Rebarreling a Carcano

[Onmilo]

I didn't say potentially dangerous, I said potentially unsafe.
Why would I laud an Ishapore .308 rifle?
I have heard of no issues in the mettallurgy of that action.
You are asking people about the feasability of converting a rifle made anywhere up to fifty years prior to the Ishapore to a caliber it was never intended to be and then you are getting angry and insulted when a working gunsmith tells you it is an idiotic idea.

Mister, I spent six years in the service, ( United States Army) commited to preventing anything 'commie' from ever coming onto these shores, I'll feel no loss not taking your money either.

 

[.45Guy]

No, I'm not getting offended or angry. I was merely posting for information on a conversion that has been done quite a bit. However all I recieved in reply were opinions on the action based on personal prejudice, which aren't exacly helpful. But on the same tangent, would you give the same advice to the rebarreling of a Gewer 98 action? I've seen quite a few produced well over 90 years ago in calibers they certainly weren't originally chambered in. And yes, the Ishapore is newer, and was "originally chambered" in .308. But the fact remains that the Lee action is weak, and you're telling me Indian metallurgy is superior to that of the Italians, who consequently were paying royalties to the Czechs. So again, are all those VZ-24's out there constructed of inferior steel? Anyway, I don't want to start a pi##ing contest here, but I also spent six years in the service. Four years in the Marine Corps, and two in the Army. This thread has now run it's course. Mods, please delete.

 

[.45Guy]

Good for you. (I wonder why he is selling it?)

Jim

BTW, here's the rest of the collection he just parted with:

 

[Story]

.45Guy,
How did your conversion work out?

For the rest,
7.35 Carcanos were rechambered to 7.62x39 when the Italian rounds were completely unavailable. During WWII the Australians also converted some captured Carcanos to .303 British, for use by the Free Dutch. The .303 British has the same profile, albeit longer by 17mm, as the 7.62x39.

 

[yhtomit]

.45Guy: Yes, how did the rifle turn out for you?

Also, what a collection -- must have taken a long time to assemble. And is that a rifle-shaped lamp-stand, or is it just leaning against a conventional lamp-pole?

timothy

 

[Carl N. Brown]

rifle shaped lamp stand
I recall decades ago that some outfit actually did make
and sell lampstands made out of old military rifles.

By the way, I have heard that the Carcano can be
rebarreled or rechambered to just a few cartridges
and still use the clip-fed magazine un altered:
6.5x52 Carcano
7.35x52 Carcano
6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schonauer (sp)
.35 Remington
Carcano actions have been used to make single shot
bolt actions in a number of medium centerfire calibers.

Carcanos made at Terni arsenal under Beretta control
are actual fairly well made guns.

Shortly after acquiring my first Carcano, I acquired
a Lee Loader kit and prefer to load my own.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

.... 7.35 Carcanos were rechambered to 7.62x39 ....
7.35 Carcano is about .300" whereas most sources say
7.62x39mm rounds are loaded with .310" bullets. Ouch!
Tight fit.

 

[lathedog]

I like the idea in general although would also have concern over the pressure issue. I have had this caliber change bug many times and end up buying Lee dies in the original caliber and reloading. A box or two is plenty to shoot in a milsurp bolter and should last for many reloads if you stick to moderate power loads.

My recommendation would be to get a box of ammo from Graf's or wherever and give the rifle a whirl as is before commiting to an expensive project. I didn't see much detail in your original post as to whether you have shot it before, etc. You should get a feel for the rifle's feel from this.

Try a search at gunboards.com on the carcano forum for rebarreling projects. I have read several on there. Some guys used the single stack WASR mags in a detatchable mag conversion as well. Intriguing. I think the best way this would all work would be on a gun that Bubba already got to, saving good original condition rifles for the collectors. I'm not extreme on that; it's just a general inclination on my part.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Apparently you can use a .303 barrel to make a 7.62x39 barrel for the
Carcano; the front of the .303 brit chamber matches the 7.62x39
cartridge, just shorten to fit.

45Guy later posted this:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=200776

So we have revived a thread that was re-threaded.

the gunboard link on the subject of 7.62x39 Carcano conversion is:
http://forums.gunboards.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=214330

 

[TEDDY]

carcano

there was a magazine article on carcanos in which it stated best check steel was used in carcano.I have a 6.5 carcano.and no I am not afraid to shoot it
conventional wisdom is not always right.check the 6.5 jap recambered for 30/06 with out rerifling shoot 7 deer but kicked.turned out it was stronger than any rifle made.the 7.62x39 would be fine. ----

 

[Clark]

The guy that owns this website is an engineer, Andy, who has experimented on Carcanos.
IIRC, he thinks they are strong.
http://www.8x63swedish.pridham.ca/load_data.html

SKSs are not strong, and the firing pin blows out of them.


