Carcano

Does anyone have a 7,35mm Carcano that they actually shoot? Not looking to buy one, just curious.

A friend of mine in Perry County, his girl friend has one and they said it shoots o.k. I have seen it and it looked in real good condition. As far as shooting one I have never shot one.

I have a 6.5mm Carcano. I used it for deer hunting when I was a kid. I haven't fired it in over 30 years but I recently bought some ammo and have two stripper clips on their way to me in the mail. I hope to be able to run some ammo through it at the next East TN TGO shoot. You show up and I'll let you take a turn.

BTW, I'm looking for another one if anyone has one they're not too attached to.

I have one, but as the meager supply of ammo I recieved with it is more valuable than the rifle, I haven't had the heart to fire it.

My local gun shop ordered Hornady 6.5 x 52 Carcano 160 gr for me. They said there was plenty available. I got it in less than a week. It was $24 for a box of 20. I don't see it on the Hornady web site but I have it in my hand. Could be available for the 7.35 as well.

I've owned and shot several Carcanos over the years and they are adequate rifles/carbines. I had a Beretta made M38 that was a real tack driver (only dropped once in Sicily).

But there are dangerous Carcanos out there, namely those that were refurbished by the Germans in 7.92 (8mm Mauser) towards the end of the war and a few thousand that were built new at the beginning of the Africa Campaign. These are not safe to shoot, even though the ammo price is more attractive. I had an 8mm bolt I kept for a number of years to illustrate the problem - both locking lugs were deformed and the bolt handle had a crack in the base. If I recall correctly, I believe it was CAI that imported several thousand of these in the late 90's and advertised them in Shotgun news as unsafe to shoot (I think the story went they found them in a cave somewhere).

I got mine in the mid 60s. I used to shoot it alot years ago and it was always reliable and accurate. And ammo was cheap and plentiful. Mine is a Terni Moschetto per Truppe Speciali Modello 91/28 made in 1929. Usually called a TS 91/28. I think I'm safe.

Thanks for the info though. I'll know what to look out for if I find any for sale.