Carcano M38 Short Rifle-Lots of Pictures

[mdrim13]

I have recebtly purchased an M38 Carcano from my local gun shop for a price of $40. It has lots of things wrong with it but it does have a couple bright spots. The rifle is dated 1939 ans is in the 7.35mm Carcano cal. and the bbl is in decent shape. Any advice or feedback would be appriciated during the restoration process. I would be inerested in hearing all coments, positive and negative.

The Good: The rifle is in 7.35mm(yes I consider this good), all major parts are there, the shape of the parts is not terrible, the original cleaning rod is still with the rifle, and probably the best part is the price.

The Bad: Where to begin...The stock has been cut even with the front of the rear band, the rear band has been cut even with the top of the stock, the hanguard is missing, the bayo lug and front band are also missing, the firing pin has been broken and rewelded to the locking nut at some point, the front trigger guard screw has been replaced with a run-of-the-mill hardware store screw and finallybutplate is rusted fairly bad.

I will post pics and progress as time allows as there is much to gather and work on, but in the end it should be all worth if I can get everything at the right price. Wish me luck!!

mdrim13

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[jmoore]

I will wish "persistance" on you, rather than luck! Although a complete "donor rifle" with a bad bore would help immensely.

Do please give us progress reports.

[Aragorn243]

Hard to beat the price that's for sure. Metal doesn't look too bad, probably not as bad as the one I just cleaned up. I first scraped the heavy rust off in the same direction the metal markings are going and then wire brushed it and finally very fine steel wool. Photos are under Carcano Cavalry Carbine fixer upper. You could try sanding down the buttplate before replacing it. From the photos, that looks like some very heavy damaging rust on the upper portion of it, be hard to make it look good without some heavy work.

Shame about the stock, looks like it is a nice one aside from being cut. And there lies the big problem, finding a stock will make that bargain of $40 disappear unless you're very lucky.

[mdrim13]

So far I have all of the peices to my rifle put together. I bought a new stock from sarco inc and it appears to be a virgin stock(pilot holes for screws but not full holes, no # on stock, no metal parts inside). I have decided to refinish the butplate with cold blue and see if i can match it. I will finish the rifle in a linseed oil as it has no current finish. I have begun the rust removal process and so far I have the magazine, bayo lug and bolt body cleaned up. So far I am only having one major problem...ammo! I am not set up to reload so i am looking for factory loads for the time being. Any ideas on where to get some?

[jmoore]

Nothing available of which I'm aware in 7,35 Carcano. Good round, and Hornady components are to be had from Grafs'. Maybe "Buffalo Arms" (or Buffalo something)- let me search the "internets" right quick.

---------- Post added at 02:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:45 AM ----------

Here's their product, but they are out right now:

Buffalo Arms - Product Detail - 7.35 Italian Carcano Loaded Ammunition 128 grn. - $36.00


They also have in stock some surplus ammo for US$14- don't know if that's for 15rds boxed w/clips or if it's 20rds w/o clips. I suspect the latter.

[Patrick Chadwick]

They also have in stock some surplus ammo for US$14- don't know if that's for 15rds boxed w/clips or if it's 20rds w/o clips. I suspect the latter.

I hope neither* - the Carcano ammo came in clips of six rounds, 3 clips in a box = 18 rds! If has indeed been repacked without the clips, then you have a problem. Feeding a Carcano without those clips is a pain. Which is why the clips are worth more than the ammo!

PRVI - Partizan make 6.5mm Carcano cases. Easy to anneal the necks and expand these to 7.5mm. The real problem is the bullets!

Patrick


* Oh dear! I just checked. That is ammo without the clips. Get a couple of clips or be prepared to get annoyed.

[jmoore]

D'oh! Yah, 18 rounds-WHAT was I thinking?!?. Thanks for the double check of their website! All I saw was a single round displayed but was pretty sure the price wasn't just for the one round.

[xa-coupe]

Best of persistence with this ! I like seeing something rescued from sprter bubba land.

[jmoore]

Some milsurp ammo, cal. 7,35mm

[mdrim13]

So far I have managed to clean all of the surface rust off the rifle and it looks great. I used a copper wire brush, oit and patientce to do this. I am now faced with the task of fitting the stock and handguard to the rifle. Everything is very tight to the point where you nearly have to beat it into the stock. It will be a slow process as I have never done it before. I would rather take my time then go to far and then have to patch and recut it out. After the stock is fitted i will fix some small cracks, steam out some dents, glue where the wood has lifted in a couple spots and fit the butplate. If all looks well i will then give it a few good coats of BLO to finish it. Then i will move on to the heavily pitted butplate.