Carcano M-38??

[Aragorn243]

I'm no expert but the spent casings look like the spent casings from most of the rifles I own, both civilian and military. Some expansion is normal, the chambers are larger than the cartridges and this is by design.

My military rifles in general show a larger degree of expansion than my civilian ones although the most extensive is from a Savage 99 lever action. I still carry that hunting occasionally and check the casings after each firing, no evidence of separation and no primer issues.

[westkraut]

I'm no expert but the spent casings look like the spent casings from most of the rifles I own, both civilian and military. Some expansion is normal, the chambers are larger than the cartridges and this is by design.

My military rifles in general show a larger degree of expansion than my civilian ones although the most extensive is from a Savage 99 lever action. I still carry that hunting occasionally and check the casings after each firing, no evidence of separation and no primer issues.

Thank you, 'am feeling a bit better with this info. Any concerns over the length of the casings after firing? I have never had any other hunter or milsurp produce casings like this, altho' I have had some with similar levels of blowby. .....................................thanks.....ka rl

[vintage hunter]

It may just be the way the light is hitting it but on the second case to the left( the one next to the standing cases) I can see a bright ring. Possibly partial case head separation. This can be revealed by sectioning a case or two looking for an internal ring just ahead of the web on the inside. I don't know how common this issue is with Carcano's but one thing comes to mind that would cause the hard opening after firing and that is bolt setback, this is caused by the hardened layer of the locking lug shoulders being worn away from excessive use causing a slight recess to form. When opening the bolt the lugs have to ride forward over the part of the shoulder that isn't worn and compress the case a bit to open. Most of the time it's necessary to remove the barrel to positively be able to determine if or not bolt setback is present but sometimes it can be seen with a small dental mirror and/or felt a curved pick if you know what to look and feel for. If no setback is found try swapping bolts from one rifle to another to see if anything changes.

[jmoore]

I would think the most lkely cause of hard extraction is a mismatch between the receiver and bolt cam which are located at the front of the bolt and inside the receiver ring, unlike Mausers. I've had some success at easing the primary extraction force by polishing the bolt cams on the front of the locking lugs. Very hard to get at the receiver camming area with the barrel in place, but have done it with some small stones on one rifle. If there's no localized thinning of the case wall interior near the base I'd not worry about the rest. 0.007" stretch ought to be OK. If you reload, neck size the cases. (Just back off the full length size die a bit.)

ETA: If you think these cases look scary, try a Type 38 Arisaka! Or even an SMLE or Ross with "generous" chamber dimensions.

[westkraut]

Thank you all for the helpful information. I will check these two rifles over carefully with respect to the bolts and locking lug surfaces and am grateful and relieved to learn that the casing appearance is not as much of a concern as I first thought. There is always opportunity to learn more and so thank you for sharing your knowledge! 'Am most grateful for your help and will report back in a few weeks......thanks again......k