Guns International #: 101999742
Seller's Inventory #: 22-10116

Category - Military Rifles - Non-US - Military Arms

Category
Military Rifles - Non-US
Military Arms

Carcano Model 1891 Moschetto Cavalry Carbine Made 1937

Description:
The Carcano rifle is a fairly well known rifle that saw service in two world wars. It is perhaps mostly known in the U.S. for its role in the assassination of J.F.K. However, there are many aspects about the Carcano that are often overshadowed by the myths which spawned from that event. Worse still, a reluctance on the part of most ammo manufacturers to produce bullets of the correct size hurts the rifle’s reputation further. The Carcano was original introduced in 1891 and adopted by Italy as the standard service rifle in 1892. It is named after its designer, Salvatore Carcano. The frequently seen “Mannlicher-Carcano” moniker is incorrect, and Mannlicher had nothing to do with the design of the rifle itself, only the clip that it used to feed the cartridges into the rifle. The original rifle, like many military arms of its era, was very long with a barrel no less than 30.6 inches in length. However, the Italians realized the need for a shorter rifle for use by artillery and cavalry troops and so the M1891 Cavalry Carbine (“Moschetto”) and Model 1891 TS (“Truppe Special”) were produced, both with much shorter 18-inch barrels. The former used a folding bayonet attached to the muzzle itself, while the latter initially used a bayonet unique to the model, but later modified to utilize the same bayonet as the standard rifle. One thing that makes these and later models of Carcano carbines is their size – they are much smaller than that of other nations. This makes them handy and easy to use. Unlike what came out of the report concerning the shooting of J.F.K., the Carcano is not the fastest-shooting bolt action ever made, that title goes to the British Lee-Enfield rifle. What makes the Carcano stand out against other rifles was its capacity. It uses a 6-round Mannlicher clip rather than the standard five. Also, the full clip and small size of the cartridge made it easier to load the rifle and keep up a sustained fire than rifles with larger .30-caliber+ cartridges using 5-rounds in either a similar clip or a box magazine. This also allowed Italian solders to carry more rounds over all than their potential adversaries. The drawback to the Carcano at the time was the Italian Army never switched from heavy round-nosed bullets to a lighter, pointed bullet like everyone else. Instead they tried switching to a new cartridge, the 7.35mm Carcano which used a lighter, pointed bullet. Lack of money and World War II forced the Italian Army to stick to the older 6.5mm cartridge. The Carcano rifle uses what is called “gain twist” rifling wherein the twist near the chamber is slow and the rate increases as you move closer to the muzzle. The idea behind this is with the twist being less at the breech end, this results in less friction to the bullet. As such, the bullet starts off easier and more quickly, giving the powder less time to burn in front of the chamber, resulting in less fouling in the bore than in a barrel of uniform twist. The Carcano does not use a traditional “6.5” or .264-inch bullet like other 6.5 mm rifles, such as the Swedish Mauser and Japanese Type 38 Arisaka, and instead uses a .268-inch projectile. Today, most manufacturers load 6.5mm Carcano ammo with the typical .264-inch bullet, resulting in acceptable but not superb accuracy.  Prvi Partizan produces both bullets and loaded ammunition which use the correct .268-inch bullets in two forms, a 139gr FMJ BT (full metal jacket boat tail) (Mfg. Part # B-603), and a 123 gr SP RN (soft point round nose) (Mfg. Part # B-352).
The rifle shown here is the Model 1891 Cavalry Carbine which is a more modern interpretation of its Italian name, the Moschetto Modello 1891. Moschetto is Italian for Musketoon. The designation did not include an indication by cavalry troops specifically, mainly because it was intended for issue not only to them but to other troop types as well, such as the Carabinieri Reali, Bersaglieri Ciclisti, and later to paratroopers. Despite the introduction of the later M1938 carbine rifles as well as many conversions of the standard rifle into the Model 1891/24 and 1891/28 carbines, the Moschetto M1891 remained in production all the way up to 1944. The easiest way to differentiate them from the later M1938 carbines is the M1891 has the adjustable rear sight, regardless of where or when they were made. This example is good shape for its age. It was made by Gardone Val Trompia in 1937 according to the marking on the receiver. Next to it is the Roman numeral 15 (“XV”). This number indicates the number of years since the start of Mussolini’s fascist regime in 1922. Despite having Century Arms import markings on the lower left side of the barrel, the rifle still retains its bayonet (many rifles with integral bayonets have to have them removed to normally pass import restrictions). The wood is fairly smooth for most of its surface with some dings on the left side. The rear of the handguard has a crack in which some properly applied wood glue could fix easily. The back of the stock is beginning to form some cracks on the right side, but they are neither long nor appear to be deep. The bottom of the stock does not match the bottom of the butt plate as well as it should. The butt plate itself has some areas of rust on its surface. There are pair of surface-only cracks just behind the bolt on the right hand side. The finish has turned to a patina in some places. The front guard screw is slightly burred on the edges, but not buggered. The action is a little stiff, but not terrible. It becomes much easier to operate with practice. The leather sling has some mildew, though like the issue with the forearm, this is not difficult to fix. The bore is in good shape and while it exhibits some pitting, retains deep rifling and should provide good accuracy. It will give even better accuracy when using the correct bullet diameter.

SOLD

Rifle Caliber: 6.5x52mm Mannlicher-Carcano
Manufacturer: Gardone V.T.
Model: Moschetto Modello 1891
Serial Number: 07985
Bore: Rifled, Gain Twist
Condition: Good
Barrel Type: Round
Action: Bolt Action
Triggers: Single
Stock: Wood
Fore End: Walnut
Butt Pad: Metal plate
LOP: 13.5 inches (343 mm)
Finish: Blued/Patina
Sights: Elevator v-notch rear, blade front sight, sight radius 14.625 inches (371.475 mm)
Manufacture Date: 1937
Extras: Leather Sling