.264" Carcano barrel?

[smellie]

Tight bore? Right hand? Eight grooves? On a Carcano..... with double triggers?

Original Carcano long rifle model 1891, modded by H.W. Cooey on contract for the T. Eaton Co. of Canada in the late 1920s, early 1930s.

These things have a truly AWFUL reputation which is completely undeserved. In this part of the world,there are legends of truly devastating accidents with these rifles.... although I have never met any of the people involved, nor have I seen the resulting wreckage of man and Carcano. But then, I've only been here for 67 years! I suspect rather strongly that any accidents were the result of using the wrong ammunition or else just, "Well, Bob got one of these and he told me that his Uncle Jim was afeart of it so I got rid of the SOB right quick and them things is dangerous, kid, so get rid of it now an' git a thutty-thutty like ever-one else!"

BTW, most seem to be chambered for the 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer round, which was the only 6.5 round available in Canada at that time. Thing is the MS and MC are just SO close that some rifles..... and many regular Carcanos..... will chamber both. If the Extractor has the round, you are safe to go. If it feeds up through the mag, the Extractor should be able to grab it. Problems can arise with single rounds tossed into the chamber...... as with any rimless cartridge.

Great little brush-buster!

Only possible mechanical problem: don't let the Cat get hold of that tiny screw which locks the barrel in place! It's in the bottom of the barrel Chamber section. Loc-Tite is your friend.

Horrible things ARE possible if you remove the Barrel Locking Screw and the Cat bats it under the fridge. If the Barrel turns outward (or is removed and not turned far enough back-in on replacement) it is possible to have a huge amount of clearance between the Bolt in forward position and the CHAMBER, leaving part of the CARTRIDGE COMPLETELY UNSUPPORTED. Being that Prairie farmers are inveterate tinkerers, I suspect that 1 or 2 incidents such as this well could have blackened the reputation of an otherwise fine little rifle.

I'm not really all that afraid of them. After all, I DO have three of them.

Good luck and have fun!
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