Hi
Having owned a M38 bayonet 10 clips and other assorted Italian equipment for a number of years i now finally have a rifle. The Carcano is a rare rifle in the UK and seldom seem to come up for sale so couldn't miss the opportunity to by this one. I believe its a Carcano M38 short rifle in 6.5 made by Terni and dated 1941, the number on the stock matches the action the bore is excellent and appears to have had little use, I assume this rifle was reconditioned after the War ? as it has so much finish on it. It is stamped DAV on the stock there is also a C stamped on the top of the stock if these marks mean something to someone. The bolt operates much smother than I excepted and all round the rifle exceeds my expectations, even had a 3 piece cleaning rod in the butt stock I look forward to hopefully taking it to the range next week.

Picture link below

http://s1141.photobucket.com/user/sm...AC565A/Carcano

I'm getting my post count up on this forum, might as well do it with some Italian flair!







Have you ever seen a prettier sight in your life?:) Yes, it all matches and is one of my favorite shooters! The sling is not original or correct for this rifle but it looked naked without one.

I managed to find today a 1917 Terni M91 rifle with matching bolt and receiver. By far the filthiest rifle I have ever come across. By dirty I mean filled with dirt and long dead bugs. No kidding. Not import marked. Had to have been a true 'bring back'. Spent the entire day taking it down and cleaning it. There's no telling the last time it was disassembled, as it took PB Blaster to loosen screws.
Long story short, it cleaned up really well. And lo and behold, once the dirt and surface rust was gone, I noticed the bolt matched the rifle. Have owned many Carcanos, this is the first matcher I've run across.
Odd thing about this one is that it has the small star on the tang where the bolt rides, which I understand is a refurb mark. This rifle does not seem refurbed in any way.
So in a long winded roundabout way, was just wondering how 'rare' a matching M1891 fucile was. Anyone else out there have one?

Here is my replica of C2766, Lee Harvey Oswald's Carcano. Oswald allegedly purchased the WWII surplus Carcano from Klein's Sporting Goods of Chicago in March, 1963, and, depending on whose history you believe, used it to assassinate JFK. The rifle is a M38 6.5 1940 Terni Carcano mounted with a 4x18 Ordnance Optics Inc. Scope made in Japan. The sling is a M13 USAF Air Crewman Holster Sling. Everything about my replica is the same as C2766, except the serial number, my rifle is a Q-block.

It took me a year to finish this project. I hope you all enjoy.Attachment 42456Attachment 42457

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Finally found one that condition, price and availability all worked for me.

M38, 1939 7.35 SA marked. Terni manufacture, stock matches with both 1939 Terni cartouche and serial number. Front sight replaced by Finns with higher one and then filed down to present appearance. Everything else seems unmolested. Bore is very good, not a blemish in it. Trigger is the nicest carcano trigger I've tried. Has some stock blemishes and the blueing is thin on the receiver. I have not taken it apart as of yet and am in no real hurry too, almost no rust on this, only spots were on the front end cap and I removed that already. Missing cleaning rod from the butt stock.

Bayonet is unsharpened and has some of that odd reddish tint left on it.

They originally came together as a set but I have a bayonet already so I just purchased the rifle for $150. After thinking it over, offered him $75 for the bayonet and came home with both. His original asking price for the pair was $335. Without the bayonet, he asked $225 which I said was too high for me. He asked what I wanted to offer and I threw out the $150 figuring we'd end up somewhere in the middle but he accepted it straight off.

I think I just had the perfect timing on this. The show had been going on for three hours today and they were unable to sell any firearms due to the instant check system being down. I told him I'd wait till it came up, filled out the paperwork and as soon as I was done, it came back online. I was their first sale of the day and the woman I was talking with said they were hurting due to the lack of sales.

I haven't seen a Carcano at the last four gun shows, today I found three, all in similar condition and similarly priced at around $230. Two were SA's and one was a 6.5. That one was also in the worst condition of the three.







I'm not sure what this stamping is. I can't find a similar one in my book.

I finally completed this Carcano project. It started as a typical cut down deer rifle. The stock was one of the last M38 replacement stocks available from Sarco. I bought it some time ago and finally got around to finishing it. The bands, bayonet lug and sling swivels came from Springfield Sporters and Numrich. I made the forward sling swivel stud and the screws for the front band. I didn’t touch any of the finish on the barrel action or trigger guard. The receiver is SA marked (Finnish). The bore looks good. I haven't even got into the ammo issues yet but will save that for another day.

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Salt Flat

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hi , I have been reading up here for a few weeks, great info, Thanks

I have a new family hand me down! I believe it is a carcano m-38
the barrel is just over 20" and the over all length is 40"
the rifling is consistent in its rate of twist
marked 6.5 terni 1940 XXIII, unfortunatly the stock has been shortened - sporterized(i hate that word)
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I took her completely apart, cleaned oiled and re assymbled
she cycles fine and I cycled a full 6 round clip in and out of the chamber
I test fired her with 4 rounds of the new Hornady 6.5 carcano ammo, it was available locally and I got it before I had done much research on the rifle.

the first and second rounds fired fine,
the third and fourth rounds fired fine as well, but after looking at the casings I noticed the primers had blown out of the casings and there was an impression of the bolt on the end of the casing as well.
the closest gunsmith is 40 miles away and he does not have a feild gage for this rifle to test headspace, he also said it may be an over pressure problem and may be the bullet diameter. have any of you had this problem before?
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I dug the bullet out of the dirt embankment, only found the copper case, no lead!!

If I can get her operational, I would like to put her back in orriginal form in time for deer season
Thanks
Stephen

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Just wondering if anybody has any information as to why did the Italians decided to switch from 6.5 to the 7.35 ???? Just from a common sense standpoint I don't get it????... The sectional density, penetration and efficiency of the 6.5 cal 163gr Military Load would seem to have beed all around a superior chambering... The 7.35 does not conain any greater powder capacity and with a .300 123grain bullet I can't imagine it was more effective.. maybe out to 100 yards it performed well if penetration was not an issue.. Just wanted to see what kind of thoughts people had on this topic... Thanks!

I recently bought this Italian Carcano. The stock was broke in half, that is why I painted it. It does not look as bad as the photos show. The smudges are fingerprints. This is a neat little rifle. It is very short, about the length of a stock ruger 10/22. I took some pictures of it.

I bought this because I like military rifles, and this is by far the shortest vintage milsurp rifle ever. Someone told me that they think it is a shortened rifle, but I don't see how that would work as it still has its bayonet lug. My guess is that it is a Calvary Carbine model.... What do you think?

Also is there any way to adjust the sights? At 20 yards I was 5 inches up, and 5 inches left. A grouping of 10 bullets was 1-1/4 inches in the top left corner. That's decent for a little guy :) If no adjustments can be made I may slightly file down the rear sight to at least get it level...

The only thing this rifle is missing is the trapdoor.... :( Does anyone have one to donate? :help:

This rifle was fun to shoot, except for having to pull the bolt off every time to load (I dont have a stripper clip). This is the only rifle I've shot where the bullet actually loads through notches in the bottom of the bolt, so you cannot just chamber a round and close the bolt. The bullets are approx $1.20 each, so not a great beginner rifle, or primary rifle at the range. This rifle had very little kick (I was suprised). If you find a decent one around $100 get it.... If you dont mind the ammo bill :eek:

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