, clean the bolt and maybe replace the firing pin) can be made in seconds without tools, that was not a given at that time.

[@mysss29]

-How exactly would you access the bolt and gas piston without doing what Ian showed in the video...?-

[@mysss29]

Ohh, I see. At least you're saved the screws...and it's not the _most_ complicated rifle we've seen.... Would've been clearer if he'd taken the spring out first and said, "now it's field stripped," like he's sometimes done in the past.

[@neutronalchemist3241]

+May your swords stay sharp! (mysss29) To have access to the gas chamber and the gas ports (that's the thing that requires cleaning, there is not actually much that could happen to the piston and op rod) you only have to remove the muzzle cover. To inspect the recoil spring, you can remove it from the trap door. To remove the bolt you only have to remove the dust cover and the rear buffer ("when the dust cover is off, it just slides out") and it comes out from the rear of the receiver. It isn't needed to remove the receiver from the stock. Like almost every bolt action rifle up to then, and several semiauto rifle after then, this rifle is not made to have the trigger group and the receiver removed often from the stock. While the parts that require cleaning, and/or have to be replaced more often (for the second case, almost universally the recoil spring and the firing pin) are very easily reachable. An M1 Garand, for example, is made with a completely different philosopy. The rifle can be easily disassembled, but is not really field-strippable. To reach the firing pin, you have to completely take the rifle apart (and have several small parts flying around you).

[@Soldierboy54b]

Disclaimer: Some assembly required.

[@painmagnet1]

What a lovely and intricate little rifle. I'd love to own one of these.

[@CaptainGrief66]

Little side note: "Presa Gas" means gas port, "Operato a Gas/Attuato a Gas" means gas operated This is a completely experimental gun, it's a proof of concept, if the Italian army would've adopted it Breda would've refined the design, made the disassembly process easily done in field conditions and there were plans for closed sides mags (also one with just a tiny and long hole on the sides)

[@CaptainGrief66]

That's absolutely false, the only thing Breda got adopted and was definitely flawed was the M30, but as wonky as it was it still was reliable as long as there wasn't sand around, even then it wouldn't need an armourer.

[@CaptainGrief66]

@@albertoamoruso7711 As "completely unreliable" as it was, it's no where near being difficult to field strip, you literally have to turn the barrel, then push the rear sight and twist the pistol grip away from you, you'd have access to the impossible-to-brake firing pin, to get to the bolt you just need to pull the charging handle. There, now you can clean it or replace the bolt if its locking lugs are too worn. The fire rate was dictated by the low capacity, but even then the M30 was conceptually flawed because it was meant to be used in too much of a static fashion, but luckily things like the M37 existed and were used and those worked great for covering positions and suppressing infantry charges.

[@Jay-du3tp]

This rifle looks so awesome! It's like an SKS and a Mini 14 rolled in one.

[@toucanrule6534]

Get rid of stock,fit pistol grip,close up all holes and you have yourself a signature/movie gat..There is something special about woodwork all the way to muzzle.Ian you never cease to amaze,cheers!!

[@peterihoy4908]

Ian, what was the point of the trapdoor to give access to the recoil spring? You were going to explain it later, but I don't think you did.

[@mysss29]

+

[@Estinus]

I'm glad it wasn't just me, I thought maybe it was supposed to be apparent during disassembly and I was just being a dunce. 😂

[@JohnDoe-fk6id]

+1, Commenting for update

[@Jesses001]

Ha, I was wondering the same thing.

[@KingdomOfDimensions]

I too missed the explanation if there was one.

[@gionncaomhinmorpheagh4791]

What a marvellous vid this is! It seems to me that every aspect of the weapon is covered without leaving any questions as to the function. I just fuckin' love Ian's videos. There's just no comparison anywhere. MsG

[@neutronalchemist3241]

I want to see this FIRE! But thanks for uploading anyway. It's really interesting!

[@VoidSector]

Thanks for the info ! Another gun to unlock in Battlefield V I always end up here...watching video's about the guns :)

[@avidgamer5676]

More incoming BF fans in 3 2 1...

