carcano identification? help?

D

donbjazzbones

Inactive
bought this carcano (1938?) a while back im trying to see exactly what one it is and trying to confirm it shoots 6.5x55 before i go out and buy ammo... I did use the search before posting just incase there was some info but i couldnt find anything
also the barrel to the back of the bolt measures roughly 25 inches
wlbols.jpg

2ag65k.jpg

1r6jro.jpg

w0avt.jpg

5k3ehz.jpg
 
Welcome to the forum.:)

Yes, it's a Carcano

NO it does NOT use 6.5x55. That would be for a Swedish Mauser.

Assuming it is still in the original chambering, it takes 6.5 x 52 Carcano
ammo. It also uses a CLIP---a device which holds the ammo.

It will fire without the clip, but it will be a single shot, not a repeater.

Several manufacturers load 6.5 Carcano, not sure if there is any cheap
mil-surp in that caliber. Been a long time since I had a Carcano.
Someone will be along shortly with the particulars of model etc.
 
The correct designation is 6.5x52. 6.5x55 is the cartridge used in Swedish Mauser rifles and is not compatible.

The "CAL 6,5" marking indicates that the rifle is chambered in 6.5x52. The other WWII Italian cartridge was the 7.35x51, and these rifles carry a chamber marking of "CAL 7,35".

I do not own a Carcano, but IIRC you must use the proper en bloc clip to fire the rifle as a repeater; it will only work as a single-shot without a clip in the magazine. That said, Carcano clips are readily available on the 'Net, and even at some well-stocked local shops that specialize in military surplus.

That rifle appears to have an M1 Carbine front barrel band grafted onto it! :eek: I've seen some interesting garage workshop projects on old milsurp rifles, but that's something I've never seen!

[EDIT] It appears that BillM types faster than me. :)
 
ya i was a little off when i couldnt find a carcano that had the m1 style front barrel band so i couldnt figure out what it was or what year lol it took me about a day of google to find out that it was a carcano :mad: thanks for the help so far and as for the clip i did get one with it.
 
Oh yeah, I'll share one tip about Carcanos that I learned when I was checking out a used one...

Do NOT disassemble the cartridge elevator assembly! The spring is supposedly very difficult to reinstall properly without a special tool that was presumably available to Italian Army armorers until 1943 but has been very hard to find since then. ;)

If the elevator does not smartly spring back up after being pushed down, the spring is mangled or missing... and the rifle will most likely only function as a single-shot. :(
 
the rounds have quite a bit of wind drift and bullet drop IIRC so they aren't great over range but I bet it would make one heck of a brush gun.
 
well im taking it to the range thursday or friday and going to see if it even works lol but then its going to be my all around rifle this years hunt! lol i like a challenge i guess lol
 
True 6.5 carcano uses a .268 bullet. Most of the 6.5 carcano ammo you find new is .264 in diameter. That's because all the 6.5's these days use that bullet, so it's cheaper to manufacture them all with the same dia. bullet. Hornady is the only one I know that sell a true .268 Carcano load and its available through http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/6888 exclusively. The other stuff ,Prvi partizan, etc; load the .264. It works , but don't expect the accuracy that a true 6.5 (.268) 160 gr. Carcano load will give you.(I can't get less than 3-4" at 100 yds with the .264 dia. loads) If you handload, Graf has the correct bullets also. You can buy the dies from them with a .268 expander, too. The .264 dia.bullet has contributed to tales of the Carcano's inaccuracy. They also have a gain twist barrel, so if someone cut the barrel down, you'll loose accuracy . Yours appears to have been altered a fair amount(stock cut down, top wood handguard missing, M1 carbine front stock retainer, some kind of strange front site/ muzzle device?) Your barrel length(minus the bolt, should measure just under 18" if a carbine and just at 20" if a short rifle) I hope it still shoots OK for you.
 
Last edited:
That's a Calvalry Carbine with the folding bayonet cut off. Looks like it has been inletted into an actual M1 Carbine stock. That is not the original Carcano wood.
 
update

well thanks for the info on the ammo now what to hunt with :P heres some more pics of the front site if it helps figure it out what it is ... and the length of the barrel i wasnt sure where u measure it from so i took some more

2vd5i.jpg

14bm2ys.jpg

2dsjuw2.jpg

noucqx.jpg

1j6dyu.jpg

97qq8n.jpg
 
17 inches would be correct for the calvalry carbine. Google carcano calvalry carcano and look at some pictures. The front sight block is the same, but again has had the folding bayonet removed and the sight block rounded. You can see the grinding marks in your third picture. What would be cool is to remove it from the M1/M2 Carbine stock and put it in a repro folding paratrooper stock.
 
looking it up it does seem to be the potbelly m2 stock .... this guy must have been to broke to buy an m1 so he made his own lmfao m2 stock m1 front end :P one of a kinda carcano hahahah
 
oh like the old school m1 folding stock? now thats a good idea!

so looking at it all was $100 a good deal? i figure any rifles worth that even not knowing what it was at the time.
 
Last edited:
No Italian Cartouche remnants on the stock by chance? Italy had M1 Carbines. If so, it could be an old Italian civilian conversion done before import.
 
I have three Carcano's in my collection now. First one I picked up was a 7.35 which is next to impossible to find ammo for these days. Here's a site you may find interesting. It answered a lot of my questions when I picked up my first one and has a lot of just interesting information to boot.

http://the-puzzle-palace.com/files/carcano.html

~Craig
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top