7.35 Carcano to...

[jmorris]

Have had a 7.35 mm for close to 40 years that was in my Grandmothers pantry. No one alive has ever shot it and I did come across some ammunition but seemed expensive enough to not be worth it.



The action looks well used at some point and it is very smooth, kind of what got the ball rolling on the project (12 yr old can't work a Contender action well).



I broke it down tonight and it looks pretty good with a 357 maximum case in it.





That said, I think its going to be a 38spl. Barrel should be here tonight but I still need to get a reamer, borrowed one for my last two projects, maybe if I buy one, I won't need it again...

 

[jmorris]

I had a little "me" time today and knocked out the mating machine work and threw the parts together for a quick photo. I believe there is adequate thread engagement.



Not sure what I want to do with the sights. Still have a few hours of stuff to do before I get that far though.

 

[dh1633pm]

Very interesting project. I have a 7.35 Carcano too. Never did anything much with it. Got some brass and dies. Nothing much else. Keep us up to date.

 

[jmorris]

I was thinking about just making it a single shot but it might up its use if it were mag fed...



...up the difficulty level a bit too. Not a lot of donor mags will fit unless I want to run wadcutters or really chop it up.

 

[jmorris]

Well, I guess its easier to just jump in than sit there thinking about it. The channel for the stripper clip and rounds was wide enough for a 1911 mag but not long enough and I am going to have to make one .250 longer anyway (to allow for a 1.65" OAL inside the mag), so I did a little mill work.






Will have to take the angle out of it and create a rear mag catch out of the stripper clip retainer, in front of the trigger.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Wow, awesome project!

For a front sight, I would turn down the end of the barrel and probably slide on a M1903 banded blade assembly. They are still common and cheap on Ebay, plus the blade itself is replaceable so you can play around with the zero elevation since the Carcano rear is fixed.

 

[jmorris]

Yeah, I was thinking about using 10-22 take offs I have but my eyes seem to prefer an extra Jpoint I have collecting dust.

 

[EMC45]

Keep it coming. Love these projects.

 

[jmorris]

Reamer came in, made a temporary front sight from a section of tape and had it somewhat zeroed in a couple shots. Was pretty hard on primers, .084" is a tad too much protrusion.



You can see the difference in the 4 I fired from it vs the rest of the box fired from a different firearm.



I also swapped out the spring for the firing pin, with a reduced power one (happened to be the same ID/OD as 1911 recoil springs).

 

[jmorris]

Made a sight to test with this evening, its a press fit with a set screw, might be able to set the height this weekend.