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Flea market find today, an ugly carcano 7.35 in a cut sporter stock. What made it appealing was the 7.35 early stock that was sitting right beside it. The rifle itself is in great shape and after swapping stocks looks somewhat presentable.
Now the hard part, single hole front band, bayonet lug (which I think is the same for both) and a long handguard.
It is a variant I don't have for a couple of reasons, obviously the early stock but this is also not Finn marked, my other 7.35 is.
Photos soon.
Looks better already.
Interesting looking sling on the sporter too.
The sling is in bad shape. I looked it over carefully and can't find a mark on it so probably not a good one for even a diehard collector. It's torn in at least two places and in just poor shape overall. I have one similar to it in slightly better condition that is dated from WWI if I remember correctly.
No luck with parts, wasn't really expecting any this easily. I may be able to fabricate the bayonet lug out of a standard one and possibly convert a standard front band to hold a sling swivel and cover the end but it won't be able to hold a hand guard. May do that as a temporary fix until maybe sometime in the next ten years or so something shows up.
Liberty Tree has the single hole lug and the front band for the M38 if that will help.
Bruce,
I checked with Liberty Tree earlier. This takes a different front band and the bayonet lug is actually separate. If you look at an M38 band, they have two holes. The one hole version looks almost the same as that, it has a split base and no lug. The lug is pretty close and I may see if I can make one out of a standard one. I have to dig out my M38 and take it apart to see what fits.
Thanks for looking though, I appreciate the effort.
I have not even seen a photo of one on the internet yet to show. I do have a book with photos and maybe I will take a couple of shots from the book.
This is what Liberty Tree has. What I need looks like the front half, just cut the back half off. It has a special screw with a sling swivel also. The top, where it goes over the barrel will be larger also as it has to fit over the extended hand guard.
https://www.libertytreecollectors.co...0&idcategory=0
The bayonet lug looks similar to this but without the the extension on the bottom of the left side. Where the screw hole is, it is also open all the way to the top.
https://www.libertytreecollectors.co...9&idcategory=0
So the M91 front band or the M41 front band won't work? Single screw with the lug on both of those. Then there is the Calvary Carbine front band but I don't see a lug on that one at all. Well we shall keep looking and if I should find one I will let you know.
I pulled out my other Type 38 7.35 and have some good news. I also took photos so everyone can see exactly what the difference is. The standard bayonet lug fits perfectly with no alterations needed. The front barrel band will work if I cut off the long extensions that have the second screw hole. It will not work with a hand guard. Possibly I could cut it and weld a rebent middle band to accept a hand guard. The screw and sling swivel I should be able to modify to work with the modified front band.
These are both 38 carcanos but the lower one is the early production. Probably changed because the troops did not like how the sling worked being that close to the muzzle. They are the same length and the front portion of the cut out for the band are the same.
https://i.imgur.com/3iDvOhm.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/m55wTd9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/1pcploJ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/SeeehbG.jpg
The photos reminded me that I never replaced the front sight on the Finn. I also realized I didn't show the split in the bottom of the band.
What's the length and both front and rear width you'd need for the hand guard? Something off another type rifle could possibly be made to fit until you find a correct one.
That I have not checked yet. I was concentrating on the metal first. Length is about 12 inches. I'll have to compare it to some of the other rifles I have. I had thought about cutting up the remainder of the sporter stock and making something out of that but didn't explore that possibility either.Quote:
Originally Posted by WarPig1976
Got some parts from Springfield Sporters today and it at least looks complete now minus the hand guard. I bought a normal front band, cut off the rear half and installed it with a new bayonet lug. I still need to do some work to get the sling swivel on it.
Just in case you didn't know that star marking on the stock is a Italian Refurbishment marking. I have seen them on other Carcanos as well as even a Steyr M95.
Well. it's four and a half years later and I found one of my missing parts. I received the sling swivel yesterday from a guy that actually knew what it was. No word on the front band or how it got separated from it. Took it down from where it's been hanging on my den ceiling, modified the front band yet again and it looks great, and it now has a proper sling.
No progress on the hand guard or front band.
As you can see, the modified front band works perfectly as it is now. The correct one does not have the step at the top. It is a continuous rounded shape with smooth sides. The hand guard then fits under it.
My possibilities at this point are to cut this one apart and weld another rounded piece of metal to it and hand make a hand guard or just keep patiently watching for originals. I'm not going to cut this one until I have a handguard either original or reproduced.
https://i.imgur.com/GzqVX8U.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/K7upDsb.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KMFbXgM.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/MMgWY8w.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ruIJIMK.jpg
Time will tell, patience.