The Italian Vetterli System

The Vetterli was one of the first bolt-action rifles to be introduced into military service in company with the Berdan, the Gras and the Mauser and this book traces the history of the adoption of a centre-fire rifle by Italy. The author describes how, over a period of 70 years, the Vetterli was produced as a long rifle, a short rifle, as a cavalry and a police carbine, in single-shot form and adapted for a variety of magazine feeds as the Vetterli-Vitali, Vetterli-Bertoldo and Vetterli-Ferracciu. Also covered are: the conversions from 10.35mm to 6.5mm calibres; the conversion to a.22 training rifle; the bolt mechanism and parts; fourteen variants of the Vetterli in Italian military and Carbinieri service; ammunition; and the history of the Vetterli in campaigns such as the battle of Adowa, the Ulster uprising, the Russian campaign in the Balkans in 1915 and the Spanish Civil War. Although the Swiss Vetterli rifle will be familiar to many, this is believed to be the first history of the Italian military rifle in the English language.