Axis Arms Carcano

I just received my Beretta Carcano from Axis Arms in Ohio. Plaid extra for Beretta and the shop owner assured me he would personally hand pick a "keeper" for me. Sounded great. That was until I opened the box. OUCH!! Looks very much like a run of the mill Ethiopian beater. But this one is out of Italy(??) Go figure. Stock totally covered in gouges and dings. All metal is an even dirty/rust brown. The bore is a rust bucket. Pitted all over and no way safe to fire. I have sent them two Emails about a return, no response. Not sure where to go. Stay tuned.

I have had good luck dealing with Axis Arms. I think they are better than most at describing what you’ll receive. Very few of the PW Arms imports were beauty queens. Dinged stocks were almost universal and some rust wasn’t uncommon. I don’t know if your expectations were too high or if you just got unlucky with the worst of the batch, but I would expect them to get back with you to see what could be worked out. I hope it works out for you.

I did call prior to the purchase. They seemed very good to me and promised a hand select for free. BUT, the Carcano is a total beater. Wood terrible, metal bad and bore dangerous. No way is this a shooter. This kind of money for a wall hanger is crazy. I have sandpaper, can easily get it re-blued, but the bore is not fixable. I have sent the shop 2 Emails and no response. I did return it and now we see what is next.

That sucks. I hate ordering sight unseen but have thrown the dice twice with Royal Tiger Imports Ethiopian imports and been happy with both. Both had very little to no exterior finish left but at the same time neither was rusty or deeply pitted either. The Berdan has an excellent bore, the Mannlicher is dark but strong rifling, might clean up with firing. Both were functional but I replaced a couple of parts on the Mannlicher for cosmetic reasons mostly. The Berdan is missing sling swivels. It seems the Ethiopians went with rawhide through holes in the stock instead.

A LOT of people are very upset with them however. Not sure what they expected but they did not get it. I figured I was going to get very worn old rifles with bad bores. I just wanted them to be functional and fixable which they were.

Mike has a ton of Carcano's right now but you'd have to check with him to see if he can ship to California or not.

Thanks for the kind words guys. Axis Arms issued a VERY prompt refund. Mind you, I paid over $50.00 in shipping to me and then the return and this was not refunded. If it were possible I would drive over to Ohio and hand pick my own keeper. Rumor Control says there are more Carcanos in Italy that are headed this way. I am living in Arizona now, so driving to J&G might just happen. Thanks guys for your support.

J&G are the people who got me hooked on this Carcano addiction with a nice looking Cavalry Carbine last year. I have acquired a number of more “valuable” Carcanos since, but that luck of the draw Cavalry Carbine is probably my favorite from just a general appearance standpoint. I don’t think I could resist the opportunity to select my own if I lived close enough to J&G (or any of the major Carcano dealers). I’m glad you were able to at least recover your original purchase price from the Beretta. Having that money back in your pocket will come in handy if you decide to make the drive to J&G.

Glad to read that you got your money back.
Don't give up on Carcano's, they are really nice rifles.