1915 Brescia M91 Cavalry carbine and leather scabbard (Unfortunate receiver damage)

I went to an auction today and missed out on the Arisaka I wanted to pick up, but found a few interesting World War I era carbines. They came out of a local estate which had alot of interesting pre-World War II era military surplus rifles. I also picked up a Steyr M95 carbine, which I posted in the appropriate forum.

This Carcano interested me because it looked to be near original issue and came with a leather scabbard for the rifle. The scabbard is in decent shape, though one strap has worn through and split. There are no visible markings on the scabbard that I can see.

The rifle itself is a 1915 dated Brescia. The bayonet housing seems to be the type that you pull out to extend the bayonet. Is the screw/wingnut combination correct or did someone later change that? Basically if you turn it right it locks the spring from being pushed forward to extend it open. Once you turn it left then the little tab moves and allows you to pull down on the spring. It certainly matches the rest of the rifle in patina. Not sure why it would have been added as even if you don't have it engaged the bayonet still locks in place perfectly.

The stock is dated 1915 and matches the serial number of the rifle. The hand guard is missing unfortunately. I was surprised to find 2 cleaning rod pieces in the butt stock, but there are few proof marks on them and I don't know if they are correct for the rifle.

Unfortunately they rifle has a major issue I didn't noticed until I got home and disassembled it. The bolt cocked in the rifle when I examined it, but when I got home I could not get it to correctly go back in. That's when I noticed the rear bridge of the receiver has a massive crack in it and has been bent to the right by some considerable force. So it would seem that this is relegated to display only.

I have $225 into the rifle, with the scabbard included. If it's fairly original, even with the damage, I'd feel happy with it.

Please share your thoughts. Thanks!

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Shame about the cracked receiver. Makes you wonder how someone managed to do that. I believe with the carcano the rear bridge is simply a backup to the main lugs but I don't think I'd fire it myself anyway. The bayonet attachment is an early type not often seen. Cleaning rods should be correct. Scabbard is correct but as noted damaged.

I made the mistake once of buying a demilled M95 without realizing it at an auction. Couldn't figure out why the bids were so low. I had only glanced at the rifle in the rack early in the morning but that only cost me $50 and it was an official demill job post WWI for treaty requirements so I wasn't overly upset about it. I kept it as a display piece and an example of what happens to the losers in war.

I do not think you hurt yourself financially but you'll have difficulty selling the rifle. Part everything out and you should get your investment back. As you said, it does make a nice display piece and if you are content with that, I'd keep it as is.. It's biggest plus is the bayonet. Scabbards are not common but the condition of this one is poor. There was a fellow in Italy that was selling them in lightly used condition a few years ago for $100 and they sold slow but steady for him. I bought one of them myself. They are usually marked, you just may have to look VERY carefully at it. Markings are usually on the upper flap.

If you want to make a shooter out of it, you could keep an eye out for a new receiver. Carcano parts are pretty common and the main parts are interchangable through all the models. Numrich would be a good place to start. The receivers have very few markings, usually just a small arsenal mark I believe so match that up and you are good to go.

---------- Post added at 08:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:16 AM ----------

Checked and Numrich does not have them. They may not handle the receivers due to it being the "firearm" portion of the firearm. Gunbroker next best bet.

Very insightful, thanks! I think I'll end up keeping it. I also briefly thought about buying a junker and replacing the receiver, but I think I'll just leave it be. I don't shoot much anymore and I'd rather have it original as can be. I'll end up getting a replacement hand guard to make it correct. I also bought a very nice M95 carbine at the same auction for the same price. That one didn't have any damage to it at least, haha!

I was unaware of that bayonet variation until I found another example on one of the Carcano websites in Italian. I thought it looked a bit too nice for a bubba job.

Is there anything I should do to preserve the scabbard? I just want to avoid further damage. Based on the condition of some of the other rifles from the estate, I can tell they weren't kept very well. I'd love to know how this one came into the US in this shape.

The cover should attach at the top, rear bottom of cover to rear top of scabbard. I can't tell from your photos if the leather tore there or if the threads came loose. If it's just the threads, you should be able to stitch them back together.

Preserving the actual leather is something I'll let others recommend. I know most say to steer clear of anything with petroleum products which unfortunately most seem to have. I have had very little luck finding anything locally that I like. The rifle could very well be a bring back, fellow kept it in the scabbard in the process.

The only thing with leaving the receiver as is is that you know it's cracked but the next guy down the road may not and it may not be you that is doing the transferring. You may want to mark it somehow that is not obvious for display but would be if they tried to load it, something in the magazine maybe.

I agree with the issue on what happens to the rifle in the future. I'll have to see what I can do, but I do know the bolt simply will not work properly without putting forth a great deal of effort. It actually falls right out of the receiver rails when you try to cock it and sometimes it actually decocks as you do it.

And I see where the cover should stitch into the top. This is something I will look into. I'd like to preserve this setup as best I can, since it seems the rifle and scabbard have been together a long time. In the process of researching preservation I did read the same thing about petroleum products, so I'll steer clear. Can't seem to find a method people agree on though, haha! And despite looking it over many times I can't find any marks. The post WWI examples I've found online seem to have very obvious stamps in the leather. I can't find any WWI era examples to compare.

Thanks for the help!

You could just get it cleaned up a tad and sort the leather keeping most of the arms patina as this is what makes them attractive I was lucky with my 1916 303 it was reasonably looked after though sanded down to within an inch of its life. And as ytou say an early example with the not often seen early bayonet a good conversation piece in the man cave I suspect. Thanks for sharing

I suspect your carbine could have had that cracked receiver its whole life. The rear part isn't pressure bearing (unless the front locking lugs sheared causing the bolt handle root to act as a safety lug) so it is unlikely to have happened from firing. 1915 was when Italy first joined WWI and they like everyone else were short arms. I wouldn't be surprised if they cut a couple corners in production to try and get rifles to the front.

Other than that cracked receiver, very nice carbine! Hope you enjoy it.