Today we rewind the clock past World War Two. The End of the Industrial Revolution in the 1840’s saw to mass production of many items including firearms. One such rifle was the Swiss-made Repetiergewehr, or ‘repeating rifle’, Vetterli, Model 1869. This rifle, designed by Johann-Friedrich Vetterli, would later be modified and sold to the Italian military in a very interesting point in their history and accompany Italians into numerous conflicts for better or worse.
Following the Italian Unification Wars, the latter of which were won in large part by the early Vetterli Rifles sent by the Swiss, the Vetterli Rifle was modified into a bolt action rifle with a four-round magazine dubbing it the M1870/87. The advent of World War One saw another modification to the Italian Vetterli Rifle. In order to decrease strain on supply lines in the grueling mountain warfare of the Italian Front, the M1870 Vetterli needed to utilize the same rounds at the new Italian service rifle, the M1891 Carcano, so that soldiers did not have to transport two different rounds for their weapons. To achieve this, Italian designers added a 6.5mm barrel lining to the Vetterli and replaced the original Vetterli magazine with a six-round Carcano magazine. With all that and a shortened firing pin, the Vetterli M1870/87 was dubbed the Vetterli M1870/87/15 for its modifications in 1887 and 1915. This is the rifle we hold on display.
The Vetterli’s history does not end there, however. Following the Great War, Italy sent these rifles to their colonies. The M1870/87/15 saw action again in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1935 where they were issued to the African troops under Italian command. They were also utilized in the Spanish Civil War when Fascist Italy sent shipments of Vetterli M1879/87/15’s to the Nationalist Faction. Finally, the rifles even saw action up to World War Two where they were utilized by the Blackshirts, paramilitary groups within Italy used as a sort of Italian Secret Police akin to the Gestapo or NKVD. Although outdated at this time, the Vetterli M1870/87/15 Rifle continued to prove itself a viable weapon until the Allied Invasion of Italy where the far superior American M1 Garand significantly outperformed the Vetterli and its Carcano counterpart.
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