Any options

[Oldschool shooter]

I have a short barreled Carcano carbine. Love that it's short and handy, a great woods running carbine...except for the caliber. I know they are not lnown for great strength, but are there any good options for a caliber change? Thinking about something good for small game and maybe used occasionally for whitetail deer. Or am Ibarking up the wrong tree?

 

[fpgt72]

I have a short barreled Carcano carbine. Love that it's short and handy, a great woods running carbine...except for the caliber. I know they are not lnown for great strength, but are there any good options for a caliber change? Thinking about something good for small game and maybe used occasionally for whitetail deer. Or am Ibarking up the wrong tree?

They are not strong....but they are (he dawns his flame proof suit again....crap I should wear it anytime I come here) on par with every other military rifle of that era in like shape.

You can get them minute of softball at 100 with the right bullet and loading. If you reload I suggest you look at loading for it....very rewarding....the gains you make in working up a load will show more progress then any other rifle (likely) you have ever done.

If you don't reload, there are a couple of people that load in the correct sized bullet for this rifle....and you are going to be spending odd duck ammo prices for it.

What I would suggest is selling it, you should be able to get ~$100-$200 depending on who made it, where, when, shape....all the normal milsurp stuff, then spend that money on a nice Savage or something new out of the box....you will be ahead of your conversion.

Also keep in mind that the fixed sight on most of them is set to 300 so a little guestimation is in order.

Keep us updated....and post pics if you can....I have a soft spot for Carcano....they are good rifles.

All this assumes you have a 6.5 flavor and not the 30cal. Also check for finn markings....Finland got quite a few, and for some reason they are showing up on the market now....I have no real idea why.

 

[Oldschool shooter]

It is 6.5. I also have a full length Carcano rifle. Cost of ammo is ridiculous. That's why I was thinking something in a more readily available caliber. Have more guns than I need, not as many as I want. Not looking to buy anything new. This is not Finnish. I have had it for 30 years now, running out of 6.5 ammo and don't want to pay high$ to feed it.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

It is 6.5. I also have a full length Carcano rifle. Cost of ammo is ridiculous. That's why I was thinking something in a more readily available caliber. Have more guns than I need, not as many as I want. Not looking to buy anything new. This is not Finnish. I have had it for 30 years now, running out of 6.5 ammo and don't want to pay high$ to feed it.

https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index.php/cName/rifle-ammo-65-carcano
Thank goodness for the Serbs! Privi is still making many obscure calibers at reasonable prices, including 6.5 Carcano. Try the link above, suggest you stock up!

 

[GunnyUSMC]

With the value of milsurps going up, I would not modify the rifle in any way. If you have a bunch of other gun, why bother with the. Carcano. I have about eight of them in my collection, even a Finn marked one in 7.35 Carcano. I don’t shoot them. I gust have them here to catch dust.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

With the value of milsurps going up, I would not modify the rifle in any way. If you have a bunch of other gun, why bother with the. Carcano. I have about eight of them in my collection, even a Finn marked one in 7.35 Carcano. I don’t shoot them. I gust have them here to catch dust.

Yep, even the unloved Carcanos are finally climbing in value. The OP may very well be better served with any of the newer polymer stocked bargain rifles in a common caliber. A used Savage Axis or Ruger American can be had for virtual pocket change, be stronger, more accurate, and cheaper/easier to feed.

 

[fpgt72]

With the value of milsurps going up, I would not modify the rifle in any way. If you have a bunch of other gun, why bother with the. Carcano. I have about eight of them in my collection, even a Finn marked one in 7.35 Carcano. I don’t shoot them. I gust have them here to catch dust.

Have you found a source for that bullet....like the other carcano it is not quite fitting the "normal" 30 cal bullets.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Have you found a source for that bullet....like the other carcano it is not quite fitting the "normal" 30 cal bullets.

I picked it up at a small gun shop in PA. A few years ago. I’ve never fired it and really have no plans to. It’s just another rifle to round out my collection.
The Carcanos in 7.35 Carcano were not popular with the Italians and were sold or given to Finland as war aid. The Finns really didn’t care for them. Most often the ones that are Finn marked are in very good condition.

 

[troy fairweather]

The 6.5 carcano is a nice little deer cartridge. The ppu ammo is cheap and good on deer. U can find it for 16 or 17 bucks a box.

 

[boom boom]

I picked it up at a small gun shop in PA. A few years ago. I’ve never fired it and really have no plans to. It’s just another rifle to round out my collection.
The Carcanos in 7.35 Carcano were not popular with the Italians and were sold or given to Finland as war aid. The Finns really didn’t care for them. Most often the ones that are Finn marked are in very good condition.

