Robust, reliable and powerful, theGarand served from World War II through Korea and well beyond.
But, do you know the story of these guns Italian sibling, the BM 59?
If youve ever thoughtJohn GarandsM1 rifle should have had a detachable box magazine, youre not alone.
The Italian BM 59 looks both familiar and unique to fans of the M1 Garand and M14 rifles.
Browning even hadprototypes of the T1919 and T1920 with detachable magazines.
What was Italys answer?
Adapt a proven rifle design they already had on hand.
The shortened BM 59 rifles served in specialized roles such as with Italian paratroopers. Image: Courtesy of author
The Solution?
The BM 59 is easily one of the lesser-known rifles of the Cold War.
Compared against the M14,FALand G3, its downright obscure.
The standard infantry model of the BM 59 features a detachable box magazine, folding bipod and grenade launcher mount.
With all these features, it weighed in at more than 10 lbs.
Italian reserve units and naval units used the BM 59 even longer.
So how to accomplish this without spending an inordinate amount of money?
The radically adapted Aplini and Paracadutisti versions featured vertical pistol grips and side-folding steel stocks.
Italian Garand
At this time, the Italian Army was already equipped with M1 rifles in .30-06.
Additionally, post-war Italy was producing the rifle on tooling it had acquired from the United States.
Italy was in rough shape financially for a long time after World War II.
The BM 59 magazine is proprietary to the design. It is a work of art, featuring a milled steel cartridge guide in the front and a chromed follower.
Their country had been a battleground, and recovery and reconstruction in the post-war years was slow and costly.
Often, parts bore both U.S. and Italian markings.
For countries already using the M1 rifle, the BM 59 was an easy transition for the troops.
BM 59 variants were exported and licensed production abroad. This Nigerian variant features a unique fixed stock with a vertical pistol grip.
Some of those countries also paid license fees to convert their M1s into BM 59s.
Various models were sold or licensed to nations in South America, Africa and beyond.
A new, robust and finely made steel 20-round magazine was designed for the BM 59.
The BM 59 was modified with folding stocks and also shortened barrels for the Alpini (mountain troops) Paracadutisti (paratroopers).
In my opinion, they are the finest magazines youll ever see.
In the early 1960s, the Italians started producing their own hammer-forged barrels for the BM 59.
No changes were made to the MOA clicks of the rear sight.
Although quite rare today, Springfield Amory once offered civilian-legal, semi-automatic versions of the Italian BM 59.
Shortening the rifle also allowed simplification of the operating rod design.
BM 59 stocks are slightly shorter at the forend then standard M1 rifle stocks.
In the initial production, cut-down M1 rifle stocks were used that were straight G.I.
issue down to the buttplate.
The Italians eventually made stocks that incorporated a recoil-moderating rubber buttpad.
New BM 59 Parts
The Italians added a lot of new components to the new BM 59.
Grenades were aimed by placing the tip of the grenade on the sight range graduations appropriate for the target.
The rifle was operated as single shot when launching grenades.
The BM 59 extractor is also 30 percent smaller than the M1 rifles to erase the magazine feed lips.
Unreliable extraction can occur if the rifle is fired with commercial ammunition.
The BM 59 was designed to shoot military ammo which uses harder brass cases than commercial loads.
If you stick to military ammo, you shouldnt expect any problems.
This will allow easy regulation of the otherwise sealed system.
Its simple and strong bipod makes prone shooting about as stable as it can be without sandbags.
Beyond that, many model variations were developed for export or licensed production.
Beretta made semi-auto-only versions for export too, but they are quite rare.
However, these are quite rare these days as they have not been produced for many years.
Some saw battle in the hands of federal forces during the Nigerian-Biafaran Civil War (1967-1970).
Some, manufactured under license, were used by the Indonesian Army against British forces in Malaysia.
SomeArgentinian soldiers used the BM 59Ein the 1982 Falklands War.
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