[@VoidSector]

@@avidgamer5676 as usual...but why not it's great content here👍

[@avidgamer5676]

Agreed dude, i watch alot of these now and they are awesome.

[@ohyeahgamer3736]

Me to

[@valmm666vampire]

Call of duty ww2

[@that7650]

Great reviews, keep up the good work.

[@CthulhuInc]

excellente - this was on my wish list - thank you, Ian!

[@albertobellini98]

The hell is that "excellente" lol

[@kezzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

"It's Costa Rica it's a jungle what could go wrong?" Dead

[@kahnfamily9467]

The open magazine looks like a Chauchat.

[@scottdoran3112]

Thanks for always bringing interesting things, Ian...

[@MicroWazzle]

This is my favorite gun by far, I just really love the early burst fire carbines especially the breda.

[@krmould]

Hi Ian, great video, but OMG what an incredibly complicated gun. There is an amazing amount of machining needed in all these very detailed parts. It must have been a very expensive gun to manufacture.

[@Alexplainow]

The part of this thing is so beautifully made.

[@Mack7830]

Man that is one complicated design. That bolt looks so futuristic looking.

[@Hidalguense]

Your the best on youtube channel. Thanks for the reviews.

[@cariboupetepeterson3711]

Great explanation!! Enjoyed this one a great deal!

[@amandamyers5169]

Great Channel... Love all the unusual Firearms you bring to The channel...

[@JuGNL]

7:44 got me checking the front door.

[@TrikeRoadPoet]

Great look at an interesting gun! Thanks for look at an interesting bit of history!

[@swagner58]

Lots of little screws that have to be removed (and kept track of), a magazine with more portholes than a cruise ship and 200 steps to take it apart. Sounds like it's the perfect weapon for any environment /s

[@neutronalchemist3241]

Mind that this is a disassembly, not a field strip. A normal field strip (to clean the gas chamber, inspect and maybe replace the recoil spring, clean the bolt and maybe replace the firing pin) can be made in seconds without tools, that was not a given at that time.

[@swagner58]

Ah, thank you. As an ex-soldier I was looking at it from the 'worst possible case' perspective I guess.

[@matthayward7889]

What an awesome little rifle!

[@costantinoandruzzi2219]

Breda is pronounced just like "bread" with an 'a' at the end, which is pronounced as the ending 'a' in "camera".

[@albertobellini98]

@@albertoamoruso7711 "Grazi"

[@dlarochaacr7011]

Muy interesante! Gracias Ian

[@paullittle835]

Love the Art Deco script on the markings!

[@PutinIsABitch]

ok now I at least know wth I unlocked in BF5

[@wastedangelematis]

They should keep the side effects of the wheel cog, so players would thing "semi shots lower your burst" is an rpg feature leading to battlefield heroes being confirmed as the next AAA experience

[@LifeisGood762]

What a crazy, interesting design!

[@pvtjohntowle4081]

I am using this as my Go to weapon in BFV !! Great video

[@johnmacdonald9861]

It's guns like this that are the coolest too me, they look cool and have a great story,

[@EDSKaR]

If you are light on the trigger is there the potential to get multiple rounds to fire even though your selector is set to semi auto?

[@scullystie4389]

Love that art deco font on the receiver

[@paraglide01]

2 hours into the work and your done with disassembeling. This is THE most complicated rifle I have seen ever.

[@neutronalchemist3241]

The rifle is actually very simple. Except for the burst mechanism, that's an added part not integral to the design, it's made of very few parts. In this rifle. Is very easy to have access/remove the parts that requires more servicing (gas ports and bolt assembly) or that have to be replaced more often (statistically, the recoil spring and the firing pin). You can replace them in seconds and without tools, that was not a given at that time. To completely disassemble the rifle is more complicated, but it had not to be done that often. In almost all the bolt action and semiauto rifles made until then (and several made afther then, think of the Gewehr 41 and 43 for example) the receiver and the trigger group were not made to be removed from the stock that often, infact they were secured with bolts and screws. An M1 Garand for example is made with a completely different philosophy. The rifle is easily disassemblable, but not really field strippable. To have access to the firinng pin, you have to completely take the rifle apart (and have a lot of small parts flying arounf you). What can annoy of this design, is that the entire gas piston is not easily accessible, but in reality, all the "magic" happens under the muzzle cover, that contains the exhaust ports too, is exposed once the muzzle cover is off and can be fully cleaned. The rest of the piston is only a piece of steel to which very little could happen.