Few quick things. First, the Hornady 6.5 Carcano ammo has the proper .268 round nose bullet with a long shank for the Carcano. People have had pretty good luck with cast bullets in these as well and there are some specialty casters that will size bullets to order. Hornady makes special runs from time to time on the proper .268 sized sp bullet for reloading and Grafs and Sons and Sportmans Guide has the loaded ammo for it using the proper bullet. SG has it for 28.99 for 20 rounds right now which is not cost prohibitive.
https://www.sportsmansguide.com/pro...mm-carcano-rnsp-160-grain-20-rounds?a=1336259 The Prvi did use the .264 bullet in their loading.

From what I understand about the 7.35, the Italians wanted to switch and started to but then WWII intervened a bit earlier than planned. Not wanting to have two different cartridges in the logistics train, they sold off the 7.35's or supposedly converted some back to the 6.5.

If you really want a Carcano sporter, look around gun broker for one. They are about $150-200 the last time that I checked. The 7.35 brings a bit less because ammo is hard to find.

This guy is pretty knowledgeable about the different types and has links to articles on shooting it, reloading, and even sporter versions. Some of the info is a bit dated as it dates from old bbs postings from my understanding. http://personal.stevens.edu/~gliberat/carcano/

 

[boom boom]

Have you found a source for that bullet....like the other carcano it is not quite fitting the "normal" 30 cal bullets.

Try cast boolits, believe there are several threads on those. There are some specialty casters that can properly size some cast bullets for you. Here is a blog post on a reloading the Carcano from a veteran reloader

http://bobshellsblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/735-carcano-rifle.html

Grafs and Sons has PCI ammo for it https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/23222 and brass from Prvi but not bullets.

 

[MachIVshooter]

The 6.5 Carcano is a perfectly suitable round for medium game, or for bigger critters like elk at moderate ranges. Not terribly fast and not benefitting from the development of typical .264" caliber bullets, those old heavy-for-caliber RN pills penetrate disproportionately to what the ballistics suggest.

Hornady makes a 160 gr. RNSP that is reputed to produce very good accuracy, and Norma produces a factory load with a 156 gr. RNSP. PRVI has a couple of offerings, and they're way cheaper than Norma, but I've never heard anyone accuse that ammo of being accurate.

A lot (most) of the stigma around the Carcano is due to it's historical significance here. The rifles and the round really aren't bad at all. The 6.5mm 91/38 short rifle is a fast handling, light weight critter with perfectly acceptable accuracy. Frankly, if we're choosing between WWII military rifles to carry through the woods for hunting, the M91/38 would come out ahead of most others for me.

Really the only downside to them is that they are single shot guns if you have no en bloc clips. On the flip side, they reload faster than any stripper clip rifle, and without tearing up thumbs.

like the other carcano it is not quite fitting the "normal" 30 cal bullets.

The 6.5x52mm is a "not quite" at .268" vs. .264". The 7.35mm is a "not at all", as it's a .29 caliber round, bullets a full .010" to .013" under any 7.62mm/.30 cal cartridge of any other nation.

 

[kozak6]

I read .35 Remington maybe, but such a conversion would be really expensive since you'd need a lot of work.

I'd say to take up reloading or consider selling it.

 

[Oldschool shooter]

I think I will leave the carbine as is. Prvi ammunition runs .263- .264, Carcano bore is .268. If I want any accuracy, it's handload only, or near $40/box for Norma.

 

[fpgt72]

I will also say the clips are a little spendy going for around $10-15 the last time I checked. They are also not to be used over and over again, so they get pretty iffy after a while. Really with mine I use as single shot rifles, but then I just bench the guns so not a big deal. I don't hunt but the clips also hold 6 and that could be an issue in some areas.

I really enjoy the rifles, likely because I tend to go to things that are not loved, not popular....I just go against belly button things in general....they are sound rifles.

 

[boom boom]

A lot (most) of the stigma around the Carcano is due to it's historical significance here. The rifles and the round really aren't bad at all. The 6.5mm 91/38 short rifle is a fast handling, light weight critter with perfectly acceptable accuracy. Frankly, if we're choosing between WWII military rifles to carry through the woods for hunting, the M91/38 would come out ahead of most others for me.

Part of the stigma comes from the fact that the Carcano long rifles used gain twist barrels. The 91/24 carbines are converted from long rifles, thus, they apparently chopped long rifle barrels to make them and in effect destabilizing the bullet. "The long rifle Carcano's barrel twist goes from 1-19.25 inches at the breech to 1-8.25 at the bore." See W.B. Smith Mannlicher Carcano book for this. Later WWII era rifles and carbines including the 91/38 apparently dropped the gain twist for their barrels on new production.

People including the Italian military who cut those long rifle gain twist barrels to make a sporter or carbine are what part of what gave Carcanos the unfair reputation for inaccuracy. The Italian military used its Fusil Carcanos in international sporting competitions and did fairly well with the round. The bullet stability, gave it the reputation of a wounding round instead of a killer because it gave through wounds rather than yawing like the Brit Mark VII.