Beretta Model 38

The Beretta Model 38, also known as Moschetto Automatico Beretta 38 (literally "automatic rifle Beretta") or MAB, for short, was designed by Tullio Marengoni in 1935 and can trace it linage back to the Villar Perosa Machine Gun. The Beretta 38 was introduced in 1938 as the official sub machine gun of the Italian Army. It was a very robust weapon weighing in at 9 pounds 13 oz. fully machined forging and finely finished. The Model 38A was manufactured from 1938 to 1942 when the simplified Beretta Model 38/42 was introduced. The Model 38/42 was made from stampings and a rolled steel receiver to increase war time production. The Model 38/42 was produced from 1942 to 1944. The Beretta Model 38/44 was introduced in 1944 by the German controlled production line to German troops as a substitute standard. That model was in production from 1944 to 1949 and was issued to the Italian Army and Police after the war between 1945 and 1962.

The Beretta Model 38 appears in the following movies, TV shows, and video games:

Beretta Model 38A

Beretta Model 38A - 9x19mm

Specifications

(1938 - 1950)

• Type: Submachine Gun

• Caliber(s): 9×19mm

• Weight: 9.26 lbs (4.2 kg)

• Length: 37.2 in (94.6 cm)

• Barrel length(s): 12.4 in (31.5 cm)

• Capacity: 10, 20, 30, or 40-Round Detachable Box Magazine

• Fire Modes: ??

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Film

Title	Actor	Character	Note	Date
Attention! Bandits! (Achtung! Banditi!)	Giuseppe Taffarel	Commander Vento		1951
	Vittorio Duse	Domenico
		Italian cacciatori and partisans
Our Man Flint	James Coburn	Derek Flint	With removed barrel shroud	1965
Our Man Flint		Fake and real guards in Z.O.W.I.E. building	With removed barrel shroud	1965
Pasha (Le Pacha)		Quinquin's henchmen		1968
The Battle of Neretva		Italian troops, Ustasha and partisans		1969
The Pacifist (La pacifista)		Italian Carabinieri		1970
Borsalino and Co.	Adolfo Lastretti	Luciano		1974
Borsalino and Co.		Siffredi henchmen		1974
The Cassandra Crossing		Soldiers		1976
The Gods Must Be Crazy		Terrorist leader Sam Boga		1980
The Fall of Italy (Pad Italije)	Daniel Olbrychski	Davorin		1981
	Igor Hajdarhodzic	Lovre
		Italian troops, Tito´s partisans
The Sicilian		An outlaw	Two inverted Beretta M38A visually modified to resemble Villar-Perosa SMG	1987
Captain Corelli's Mandolin	Christian Bale	Mandras		2001
Captain Corelli's Mandolin	Nicolas Cage	Captain Antonio Corelli		2001
Captain Corelli's Mandolin		Italian infantry and Carabinieri		2001
El Alamein - The Line of Fire		Italian soldiers and officers		2002
Miracle at St. Anna	Sergio Albelli	Rodolfo		2008
Miracle at St. Anna		Italian partisans		2008
New Kids Turbo	Tim Haars	Gerrie		2010

Video Game

Game Title	Appears as	Note	Release Date
Medal of Honor Allied Assault: Breakthrough			2002
Forgotten Hope			2003
Silent Storm			2003
Forgotten Hope 2			2005
Mafia II	".38 SMG"		2010

Beretta Model 38/42

Beretta Model 38/42 - 9x19mm

Beretta Model 38/44 - 9x19mm. This model replaced the 38/42 and features an unfluted barrel and lacks the recoil spring extension from the back of the receiver.

Specifications

(1942 - 1945)

• Type: Submachine Gun

• Caliber(s): 9×19mm

• Weight: 7.21 lbs (3.27 kg)

• Length: 31.5 in (80 cm)

• Barrel length(s): 8.39 in (21.3 cm)

• Capacity: 10, 20, 30, or 40-Round Detachable Box Magazine

• Fire Modes: ??

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Film

Title	Actor	Character	Note	Date
Consider All Risks (Classe tous risques)		Italian police		1960
The Last Adventure	Hans Meyer	The Mercenary		1967
OSS 117 - Double Agent (Niente rose per OSS 117)		Tuaregs guard		1968
Ho!	Stéphane Fey	Schwartz-younger	M38/44	1968
Pasha (Le Pacha)		Quinquin's henchmen	M38/42 and M38/44	1968
The Battle of Neretva		Italian troops, Serbian chetniks and partisans		1969
The Olsen Gang in a Fix		Bavarian mobster		1969
How I Unleashed World War II	Waclaw Kowalski	Sgt. Kiedros		1970
	Marian Kociniak	Pvt Franek Dolas
		Italian soldiers
Execution Squad (La polizia ringrazia)		Carabinieri		1972
Almost Human		Italian Police		1974
Rabid Dogs		Police		1974
Silent Action		Police and terrorists		1975
Violent City (Roma violenta)		Italian Police		1975
Libera, My Love (Libera, amore mio ...)	Claudia Cardinale	Libera Valente	handed to the partisans	1975
Libera, My Love (Libera, amore mio ...)		Italian partisans		1975
Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man		Italian Police		1976
Rome Armed to the Teeth		Italian Police		1976
The Big Racket	Salvatore Borghese	Sgt. Salvatore Velasci		1976
The Big Racket		Italian Police		1976
Fracchia the Human Beast (Fracchia la belva umana)		Carabinieri		1981
The Fall of Italy (Pad Italije)	Daniel Olbrychski	Davorin		1981
	Miodrag Krivokapic	Andro
	Igor Hajdarhodzic	Lovre
		Italian troops, Tito´s partisans
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	Sean Connery	Henry Jones, Sr.	mocked-up as a Villar-Perosa Mod 15	1989

Television

Title	Actor	Character	Note/Episode	Date
Legend of the Living Dead (Legenda o živých mrtvých)	Renáta Doleželová	Helena	mocked-up as MP41	1971
	Stanislav Zindulka	Tony Adler
		German and ROA soldiers

Anime

Title	Character	Note	Date
Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino	Franco		2008

Video Game

Game Title	Appears as	Note	Release Date
Silent Storm		Suppressed & Unsuppressed	2003
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One			2005

Fake Villar-Perosa M1915 SMG

Fake "Villar Perosa" SMG. Photo from Long Mountain Outfitters web site.

Movie armorers often use Beretta Model 38 variants to mock-up Villar-Perosa M1915 SMG. The most known example is a hand-held variant made by movie armorer Bapty & Co. which was used in several productions.

Film

Title	Actor	Character	Notation	Date
Sicilian, The		An outlaw	fitted with wooden stock for off-hand use; a Bapty & Co. mock-up made of: two visually modified inverted Beretta M38A, Bren front grip and a trigger group from an MG42.	1987
Batman		Joker's goon	fitted with wooden stock for off-hand use; a Bapty & Co. mock-up made of: two visually modified inverted Beretta M38A, Bren front grip and a trigger group from an MG42.	1987
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	Sean Connery	Prof. Henry Jones	Mounted on the biplane; a mock-up made of two upside-down Beretta Model 38/42 submachine guns.	1987