Breda M37

The Mitragliatrice Breda calibro 8 modello 37 (commonly known as the Breda mod. 37 or simply Breda 37/M37 and also just M37) was an Italian heavy machine gun produced by Breda and adopted in 1937 by the Royal Italian Army. It was the standard heavy machine gun for the Royal Italian Army during World War II, and continued to be used by the Italian Army after the conflict. Post-war, it was also used during the early stages of the Portuguese Colonial War until it was replaced by the MG42/59. The M37 remained in service or kept in strategic storage with a handful of African countries until the late 1980s. The weapon was also adopted by the Marines and Blackshirt militia. Some guns were also supplied to Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War and to Italian-trained Ustaše troops during WWII.