OK, I found him.
Here is Andy talking about converting a Carcano to 7.62x39mm:
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=132310&page=3&highlight=carcano

 

[.45Guy]

Wow, I never noticed the relatively recent posts to this thread. Here are some older pictures. 1,000+ rounds downrange and I'm yet to have her KB. She's everything I hoped for and a tad more.

 

[brasskeeper]

Awesome! glad to finaly see something positive come from a carcano.

 

[.45Guy]

Eh, I look at it this way. Carcanos flooded the market 40+ years ago much as Mosins are today. But due to the prejudices of the masses prices are still on par. As a Carcano fancier, I'm pretty dang pleased.

 

[Big Az Al]

I have P O Ackley's books twice over

Like he says you can do almost anything to a firearm as long as it is not unsafe but, you might ask why.

That said do you have the barrel, I have access to a 7.62X39 reamer.

PM me we talk

 

[phishisgroovin]

giving the pressures on the bolts and recievers, how would one fair if rebarreled to a smaller caliber as the 25-06?
they arent much bigger or smaller than the 6.5mm?

 

[rcmodel]

The 25-06 has a different case-head size which would be difficult to adopt the clips too make it feed.

The Carcano action was rated by McFarland to safely handle 37,750 PSI.
De Haas says 38,000, but that they can probably safely handle 40,000 - 45,000 safely.

The 25-06 is loaded to 63,000 PSI.

Bore size of the 6.5 Carcano is supposed to be .256", with .268" grooves.

rc

 

[phishisgroovin]

whic round would securely fit the reciever/bolt and safely and accurately shoot in a smaller coyote caliber?
Even a bull barrel would be excellent!

 

[rcmodel]

Not to distract from .45Guy's most excellent work & shooting.

But there are any number of mil-sup rifles & actions better suited to conversion to a long-range coyote rifle.

The Carcano's split-bridge receiver makes mounting a scope difficult & awkward.
And there are no good after-market triggers or safety's made for them.

The goofy case-head size of the cartridge pretty much limits it to the original caliber, or the 7.62x39, if you want to be able to use the enblock clips for repeat shots.

Any other caliber more suitable for coyotes is running to much pressure for the action to safely handle.

The money spent on converting one would be better spent on reloading equipment for the 6.5 Carcano round.

You can load a .264", 100 grain varmint bullet to 2,500 FPS safely, and it would be a good coyote load to the effective range of the iron sights.

rc

 

[.45Guy]

I never expected to see this one come back from the dead. BTW, I wish I had that Carcano back. Or the ones my ex pawned for that matter. *SIGH*

 

[Carl N. Brown]

What gun for revived zombie thread?

Mannlicher Carcano.

 

[1911Tuner]

Unable to provide any helpful information, but wanted to comment that I've always thought that a light, handy bolt rifle chambered for the Russian short .30 was a neat idea.

Maybe something on the lines of the Ruger .44 Magnum action, with an 18-inch barrel and the rotary magazine giving the shooter the ability to carry spares for a quick reload.

Keep the empty weight at around 5 pounds...add a low-powdered scope, or maybe even a Scout setup. I think it'd go.

Nice idea with the Carcano. Hang the cost vs the rifle's value. Let us know if you can bring it together.

 

[.45Guy]

Tuner, mine did come together. The amazing tale can be seen here: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=200776

Maybe if things ever start improving I can do something with the Beretta action I have collecting dust.

 

[anchorman]

time to beat a dead horse until we revive it.

so I am going to try this too. I am getting an SKS barrel with no gas porting done yet and my friend and I are going to thread it to go into this bubba'd carcano I just picked up. if the barrel is too narow to thread, I will braze or thread a bushing onto it and thread that into the action. somehow or another me and a lathe are going to make this happen.

the 7.62x39 carcano, however, seems a proven deal, just need to finish acquiring all the bits and pieces to make it happen. the cool thing is that you could load some special extra long bullets for subsonic in the 7.62x39 case and drop them into the carcano, which has about .75" extra space in this action over a standard loading. this maybe is sheer foolishness and a waste of time, but regardless it ought to be fun.

hopefully I will get everything soon and have the time to get started.

one thing I am not sure about his headspace gages for this caliber. are there any differences between the actual 7.62x39 that the russians spec and what we spec for this caliber here? I know in the past there has been a lot of misinformation about bullet sizes, but wasn't sure if there is any conflict about case size/shape between the east-bloc specs and ours. also, is there anywhere you would recommend where I can get headspace gages for this cartridge that are good *and* inexpensive?

 

[.45Guy]

Let me know how it comes together! If you ever decide to get rid of it you can have the pick of my collection in trade!