To shoot or not to shoot - Carcano

[STAGE 2]

I recently inherited my grandads carcano that he brought back from the war. Its sat in a closet since 1945 and to my knowledge was never shot by him. After giving it a good scrub down, I can barely make out the rifling. Its there, but I feel like I'm looking down the barrel of an HK since I can't make out the lands.

So here are my questions. First, does anybody know anyone who can check the headspace? And 2, is this thing still shootable to where it could give decent accuracy. I'm thinking pie plates at 50 yards. Nothing fancy.

The rifle itself was made in 1916 and has a rearsenal mark from 1922. It has a "marksman" proof so that gives me some hope.

 

[ARperson]

first thing I would do is completely dis-assembly the rifle and check for rust pitting. If there is a lot of deep pitting on the barrel or reciever I would not fire it for safety sake. If the metal looks good, and there is not much pitting inside or out, check out the rest of it's mechanical integrity. If it looks to be in good shape, your probably okay unless you try to do something silly with it. Having said that, you can always have a qualified gunsmith give a good once over for piece of mind.

For accurate ammo I would look to Hornady's metric line of 6.5X52 carcano. The carcano's used a bullet diameter slightly larger than most other 6.5 bullets. The Hornady's should come with their .268" diameter Carcano bullet and should give you the best accuracy. You will also need a carcano clip to load the ammo into gun. It is a Mannlicher magazine design so the clip is necessary.

 

[Eightball]

Sure. I'd say that if you have a COMPETENT gunsmith (many of them know nothing more than what they read on internet gunboards, and are just as opinionated as the local troll) who knows what he's looking at, and he checks it out, buy some ammo and let it fly. Keep in mind most of these boltguns were overenginnered to the point of insanity, and if the gunsmith thinks it looks alright/headspaces out okay, then it should be good to go.

In theory.

 

[Afy]

See above... and shoot.

Post results preferably with pictures...

 

[STAGE 2]

I already did a complete break down and there isn't really any pitting on the inside of the barrel or the internals of the rifle. Its all surface stuff and event hats not too bad. Anyone know a gunsmith that is familiar with these rifles?

 

[Cosmoline]

Any competent smith can check headspace in the Carcano. It's not a rare rifle in particular. They should also do a chamber cast to make sure it hasn't been screwed with by someone.

 

[Essex County]

The Carcano does't deserve all the bad press it gets. I personaly feel it was a simple, sturdy, and somewhat lacking fine fit and finish. Just don't spend any money on one. I paid fifteen dollars for a pair that had nicely cut down stocks and I used to handload for them. I could never figure out the reason for the gain twist. Essex

 

[Joe Demko]

I second that the Carcano gets bad press it doesn't deserve. I had a Kennedy-Killer for several years when I had a passion for WWII bolt guns. The cartridge was less powerful than the .303/.30-06/8mm Mauser, but otherwise the Carcano was a perfectly serviceable rifle. I sold mine because the only commercial ammo available in those days (early 80s) was hyper-expensive stuff from Norma and surplus didn't exist.

 

[Vaarok]

Clean the bore out, and if everything seems in good shape and there's been no drilling or tapping on it, get some of that new inexpensive NNY/PPU commercial ammo that's just hit the gunshops and go out and give her a run.

Carcanos are superb rifles, firing what is inherently a very accurate, flat-shooting, low-recoil cartridge. Yes, they're ugly, and yes, the clips are inconvenient. But that doesn't mean they're a bad rifle. There's several people I know who grudgingly admit that their Carcanos with handloads will outshoot their M-1 or M1903.