Cei-Rigotti

About the Cei-Rigotti

The Cei-Rigotti is an early Italian gas-operated, selective-fire self-loading rifle designed around 1895-1900 by Royal Italian Army officer Amerigo Cei-Rigotti. Chambered primarily in 6.5x52mm Carcano, it used a long-stroke gas piston driving a rotating bolt and fed from detachable box magazines of varying capacity. Tested extensively by the Italian Army in the years before the First World War, it was never adopted for service.

The Cei-Rigotti was one of the first selective-fire rifles in the world, predating most assault-rifle concepts by half a century. Despite a successful 1900 demonstration that astonished observers, the Italian Army rejected it as too unreliable and ammunition-hungry, and the design faded into obscurity.

Cei-Rigotti specifications

One of the earliest practical selective-fire self-loading rifles. Surviving examples were built as prototypes in several configurations, including chamberings in 7.65x53mm Mauser. Tests were dogged by reliability and overheating problems, and no military formally adopted it.