Brixia Model 1913

Lore & Background

The Glisenti M1910 first saw service in the Italo-Turkish War. During the conflict, the Regia Marina discovered certain deficiencies in its design. MBT chose to create an improved and simplified version, officially adopted as the Pistola automatica modello 1913, and known as the Brixia Mod. 1913—the Latin name of Brescia. It is also referred to as the Brixia Mod. 1912 from the year it was designed. The first 2,500 pistols were delivered in late 1913, with a second batch of 2,500 arriving in early 1914. An estimated 200-300 Brixias were sold commercially. The Brixia was used by the Regia Marina alongside the Mauser C96 (designated Pistola automatica modello 1899) throughout World War I. During the Interwar period, it began to be replaced by various Beretta models, though like the Glisenti, its usage continued into World War II. In function and disassembly, the Brixia is identical to the Glisenti Mod. 1910. Its modifications included a strengthening of the frame, simplifications during manufacturing, and improvements to the safety mechanism. The slide, chamber and receiver were thickened, making the Brixia slightly heavier. Exterior protrusions and recesses found on the Glisenti were smoothed out. The grips were made of ebonite and feature a Savoyard crest, secured by a screw instead of being snap-fit. The key and screwdriver previously used to disassemble the Glisenti were omitted. Internally, the rotating block was changed to rotate freely within the frame's milled housing. The 'butterfly' style safety of the Glisenti was maintained, while the grip safety was omitted; instead, the Brixia would not fire unless the magazine was inserted, via a fixed lever attached to the slide that blocks the trigger until a magazine is inserted.

Reader's Guide

The Brixia Model 1913 represents a transitional design in Italian military pistols, bridging the Glisenti Mod. 1910 and later Beretta models. Its significance lies in its role as the Regia Marina's primary sidearm during both World Wars, alongside the Mauser C96. The improvements over the Glisenti—strengthened frame, simplified manufacturing, and enhanced safety—reflected lessons learned in the Italo-Turkish War. The omission of the grip safety in favor of a magazine-disconnect safety was a notable design choice. The Brixia's legacy is limited by its relatively small production run (approximately 5,000 military pistols plus commercial sales) and its gradual replacement by Beretta models during the Interwar period. A long-barreled variant, the Brixia Model 1920, was prototyped but never entered full production. The Brixia remains a collectible example of early 20th-century Italian pistol design, notable for its distinctive ebonite grips with the Savoyard crest and its use of the 9mm Glisenti cartridge.

Did You Know?

• The pistol would not fire unless the magazine was inserted, using a fixed lever attached to the slide to block the trigger.
• A long-barreled version, the Brixia Model 1920, was prototyped with a 175mm barrel and adjustable rear sight derived from the C96, but never entered full production.

Origins & Development

The Brixia Model 1913 emerged from a very practical military need. The Glisenti Mod. 1910, designed by Abiel Bethel Revelli, had already proven itself in the Italo-Turkish War, but sailors of the Regia Marina identified specific shortcomings in its design during that conflict. In response, the Brescia-based arms manufacturer MBT—Metallurgica Bresciana già Tempini—set about producing a refined and simplified successor. The resulting pistol received its official title, Pistola automatica modello 1913 tipo "Regia Marina," and quickly acquired the popular nickname "Brixia," drawn from the Latin name of the city of Brescia where it was made. Some sources also reference it as the Brixia Mod. 1912, reflecting the year the design work actually took place. Production moved quickly: the initial run of 2,500 examples reached the navy in the latter months of 1913, with a matching second batch of 2,500 arriving by early 1914. Beyond military channels, an estimated 200 to 300 additional pistols found buyers on the commercial market, giving the Brixia a modest presence outside uniformed service.

Service History & Operational Career

From its first deployment through the close of the Second World War, the Brixia served as a dedicated sidearm of the Italian Navy. During the Great War it was carried side by side with the Mauser C96, which the Italian military catalogued under the designation Pistola automatica modello 1899, giving Regia Marina personnel two distinct semi-automatic options in the field. The pistol's career did not end with the armistice. Throughout the interwar years it gradually yielded its primary role to a succession of Beretta models that the navy adopted for new personnel, yet it remained in active inventories and continued to see service well into the Second World War, much as its Glisenti predecessor had done. This extended operational life—spanning roughly three decades of military service—testifies to the weapon's reliability and the navy's pragmatic approach to armament. With a total production run of roughly 5,000 military examples plus a few hundred commercial sales, the Brixia was never a mass-produced platform, but its steady presence across two world wars made it a recognizable fixture of Italian naval armament for a generation of sailors.

Technical Design & Engineering

Mechanically, the Brixia shares its core operating principle and disassembly procedure with the Glisenti Mod. 1910, yet MBT introduced a series of targeted refinements that distinguished it in both engineering and manufacture. The frame was reinforced, and the slide, chamber, and receiver were all thickened, adding a modest amount of weight while improving structural rigidity. Externally, the sharp protrusions and recesses characteristic of the Glisenti were filed down to smoother contours. The ebonite grips, marked with the Savoyard crest, were now fixed with a screw rather than the snap-fit method used on the earlier model, and the special key and screwdriver once required for field stripping were no longer needed. Internally, the rotating block was redesigned to turn freely within a milled housing in the frame. The familiar "butterfly" safety lever was retained, but the grip safety was dropped in favor of a magazine-dependent trigger lock: a fixed lever mounted on the slide physically blocks the trigger until a magazine is seated, adding a layer of mechanical safety without increasing the operator's workload.

The Model 1920 Prototype & Legacy

In 1920, MBT explored a more aggressive variant of the Brixia, stretching the barrel to 175 millimetres and fitting an adjustable rear sight borrowed from the Mauser C96. The grip was reworked with a cutout designed to accept a detachable shoulder stock, effectively turning the pistol into a compact carbine-style weapon. However, the Model 1920 never progressed beyond the prototype stage; the highest serial number known to exist is a single digit, indicating that only a handful of examples were ever completed. The project's abandonment likely reflected shifting naval priorities and the growing dominance of Beretta in Italian small-arms supply. In the broader context of Italian pistol history, the Brixia occupies a transitional niche: it was the Regia Marina's answer to the Glisenti's known weaknesses, a bridge between the pre-war era and the Beretta-dominated interwar period. Though it never achieved the fame of its contemporaries, its two-decade-plus service life and the thoughtful engineering behind its modifications secure its place as a noteworthy, if often overlooked, chapter in Italian military firearms development.