Austro-Hungarian Pistol Machineguns

[oskar2ndchev]

Came accross this on another board:







Larry, could you expand on this a bit? What's up with this?

[Larry Dunn]

The AH High Command was intrigued by the Italian Villar Perosa twin barreled sub-machine-gun, so they experimented with making their own version. The one shown above is based on the Frommer Stop pistol. They basically turned two pistols upside-down, changed the trigger to a button on the back, added 30-round mags and went full auto. Why anyone thought two side-by-side pistols on a tripod would be better than say one mounted in a rifle stock is beyond me. They were apparently very effective at short range, but the awkward configuration and limited mobility made them impractical. Also, as shown in the 2nd photo, was a select-fire version of the Steyr-Hahn pistol. It was fitted with a shoulder stock and a 16-round magazine. They seemed to work, but the advantage over a normal Steyr-Hahn was negligible.

There are good photos and information on these experimental auto pistols in Verlag Militaria's "The Austrian Storm Troops."

-Larry

[oskar2ndchev]

Thanks! That's got to be one of more strange ideas for increasing firepower that I've ever seen. :-)

[cplcampisi]

The Villar Perosa is known to have had a ridiculous cyclic rate (as fast as 1500 rpm per barrel!) -- which is apparently due to the very short travel distance of the bolt. In essence it was an automatic pistol action. So the idea of utilizing two automatic pistols to make something similar was a logical one. Eventually the Austro-Hungarians made a direct copy of the Villar Perosa, the MP18 (not to be confused with the German MP18).

[montythetommy]

These look like they'd be fun to shoot! Really shows the lengths each country was trying to out do each other. You don't find this stuff in ww2 or civil war.

[oskar2ndchev]

Not the usual sort of thing I'd expect to see for a machinegun. Kid of reminds me of the modern "turn your Glock into a carbine" kits they sell at gunshows.