Chances are that you were shooting high BUT.......

.......... some European makers DO turn out bullets which are MUCH too hard for some military rifles. This came home to me rather forcefully just after I took my Arisakaicon Type 38 out for the first time. Shooting Norma factory ammo, the thing printed 4 on a nickel at 145 measured yards, iron sights, sandbags, so I determined to try some handloads. Loaded up my box of brass, used some Highest Quality Swedishicon-made BT Match slugs, took the old Ari out again. At 225 yards I shot a 5-round group which was 20 feet high by 30 feet wide. NO bullet hit the target.

Time for thinking.

Firing 3 rounds in succession with a witness in place, the bullets were observed EXPLODING about 10 to 15 feet in front of the muzzle. What was HAPPENING was that the very deep 4-groove Metford rifling of the Arisaka was distorting the bullet beyond its limits, the bullet jackets were cracking and the rest was according to observation. When I reloaded the cases with American-made soft-jacketed flatbase Remington 140 bulk bullets, just about the cheapest things you can find, the problem disappeared completely.

The rifling of the Carcano in all models except the '41, is GAIN-TWIST. This puts a great deal of strain on the bullet, as the twist rate of the rifling actually better than DOUBLES as the bullet passes down the bore. It is possible for a hard-jacketed bullet to distort past its limits and give results such as you are experiencing. I DO know that my Carcanos behave well with that same flatbase Remington 140...... and the ones with the typical loose bores shoot very nicely with the Hornady 160 CARCANO bullet.

PRVI PARTIZAN load their Carcano ammunition with BT .263" bullets with relatively hard jackets. This could be the problem with your rifle. The Partizan ammo is just WONDERFUL for the brass ( and I REALLY wish we could get it here!), but I really think they should go to an oversize bullet with a flat base for these old rifles.

As to my original Swedish bullets with the boat-tails and the hard jackets..... I wish I could find another few thousand: they shot BRILLIANTLY in a Swedish Mauser..... even though they REALLY don't like Arisakas!

Hope this helps.
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