The Franchi LF-58 is a

gas operated Gas-operation is a system of operation used to provide energy to operate locked breech, autoloading firearms. In gas-operation, a portion of high-pressure gas from the cartridge being fired is used to power a mechanism to dispose of the spent ...

selective fire Selective fire is the capability of a weapon to be adjusted to fire in semi-automatic, fully automatic, and/or burst mode. The modes are chosen by means of a selector switch, which varies depending on the weapon's design. Some selective-fire we ...

carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and lighter ...

that was the product of Italian domestic arms design after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and during the 1950s.

Development

Following the end of the Second World War, the

Italian Armed Forces The Italian Armed Forces ( it, Forze armate italiane, ) encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's military police and ar ...

were equipped with weapons donated and/or sold to them by the United States of America, such as the

M1 Garand The M1 Garand or M1 rifleOfficially designated as U.S. rifle, caliber .30, M1, later simply called Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, also called US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1 is a semi-automatic rifle that was the service rifle of the U.S Army during World War ...

, as their main service rifle. However, as there were other militaries beginning to develop assault rifles and modern

battle rifles A battle rifle is a service rifle chambered to fire a fully powered cartridge. The term "battle rifle" is a retronym created largely out of a need to better differentiate the intermediate-powered assault rifles (e.g. the StG-44, AK-47, M16, ...

, both with larger magazine capacities and increased volumes of fire, the Italians naturally pushed for a more modern service weapon. The

M1 Carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced ...

was well-liked among various Italian military circles and the development of the German StG-44 assault rifle chambered in the intermediate 7.92x33mm Kurz cartridge had already given several militaries notice. The Italians decided to design a select-fire weapon chambered in the American

.30 Carbine The .30 Carbine (7.62×33mm) is a rimless carbine/rifle cartridge used in the M1 carbine introduced in the 1940s. It is a light rifle round designed to be fired from the M1 carbine's 18-inch (458 mm) barrel. History Shortly before World W ...

round, being close enough to an

intermediate cartridge An intermediate cartridge is a rifle/carbine cartridge that has significantly greater power than a pistol cartridge but still has a reduced muzzle energy compared to fully powered cartridges (such as the .303 British, 7.62×54mmR, 7.92×57mm ...

and easier to acquire than others at the time. Two large Italian arms firms, Pierto Beretta and

Luigi Franchi Luigi Franchi Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is an Italian manufacturer of firearms, a division of Beretta Holding. Franchi products include the military Franchi SPAS-12, SPAS-12 and Franchi SPAS-15, SPAS-15 and the sporting-type long-recoil acti ...

, then began experimental work on improved automatic carbines chambered in the American .30 Carbine cartridge. Despite NATO announcing standardization towards the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge, the firms continued development under the belief that it would take some time for the NATO cartridge to come into widespread use. Both firms developed service rifles to adhere to NATO's standards. Both designs were finished in 1958, resulting in the Beretta Model 57 and the Franchi LF-58 (which was not publicized). Both designs saw limited production and neither official adoption nor commercial success. The Italian Armed Forces then replaced the M1 Garand with the BM-59 battle rifle in 7.62x51mm NATO and the LF-57

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum.

References

* * *{{Cite web, url=http://www.exordinanza.net/reprint/Franchi_LF58-59.htm, title=The FRANCHI LF58 Carbine and the FRANCHI LF59 Assault Rifle, last=, first=, date=, website=, access-date= Carbines Rifles of Italy Gas-operated firearms .30 Carbine firearms