Yesterday's Weapons Forums

Small gun show nearby today. EllieC had a raffle table & I would have jumped in but tickets were a Benjamin so no dice. We talked for quite a while before I left to cruise the aisles. Insane prices on EBRs, AKs - ammo at a buck a lick ( and up!) etc & so forth.

Got to shooting the breeze with an older gent about his BPCRs on display. I was about to leave when he asked what I collect. "Italian rifles, sir." He asked if Breda was Italian & I allowed that's so. He handed me a Greek Y1903/14 with Breda on the side!

My poker face must have vanished because he offered it to me for a measley $795. I hadn't that sum & after mucho haggling I got it for 500 OTD plus I threw in a Vetterli stock. ( Had very little in that) I'm sure I overpaid, but I've been after a rifle by Breda forever & this was the only one I've ever seen.

Now to sell some duplicates to get my Belgium trip $ pumped back up.

Paint me green & call me easy! SW


Breda 001 (1024x683).jpg [ 351.05 KiB | Viewed 5225 times ]



Breda 002 (683x1024).jpg [ 291.28 KiB | Viewed 5225 times ]



Breda 004 (1024x225).jpg [ 172.02 KiB | Viewed 5225 times ]



Breda 006 (1024x192).jpg [ 156.05 KiB | Viewed 5225 times ]

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!

....Wooo-Hoooo...!!
.... ...you be easy...!!!
....I'm sure you sleep happy tonight...congratulations

_________________
....Naj puška govori!....
.............deplorable typical "bitter clinger"....

Belgium? Choclatiers! I hope you get to go. Liege, by any chance? Not sure how much of the old F/N operation is left...

Nice score, and I like the looks of that wood. Lookin forward to seeing it post clean-up/B.L.O.

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

_________________
"Ain't no Half-Way" -S.R.V.

"Oh Yeah!.....All Right!" -Paul Simon

Doc,

Liege isn't on the itinerary at this point. I'm hoping to visit Verdun and Ypres, though. I would like to get in on a chocolate factory somewhere. My spies are letting on that Belgian chocoloate makes Russel Stover seem like cat kibbles!

But the trip is over a year out so nothing's chiseled in stone at this point. SW

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!

Nice snag Hogger.........BUT.......

I know a guy who can fix that for ya.

He'll cut down that barrel, grind off those ugly receiver markings, install express sights & a scope mount, flatten & bend that bolt into a butter knife, install set triggers, reblue the metal and reshape the stock to turn that old klunker into a proper sporting gun

_________________

It's 5 o'clock and it's watermelon time.....................
because you can't drink beer & load rockets - TXPete

Well, if the deal included a piggy hunt I might consider it!

Did some google-fu to find Breda got like 100,000 receivers from Steyr & assembled rifles from parts. As far as I can tell there just aren't too many of these around.

I've always wondered why Breda didn't make rifles for the Italian army. SW

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!

Yep. Even less of the Steyr produced pieces

_________________

It's 5 o'clock and it's watermelon time.....................
because you can't drink beer & load rockets - TXPete

Here's my fave Breda pic. You can almost hear the big radial clattering away. SW


zFly12.jpg [ 279.74 KiB | Viewed 5202 times ]

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!

Glad I got to see it person! You were like the kid that found the secret decoder ring in the mailbox
I wish I knew just a smidgen of what you guys know.....it always amazes me, I wouldn't have had a clue what I was looking at.

_________________
"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading" ~unknown~

And the actions (at least on the Steyr) are slicker'n snot! Slicker than the Krag.

_________________

It's 5 o'clock and it's watermelon time.....................
because you can't drink beer & load rockets - TXPete

really ? the krags are an awful smooth action , ive not held one of these tho , guess i should look at the next one i see

IMO, the Kropatschek is slicker than a Krag, too. And yes, this Breda is WAY slick! SW

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!

I was going to mention the sporter conversions, but decided against it- there are few of these rifles left in full mil-surp configuration. I suppose it dates me, but the old greeks could be had for 25-30 bucks a piece, when I was just getting into the shooting game. The split receiver ring kept me away, personally. Had enough of the side mount deal with the old smle...

Ypres- where we became a mature military force. You'll likely see a lot of stones marked PPCLI with a maple leaf there. Verdun, too, but Ypres was the big one for us. It's a good thing trench war-fare has gone the way of the horse mounted cavalry....

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

_________________
"Ain't no Half-Way" -S.R.V.

"Oh Yeah!.....All Right!" -Paul Simon