Is now a good time to buy a Carcano?

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wiscoaster said:
If you can buy these for $300 you should buy a whole crate and flip 'em at our next gun show!!
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Prices on turks seem to hover at $250-300 with good to excellent bores and stocks. The caliber is easier to find as well. I have seen recent carcanos whose parts/bores/stocks were either worn or rusted out. 03 turks were made at Oberndorf,
 
vintovka said:
Prices on turks seem to hover at $250-300 with good to excellent bores and stocks.
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Except I checked on GB before posting and there were none listed that low. The lowest starting bid was $325 and it was sporterized. Like I said, if you can find Turk Mausers in that condition and not sporterized for under $300, they're a $500 rifle (at least) at the gun show I go to. $625 for the last one seen on the rack at my local Mom n Pop gun shop.
 
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wiscoaster said:
Except I checked on GB before posting and there were none listed that low. The lowest starting bid was $325 and it was sporterized.
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Wow you're absolutely right!!. Prices from last month have increased significantly!!!. Time to trot out the ones from my late friends estate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (things are getting like the Weimar Republic where workers got paid twice a day (noon and evening) as prices went up before they got off work at end of day.)
 
Most of the responses seem to be answering the question "Should I buy a Carcano?", when the question was the subtly different "Is now a good time to buy a Carcano?".

IMHO, if you want to own one, then yes now is a good time to buy. I've been collecting milsurps for nearly 20 years and now is the first time I've seen them coming in from importers. Buying from importers is always going to be cheaper than the secondary market, so if one is on your wish list, I'd say buy now. I've never passed on buying a milsurp rifle when it was being imported and NOT regretted it (though truthfully the only one that springs to mind as an obvious example is the Steyr M95 - I didn't get one of those when they were coming in a while back).
 
mgmorden said:
.... I've never passed on buying a milsurp rifle when it was being imported and NOT regretted it (though truthfully the only one that springs to mind as an obvious example is the Steyr M95 - I didn't get one of those when they were coming in a while back).
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Oh, yeah!! Great advice!! Don't take a pass on something that's on your list if it's priced right and you've got the funds. When I saw this one sitting on my LGS's rifle rack I didn't even have to think twice:
View attachment 1011987
Taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves is what credit cards were made for.
 
mgmorden said:
Most of the responses seem to be answering the question "Should I buy a Carcano?", when the question was the subtly different "Is now a good time to buy a Carcano?".

IMHO, if you want to own one, then yes now is a good time to buy. I've been collecting milsurps for nearly 20 years and now is the first time I've seen them coming in from importers. Buying from importers is always going to be cheaper than the secondary market, so if one is on your wish list, I'd say buy now. I've never passed on buying a milsurp rifle when it was being imported and NOT regretted it (though truthfully the only one that springs to mind as an obvious example is the Steyr M95 - I didn't get one of those when they were coming in a while back).
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Thanks for that answer.

The rate at which milsurp rifles have appreciated over the passed 12 months, I'd say it's a sound use of $300. They're not making any more of them and they're not getting cheaper. I'd like to be able to hand a piece of a crazy part of history down to my child or grandchildren one day.
 
I see Classic now has dropped their price for the M91 Calvary Carbine to $220. I bought one last year for $230 and I am satisfied with it for what it is. After a little work on it, it is a good solid gun. If you are looking for your first bolt action mid-power rifle, then this is not a good choice. Buy a new big brand rifle. But, this is great piece of Italian history. It has a cool bayonet and cool sights. You can find cool little ammo pouches for it. If I can ever learn the sights, this little rifle would be great for shooting deer at close ranges.

The recoil is not bad at all. It is a light gun, so it will have a little recoil, but the 6.5 is a great round - low recoil shooting 139 grain bullet at about 2500fps ain't bad. Recoil is very similar to a 243.

And the ammo is not expensive at all. The days of finding old surplus rounds of anything for $0.25 are long gone. I picked up 10 boxes of PPU for $13.99 a box a month or two ago. That was the pre-Covid price and it may come back to that price (well, it did for a few hours from Aim Surplus).
 
... and if it doesn't shoot worth a darn you can always frame it and hang it on the wall:

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Does anyone know what the velocities are out of each barrel length? The cavalry carbine is 17 inches i believe and the other is 21 isn't it?
 
You guys just had to taunt me.
I dropped in to my LGS and found an all-matching M-38 in 6.5 with interesting markings in the stock - for example, V V V in a round-cornered box, carefully branded into the lower butt stock and a star burst carved on the right side, just behind the trigger.
It's on lay-away.
 
Buy a Carcano to what end?
I collect military rifles from WW1. So I have a 1891 rifle, and when opportunity presents, I will buy a Moschetto carbine as well.
However, I cannot think of a reason to purchase one for any other purpose. Perhaps if ammunition was dirt cheap it would be a cheap range toy, but ammo is not cheap nor likely to be cheap. There are several other rifles more useful for hunting.
 
My general mental process for gun buying of any kind involves three questions:

1) Is it an interesting or desirable model of something -- to me specifically
2) Is it available in the condition I want -- also, if it is something rarely available in my area, desirability goes up
3) Can I afford it right now, both in terms of money and domestic tranquility

This final point is a bit flexible, as I balance the checkbook and my wife only cares about the bank balance at the end of the month.

So, ask yourself, "Do I want a Carcano, is there a nice Carcano of the type I want available, and is it priced within my reach?" If you can afford it and are still worried about paying too much, you picked the wrong hobby.

I seldom consider the ammunition question, since I handload and already caseform for several unobtainium cartridges. Actually, right now the only factory rifle ammo I'm seeing in local stores is 5.56 and 7.62 NATO and 7.62x39, so this point is moot.

My only Carcano at present is an ex-Finnish service rifle in 7.35 Terni, one of the more difficult bore sizes to deal with. I've shot it a few times with my handloads, and its biggest issue it isn't the ammo but finding en bloc clips that work.
 
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I got one a few years back(70)- $11 out the door with 4 pwr scope.
I put new front & rear sight on it.
It shot well with reloads as long as you worked bolt fast.
It had chip on bolt & would jamb if you worked bolt slowly.
 
Well folks I must confess, I bought one a Carcano Cavalry model, 6.5X52MM with a pristine barrel sharp lands, and rather deep grooves, the stock wasn't in too bad a shape, and I do believe I got it for just under $300.00. Couldn't find any factory ammo for it so I got 40 once fired Norma brass at $40.00 for 40 pieces. I then ordered sizing dies from Lee, the only dies readily available, and some Hornady .264 SP spire type bullets in the 140grn. The only problem is the bore measured out to .268, so when I went and fired 3 rounds at 25 yards in order to sight it in, they looked more like a shotgun pattern at 60+yards, all over the paper. Since that time I cleaned up the barrel, and placed the firearm back in the safe, and ordered a .269 lead mold from Noe's, some gas checks from Sage, and are presently waiting for the items to arrive. Incidentally while awaiting the arrival of the dies and bullets, I completely disassembled, and cleaned up the stock, smoothed out the bolt, and noted that the barrel and receiver only needed some 4.0 steel wool and some light oil to bring out the military reconditioning of those parts. BTW the 3 rounds that were fired, went smoothly into the chamber, and showed no evidence of binding, and ejected smoothly. I'm quite certain that once my .269 mold get's here, I should be able to get some much better accuracy out of the that bargain rifle. So if you've got the patience, I'd go ahead and jump on it.
 
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