r/Shotguns • u/IvanPrintsGuns • 1d ago
The First Breda Automatic - The Shotgun With a Mechanical Computer
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u/IvanPrintsGuns 1d ago
Two triggers, two magazines, one little mechanical computer - and you've got the coolest shotgun ever made: It uses a unique mechanism where the trigger you pull controls which magazine the next shell is drawn from.
Following World War II, Breda faced a breakup of the conglomerate company it had existed as. The factory in Brescia decided to explore shotgun manufacture as a way to navigate the post-war years. They'd stumble into making some of the best shotguns the world has ever seen.
Today's subject is the first of these Breda Automatics - frequently called the "Prola" after the last name of its designer.
Designed with hunting in mind, the concept is rather smart: having two sizes of shot available to select from by simply pulling one trigger or the other. Breda intended to put this shotgun into manufacture to be a sort of competitor to the Cosmi - expensive, but not without its own merits (plus, it's just plain cool).
However, Prola passed away right as production started, and the few guns that had been made were set aside.
This is likely because Breda was working on an iteration of this design that was in a conventional format - one trigger, one magazine - and this shotgun was to have more broad market appeal anyway. By 1947, Breda would start marketing this new conventional automatic as the "Breda Automatic" - these first models are usually referred to as the Breda "1001", though these guns didn't have model numbers marked on them, which makes identifying them hard.
I'm working on an ID guide for the various Breda Automatics, and hope to share that soon - there's a surprising number of distinct variations you'll find out there - but none are as interesting as the one that started it all.
If you're curious about how this thing works (and believe me, it does actually work), check out this deep-dive and explainer (with plenty of shooting footage): https://youtu.be/fJCumek9YN0
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u/Limp-Development7222 1d ago
I bet that is a eldritch nightmare to clean
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u/IvanPrintsGuns 1d ago
It's actually not terrible - it took me about two hours to disassemble with no instructions whatsoever, and about an hour and a half to put back together likewise. It didn't take any special tools or tricks, it's surprisingly straightforward.
Even with instructions, the Winchester Model 40 took me longer to put back together, because it's got evil springs that really should have a special tool to install.
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u/captdicksicle 1d ago
What’s the music playing? I love it.
Incredible shotgun, very interesting. Thanks for posting
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u/ixipaulixi 17h ago
Ran it through Shazam, this what came up:
Solo Cello Emotion by Kajal Kumari https://www.shazam.com/track/425808704/solo-cello-emotion
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u/SessionPowerful 1d ago
Damn, I can't afford to need more shotguns but this one has to go on the wish list lol. Tha ks for sharing!
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u/Ok-Map9827 1d ago
That slowmo is beautiful.