Price check, aisle 7.35 Carcano

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Coronach

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A coworker has another rifle he wants to sell me. It's a Carcano short rifle in 7.35 with some feckling in some areas but otherwise good finish and decent bore and wood. All parts match, at least as far as I can tell. Markings are as follows:

On the stock, the butt is stamped (obviously the S/N):

D
98XX

and a cartouche "FABRICA D'ARMI R. E. TERNI 1939"

The bolt handle and bolt have a "SD" in a box or oval.

The barrel, just forward of the reciever ring, is marked:

FP
1938XVII
R. E. TERNI
CAL. 7,35
SA (again in a box or oval)
D98XX

Anything unusual about these markings? They seem like the standard proofs and acceptance stamps, but I don't know much about these rifles. Any idea of a decent price? The guy wants $200.

Mike
 
Its about $125 too high. Good little guns, ammo is indecently expensive. Collector value is minimal. I see them in pawnshops regularly for less than $100.
 
SA -marking means it is allmost certainly ex-Finnish Army gun. These were issued to rear echelon troops during our 1941-1944 'continuation war' with Soviet Union. Allmost 100 000 were bought from Italy around 1940.
 
Its about $125 too high. Good little guns, ammo is indecently expensive. Collector value is minimal. I see them in pawnshops regularly for less than $100.
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In 7.35? I was under the impression that it was the more rare of the two calibers.
SA -marking means it is allmost certainly ex-Finnish Army gun. These were issued to rear echelon troops during our 1941-1944 'continuation war' with Soviet Union. Allmost 100 000 were bought from Italy around 1940.
Click to expand...
Whoah. That's interesting. Any other telltales?

Thanks,

Mike
 
Also, SA and SD are stamped on the rifle. I wonder if I misread one of them?

Mike
 
Well, Italians sold most of their 7,35mm rifles to us during the war. All military property here is marked SA, which stands for Suomen Armeija, or Finnish Army. I also have the impression that the majority of those rifles were sold to US as surplus sometime after the war.

At some point I also was mildly interested in adding one of those into my modest collection. But 7,35mm ammo is next to impossible to find, and the fixed rear sight may be rather challenging on the rifle range.. :)

EDIT: I do have a bayonet for the rifle, as well as 3 clips of war time ammo, courtesy of my grandfather. He still lives in his home village, men of which served in the artillery a lot. Carcanos were common guns among artillery crews.
 
Carcanos are great little guns. Unfortunately, the price of the ammo is such that the rifle should sell at a reletive discount. Two hundred smackers is too much.
Mauserguy
 
I agree with the "about $125 too much."

There is a local pawn with two of them covered in dust for $110. Been there for years and dealer won't budge.
 
jacobhh, come back when you notice that the Carcano actually sells for the asking price of $666. That ad is a joke, right?

The ones for $110 at the local guy are in better condition than that!
 
I would say $125 for a typical Carcano but the SA (Finnish) stamp adds quite a bit of value to the rifle. $200 is not out of line.
 
Ahhh yes, the inevitable thread full of Carcano haters keeping prices rock bottom for me. $200 for a Finned 7.35 isn't out of line.
And Luomu, if it's the folding variant for the 38 it's worth some cash. I sold one a few months back for $180.
 
Mine has an SA stamp too, I paid around $100 at a gunshow. It's unlikely I'll ever shoot it of course but it's a fun bit of history because it illustrates how nobody thought war was imminent even as late as 1938. The reason Italy sold them off is that they had tried to switch their whole army from 6.5mm to 7.35mm in 1938, and then had to backpedal in a hurry when they found themselves embroiled in WW2 a year later.
 
.45guy, that's nice to know as I was not aware there were more than one type around. It is a folder. Unfortunately, I once accidentally managed to get some rust on it (& on the scabbard), which had to be scraped off, so the value in this case is probably not that much. :eek:
 
It's still worth some cash, the one I sold had been taken to a bench grinder at one point.
 
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