Variara submachine gun
| Variara | |
|---|---|
| Type | Submachine Gun |
| Place of origin |
 Italy (Partisan Republic of Alba) |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1944-45 |
| Used by | Italian Resistance |
| Wars | World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer | ??? |
| Designed | 1944 |
| Manufacturer | partisan workshops |
| Produced | 1944 – 1945 |
| Number built | ?? |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | ?? |
| Length | ?? |
| Barrel length | ?? |
| Crew | 1 |
|
| |
| Cartridge | 9x19 mm Parabellum |
| Caliber | 9mm |
| Action | open bolt, selective fire |
| Rate of fire | ?? |
| Effective firing range | ??? |
| Maximum firing range | ??? |
| Feed system | 20 or 40 round detachable box magazine |
| Sights | ??? |
The Variara submachine gun (in Italian Mitra Variara) is an insurgency weapon clandestinely designed and made by the Italian Resistance, which might have originated from a difficulty in getting automatic weapons by whatever means, including theft or Allied airdrops in the Piedmont area sometime in 1944.
The real circumstances of its genesis are still unclear. Hearsay has it, that it was created by FIAT workers with experience in gun making, and that the name Variara came from a partisan unit which, in turn, had been named after one of its casualties. At any rate, unlike earlier scratch-built guns (basically Sten Gun copies), the Variara was a completely original project mixing different characteristics borrowed from a wide array of contemporary firearms:
- the bolt, the receiver and the firing mechanism of the Sten Gun,
- the folding stock and magazines of the FNAB-43,
- the safety of the MP40
- the dual-trigger firing mechanism (single shot and full auto) from the Beretta Model 38.
Details on length of service and production figures are uncertain and maybe impossible to make clear, since documents are scarce and only a handful of Variara submachine guns are preserved in Italian museums.
See also
- Italian resistance movement
- Błyskawica submachine gun, another clandestinely-made weapon
References
Enzo Biagi, Storia della Seconda guerra mondiale, Fabbri, 1997.