[@VegasCyclingFreak]

Very interesting design on this one.

[@Amac1825]

Thanks BFV

[@Pattern51lover]

Love it! I need one

[@charlesnassor2301]

Thanks again for another great video!!! I really like this weapon for its ingenious design. A MECHANICAL😱🔫NIGHTMARE!!! it reminds me of that mouse trap game!!! a real Rube Goldberg!!! LOL LOL LOL

[@louisramirez3128]

Thank You Ian. Love U'r Stuff... LJR III

[@mgralley]

I don't know if anyone else got it, but there was a 2 minute ad at the beginning of the video. Granted, it was for the NRA, but thought I should point it out. Excellent video as always!

[@nbmheaty]

Great video on a very unusual gun.

[@SCmedic28666]

Seeing how the burst and semi auto work, I have a question. With the safety/selector in semi auto, could you just pull the trigger half way and still be able to fire a burst?

[@neutronalchemist3241]

It would require so much skill that it can't be done by chance.

[@hitman1267]

Very cool rifle

[@thudable]

THANK YOU !!!!!!!!

[@jonb102583]

I totally want to see this thing run! Any chance of that happening, Ian?

[@michaelashton8754]

Does anyone know where I can find footage of the Breda being fired in burst? Thanks!

[@misanthropichumanist4782]

Questions: How do modern select fire systems avoid the problem of this one? Also: Couldn't ammo counting be handled by a thin window, and a colored follower? To use it as an indicator?

[@khaul]

With all the problems... still such a beautiful gun

[@Nardypants]

The typeface on the upper receiver markings is dead sexy. Most interesting feature for me. XD

[@williamprince1114]

Just seems strange to me that any combatant military associated with WWI would consider cut outs in magazines and open bolt designs for semi auto weapons.

[@RottweilerAK]

I am so glad to see this...I finally found what the Call of Duty WW2 'ITRA Burst' rifle was based on. That is obscure even for that game.

[@AKIS_Proto]

It sure is a very obscure rifle.

[@maximthemagnificent]

Since the design relies on the trigger going all the way back for semiautomatic would it be possible (if rare) to pull it partway and accidentally get more than one shot? Or would the motion of the action (and recoil of the first shot) force your finger back the rest of the way as a practical matter?

[@Punisher9419]

Cool rifle I like it.

[@bondjames1801]

I bet that was a NICE factory

[@WannabeCanadianDev]

Can you change it to 3 round instead of 4 if you had a different gear thing with 3 latches instead of four?

[@katsugraphics6074]

I though I knew pretty much every gun there was, more or less. You've been schooling me like I'm a 6 year old.

[@polymorphing9195]

I love this gun in BFV so cool!

[@blingbling1884]

Intriguing

[@MartinMizner]

Costa Rica: has no army since 1800's Italy: sends them firearms anyways

[@elasadito541]

Costa Rica stopped having an army since 1948.

[@dramaturgius]

Hm, since the single shot mode is pull the trigger all the way back and the burst morde is pull it back just a bit, wouldn't it be possible to have it in single shot mode and you pull back just a bit and get out four rounds? Thanks for the nice video again!

[@PorchPotatoMike]

dramaturgius Exactly what I was wondering. Ian replied to another comment that it was "extremely unlikely " due to recoil, but it sounds like it is theoretically possible.

[@mysss29]

"theoretically possible, but extremely unlikely" sounds right. You might get variable bursts depending on which shot the gun jostled your finger back or forward far enough to stop the burst?

[@TheRogueWolf]

I think it would depend on the rate-of-fire of the weapon- with the typical quick, full-length pull you'd give the trigger, would the weapon have time to cycle and fire more shots in-between those two positions? If you're being wimpy about it, though, yeah- it'd be a lot more possible to accidentally fire a burst.

