This weekend I was given an old WWII bolt action rifle. From what I can tell it appears to be a Mannlicher-Carcano M1938. What can you tell me about this rifle? To the best of my knowledge they are infamous for being inaccurate. What type of ammunition is does it fire? Is it worth spending the money on ammo, magazine, having a gunsmith looking it over etc.? Are there any websites that provide addition information on it? The rifle seems to be in relatively good condition and I would like to try it out at the range before I stuff it in the back of the safe.
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Mannlicher-Carcano M1938
- Thread starter Sharpdogs
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Mannlicher Carcano rifles and carbines. 6.5mm cartridge. They aren't "infamous for being inaccurate", rather, SOME of them are. Usually the crappy midwar-in-hurry-get-it-out-the-door models have sloppy build and accuracy because they were built in a hurry. The Mauser 98 (most-built rifle in the world before the AK47) had excellent examples across the world, but some end-of-the-war built ones from Germany were pretty crappy too cause what they had left to build with.
Mannlicher Carcanos are capable of solid good accuracy (Lee Harvey Oswald used one if you believe the Feds against JFK). They use the Mannlicher clip system, which means you load all five rounds, insert into the rifle (No detachable magazine) and when you shoot the last round the clip spits out of the bottom of the rifle. Sort of like the M1 Garand (same system, except the M1 spits it out the top) both rifles, no clip, you have a single shot rifle. And no topping off the magazine. This isn't necessarily a "bad thing" but does need to be said so you don't try and top off the rifle and go nuts figuring out why not.
The longer rifles tend to be a bit more accurate than the carbines (like any rifle/carbine group of hardware) but all are pretty decent. I don't know how easy 6.5mm is to get since I don't have one, but I know it's out there. Check www.ammoman.com, or The Old Western Scrounger.
Mannlicher Carcanos are capable of solid good accuracy (Lee Harvey Oswald used one if you believe the Feds against JFK). They use the Mannlicher clip system, which means you load all five rounds, insert into the rifle (No detachable magazine) and when you shoot the last round the clip spits out of the bottom of the rifle. Sort of like the M1 Garand (same system, except the M1 spits it out the top) both rifles, no clip, you have a single shot rifle. And no topping off the magazine. This isn't necessarily a "bad thing" but does need to be said so you don't try and top off the rifle and go nuts figuring out why not.
The longer rifles tend to be a bit more accurate than the carbines (like any rifle/carbine group of hardware) but all are pretty decent. I don't know how easy 6.5mm is to get since I don't have one, but I know it's out there. Check www.ammoman.com, or The Old Western Scrounger.
Just checked my Military Small Arms of the 20th Century.
The M38 model actually shoots 7.35X52mm, not 6.5 (I couldn't remember which model was the one they switched up to a larger caliber). According to the book, "As a result of their experiences in Abyssinia, the Italians found the 6.5mm cartridge was insufficiently lethal, and introduced an enlarged 7.35mm in 1938 along with a modified version of the 1891 rifle. Apart from the caliber, the Fucile Modelo 1938 had a fixed 300m rear sight in place of the earlier tangent sights"... this is slightly paraphrased but gets all the info over. Sorry about the caliber mixup, that's why I pulled out the reference book to check.
If you have an M38, it's a Short Rifle, which is 40in long, 8 lb 2 oz, 22 in barrel. Rifling is 4 grooves r hand twist. It actually has a six shot magazine capacity (I thought it was five). There is also a cavalry and special troop model carbine with a folding bayonet under the barrel, and a Short rifle 38/43 chambered (rebored) to 7.92mm apparently modified during 1944 but it's sort of a jury-rigged job and dangerous to fire.
The cavalry and special troop carbines had a 200m fixed notch rear sight.
The Standard M38 short rifle and carbine are ok though.
The M38 model actually shoots 7.35X52mm, not 6.5 (I couldn't remember which model was the one they switched up to a larger caliber). According to the book, "As a result of their experiences in Abyssinia, the Italians found the 6.5mm cartridge was insufficiently lethal, and introduced an enlarged 7.35mm in 1938 along with a modified version of the 1891 rifle. Apart from the caliber, the Fucile Modelo 1938 had a fixed 300m rear sight in place of the earlier tangent sights"... this is slightly paraphrased but gets all the info over. Sorry about the caliber mixup, that's why I pulled out the reference book to check.
If you have an M38, it's a Short Rifle, which is 40in long, 8 lb 2 oz, 22 in barrel. Rifling is 4 grooves r hand twist. It actually has a six shot magazine capacity (I thought it was five). There is also a cavalry and special troop model carbine with a folding bayonet under the barrel, and a Short rifle 38/43 chambered (rebored) to 7.92mm apparently modified during 1944 but it's sort of a jury-rigged job and dangerous to fire.
The cavalry and special troop carbines had a 200m fixed notch rear sight.
The Standard M38 short rifle and carbine are ok though.
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