6.5 carcano

[ireload2]

Gee, if he had so much trouble, why did he LATER publish finalized loads in the NEW manual??? (Sorry, couldn't stand it any longer)

All manuals are obsolete when printed. Who said he made the decision to put those loads in the manual? The handloaders using Hornady's bullets have shot a lot more of them than Hornady has.
Please explain why the Italian military issue bullets and the military bullets manufactured by Western Cartridge Company (WCC) are .2662 in diameter and the Hornady bullets are .2675? Are you therefore saying that Western and the Italiand didn't know what they were doing?

[jmoore]

No, just you.

Sorry, couln't help myself!

[ireload2]

No, just you.

Sorry, couln't help myself!

Just put a clothes pin on it the next time you can help yourself.
The loads you say are good are the same loads that many people are blowing primers with.
Seems you have backed your butt into a trap. Hornady has never test their bullet with as many rifles as has been tested buy their customers.
The only loads that truly seem trouble free are the 760/H414 Loads and only with LRM primers.
I shoot numerous 6.5 Italian, Swedish, Mannlicher, Japanese and Winchester rifles and never have any problems with other bullets. Hornady does not know what they are doing with this bullet.

[Amatikulu]

jmoore and ireload2,

This looks like a healthy debate. However,neither of you have answered the original poster, bvillars question. He's looking for milsurp 6.5 Carcano ammunition on chargers.

Reloading presents hazards to people that follow bad advice and if you want to debate reloading for the Carcano, you should start a new thread, keep it factual, provide your references and avoid attacking each other.

[jmoore]

Too right, sorry! My fault, I knew exactly where this was going and encouraged it. Wasn't quite done either, but fun time's over.

Most of the Italian surplus w/clips I've seen is the 7.35 stuff. Original military 6.5 is extremely uncommon in these parts, but some can still be found that had soft point bullets installed in the sixties (mostly) by Interarms and placed back in the old boxes complete w/ strippers. Its all "collectible" priced now unless you just stumble into some.

[MilSurpDNA]

Did this debate ever get sorted out? I finally found a 6.5 Carcano in the condition and price range I was looking for and want to reload my own rounds, but the more I research the more uncertain I am as to what setup/load data I should use. We have one person saying the load data in the Hornady manual is BS and another person saying it works fine for them. So what is it? I'm holding off buying dies and bullets and powder until I know what's best. Any clarification on this subject would be greatly appreciated. TIA

[jmoore]

I've still had no troubles. Try contacting Hornady- it's their data- If they won't stand behind it, then neither should you. I must say that the rifles I've used all have excellent bores! If it's rough or "frosted", you might just stick to factory ammo. That way there's a legal leg to stand on if something lets go. Hornady's ammo isn't all that expensive and useds their bullets. Prvi Partisan is cheaper, but accuracy is not so good in my experience. Norma ammo is really expensive AND isn't worth having, even for the brass! Ugh.

If ANYONE made 0.266" bullets I'd try them. Don't know of any, so what can you do?

I mean....well, ummm- who has more to lose, we internet "gurus", or a company that caters to folk passionate about really oddball calibers?

[MilSurpDNA]

Thank you for replying jmoore. So I take it you are using the .268 Hornady bullets without any problems, right? What dies are you using? I was told that the Lee Pacesetter dies are set up for .265 bullets, so does this mean the Lee dies will not work if I use the Hornady bullets? I tried calling Hornady yesterday to inquire about custom dies for the 6.5 Carcano, but they had the day off.

BTW, the bore, including the crown, on the M41 Carcano (Mfg. date is 1942) I bought is in excellent condition. The numbers are matching and the cleaning rod is there too. I was very happy to find it for $200. I am now searching for a good k98 and Moisin Nagant to complete my WW II rifle collection, all bolt action rifles except the M1.

[jmoore]

The Lee dies produce acceptable ammunition for us. (That's not a royal "us", they're shared about.)

The Lee shell holder was poo, however. (Too big or sloppy fitting to hold the cases securely!) Using an RCBS, instead.

My "Oswald Special" is quite accurate, indeed! No problem doing 1 1/2 MOA five or six shot groups. Many run a little smaller. Pretty amazing, I think!

The little folding bayonet carbine is about the worst, IIRC. 6 MOA groups, but it's consistant and the zero doesn't wander. OK for troopies who probably weren't front line infantry.


I've wondered why no one does a dual diameter bullet for these, like the original 264 Winchester Magnum design. Small in the front that rides the top of the lands, and a larger portion at the rear which is groove filling. More expensive, sure! But no worse than other premium niche market bullets.

[jmoore]

Link to a similar thread that may answer a few more questions:

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=15002

I must not have added tags, that's been fixed!

Here's A link to an article that Badger had posted in another thread:

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=265