[@kmoecub]

Looking at how the sear works, you'd be unlikely to hold the trigger at the point where it does not reset. Recoil will likely make the trigger fully break and reset the sear.

[@CamTarn]

What was the idea behind the split bolt and odd pivoting firing pin? Just to make sure the firing pin didn't protrude from the bolt face before the bolt was fully in battery?

[@Steel-Rain]

+Forgotten Weapons Does the way the trigger work mean that it is theoretically possible to fire in burst with superb trigger control, while on semi (by pulling the trigger enough to trip the sear, but not enough to engage the disconnect)? Since the fire selector is only preventing the sear from catching by limiting the range of movement on the trigger.

[@DMN1-1]

Nice.

[@Hawk-qn2zk]

This looks like a really fun gun. Basically a select fire M44 box feed fire breather.

[@starsjosephfrost]

man hearing this...just surprice ..know that, that rifle that was in my country.

[@GiordanoBruno42]

Dear Ian, Would the expectation regarding the uncertain initial burst length not be that the soldiers would remove the mag and cycle the bolt until it locked in burst mode? I'm sure this would only take a few seconds en-route to some hypothetical deployment? Could decent soldiers not be trained to prepare the burst gear as they are taught to prepare everything else they do? It's still impractical to clean, which I think was probably a bigger issue to Breda's potential customers.

[@rn8099]

Would the magazine be easier to rinse clean in a stream or pool?

[@Mildcat743]

With all the different Italian semi autos in the 20s and 30s, do you know if they ever went back and tried to rework the Cei-Rigotti?

[@alan6832]

It looks like before the Kurz MP43 intermediate, various people like Federov and Burton were looking about for the hottest handgun and smallest rifle rounds to use. I rummaged through ammo lists and could not find an energy for the Burton round but did find various old varmint rounds like .25 Remington, at 1744 Joules and 6.5 Carcano at 2293 Joules that might have qualified Federov or Burton as the first assault rifles instead of the 2666 Joule Arisaka that Federov settled for or the seemingly unknown energy of the Burton. So, does the Carcano version qualify?

[@ibthumper2]

Looks like a something out of a Kel-Tec nightmare. Thank you.

[@sandromandracchia9975]

Hello I am Italian and I would like to know whether you also have the Breda tested on video. Sandro Mandracchia

[@trevorksanders]

Great vid! Did you reverse the semi and 4-shot safety locations at 3:50?

[@SatAnanas]

Yes, there was S little mistake. I wondered at the end, 'he said something different at the beginning' and, well... But no big thing, great video after all!

[@calleb1594]

Realy cool Gun, was it used by the police or the military and did see any use during the civil war 1948 ???? And why is the video only in the italian semiauto list ???

[@jasoncrow7681]

The more I watched Ian taking this thing apart, the more tickled I got. It was like clowns getting outing of a VW bug at the circus. He just kept taking pieces off.

[@keepironman14]

3:55 I'm surprised no1 seemed to notice how he said the burst and simi positions backwards. (he shows the modes after the gun is back together with how the bolt behaves)

[@booette139]

I want to see this in action honestly.

[@Mountainman-ch5ef]

that paper covered table noise is killing me lol

[@drewswitzer7574]

Just a heads up Ian, at 3:50 you explain the safety/mode select catch but the single and burst mode locations are switched. Later (12:00) you correctly demonstrate the proper locations for each mode.

[@pommel47]

I can see where the grip to trigger might be not ergonomic. What is the length of trigger pull from the buttplate?

[@CGRstudios1]

Hey Ian, I have a Brazilian Mauser model 1908/34 .30. This rifle was originally chambered in 7mm but in 1934 they were changed to 30-06 due to the large amount of 30-06 cartridges for sale in surplus. It has a stripper clip guide but I'm not sure why type to use sadly. Do you know anyone who owns the same rifle as me and do you know what kind of clips they use? Thanks.

[@AB-vd7ux]

Ian, how does the three round burst on the INSAS work?

[@kingfantasma2818]

Pura vida !!!

[@agspittal7804]

This is the most Italian gun I've ever seen.