6.5 Carcano

[gun junky]

Hi, does anyone have any experince with the 6.5 carcano. I just picked one up and dont know much about them. Thanks gun junky

[Mikey]

Yep, got lots of experience.  Had 3 or 4 at one time and had them made by both arsenals.  Had one, at least, made by Beretta and some of the others made by the Tierni plant (arsenal).  First got involved while working for a private firm that subcontracted for the Warren Commission and had access to all models of the rifle and tons of different types of ammo.
 
Bore dependent, the rifles are good shooters and can be very accurate.  I reloaded for the 6.5x52mm Carcano with both 140 and 160 gn slugs and found the cartridge to be harder hitting than expected and quite accurate.  I have felt, for a couple of decades, that a modern day version of teh 6.5 Carcano would simply be a excellent choice for most anything in the lower 48.  Just about anything the 6.5 Swede or 260 can handle would be fodder for the Carcano cartrdige and I am going to opine that at this point, the 6.5x52mm is a reloaders proposition.
 
As for the Mannlichter Carcano rifle itself - more than adequate for the 6.5mm cartridge.  The action is a split bridge Mauser design or variation that uses a internal clip fed feed system that drops the stripper clip out the bottom of the action when its empty.  The bolt wears two lugs and the action is strong enough for the 8x57mm round. The finishes on many of these rifles is a or appears to be a baked on paint of sorts that really makes it look junquie, so to speak, but don't let it fool you, the metal is good, it's just the paint job that looks crappy.  I have seen them stripped of paint and blued and they look decent.  Sights are typical Mauser sights.  The rifles come in three calibers:  6.5x52mm, 7.35 Italian (Tierni) and 8x57mm - pretty rare.  Of the lot, I would opt for the 6.5mm bore and reload.  HTH.

[gun junky]

Thanks for the info Mikey. Im not expecting alot out of it just picked it up it was cheap different. I have to get some stripper clips yet. Thanks gun junky

[jeepmann1948]

I have two of them. They shoot the Prvi ammo surprisingly well. Bought them for the brass but the shoot good enough for hunting. Busted a bunch of 1" or so rocks at 75 yards with boring regularity. Now to see how accurate a load I can cook up.
 I agree with Mikey they are a fun rifle to shoot and much malagined for no real reason that I can find.

[gun junky]

I shot the carcano the other day and was suprised at how well it shot.Very little recoil too. Overall pretty happy with the little gun. Now I have to get some loading dies for it. Thanks again for the info guys. gun junky

[mcwoodduck]

Yep, got lots of experience.  Had 3 or 4 at one time and had them made by both arsenals.  Had one, at least, made by Beretta and some of the others made by the Tierni plant (arsenal).  First got involved while working for a private firm that subcontracted for the Warren Commission and had access to all models of the rifle and tons of different types of ammo.
 
Bore dependent, the rifles are good shooters and can be very accurate.  I reloaded for the 6.5x52mm Carcano with both 140 and 160 gn slugs and found the cartridge to be harder hitting than expected and quite accurate.  I have felt, for a couple of decades, that a modern day version of teh 6.5 Carcano would simply be a excellent choice for most anything in the lower 48.  Just about anything the 6.5 Swede or 260 can handle would be fodder for the Carcano cartrdige and I am going to opine that at this point, the 6.5x52mm is a reloaders proposition.
 
As for the Mannlichter Carcano rifle itself - more than adequate for the 6.5mm cartridge.  The action is a split bridge Mauser design or variation that uses a internal clip fed feed system that drops the stripper clip out the bottom of the action when its empty.  The bolt wears two lugs and the action is strong enough for the 8x57mm round. The finishes on many of these rifles is a or appears to be a baked on paint of sorts that really makes it look junquie, so to speak, but don't let it fool you, the metal is good, it's just the paint job that looks crappy.  I have seen them stripped of paint and blued and they look decent.  Sights are typical Mauser sights.  The rifles come in three calibers:  6.5x52mm, 7.35 Italian (Tierni) and 8x57mm - pretty rare.  Of the lot, I would opt for the 6.5mm bore and reload.  HTH.

Are you saying that you would take a Remington 700, Win 70, Ruger 77 or Mauser action and make it a 6.5 carcano?  Do you think it would make it a more accurate round and breath life into the round as an accurate big game round.

[Mikey]

duck:  Nope, not saying "Are you saying that you would take a Remington 700, Win 70, Ruger 77 or Mauser action and make it a 6.5 carcano?" that at all.   I believe I said:  I have felt, for a couple of decades, that a modern day version of teh 6.5 Carcano would simply be a excellent choice for most anything in the lower 48.  Just about anything the 6.5 Swede or 260 can handle would be fodder for the Carcano cartrdige.  I feel the modern day version of the 6.5x52mm Carcano is the 260 Rem (6.5x51mm).  And just about anything the 260 or 6.5 Swede could handle in the lower 48 would be fodder for the Carcano, with fodder meaning the size of the game you would hunt with either of the other two cartridges you could easily hunt with the 6.5mm Carcano. 
"Do you think it would make it a more accurate round and breath life into the round as an accurate big game round."  No.  I think the round has had its day, as has the rifle itself.  The round is capable of fine accuracy when you use the right size bullets (.268) although mine shot very nicely with .264-265 mm slugs, but the case is a odd-size rimmed case and although the Carcano was fielded in harsh battlefield conditions there was never a mention of cycling problems.  I think I also mentioned that I would consider the 6.5 Carcano to be a reloaders option.  For larger heavier game the 160 gn from the Carcano moves only about 100'/sec slower than the same slug from the 6.5 Swede, although the Swede shines better with 120-140 gn slugs.  The 260 Rem is a very nice modern update for or of that old cartridge and modern bolt actions are much nicer to handle, although the Carcano is rugged enough to take a beating.  The mil-spec ball for that round was a 160 gn pencil that rolled out the barrel at about 2250'/sec and was much more than adequate for a military round; never heard of it failing.  I think the round has had its day only because of the newer options available.  Although it is a capable combination of rifle and cartridge it is expensive to shoot and as such may be a reloaders preference, but for those of us who like to hunt with mil-surps, the Carcano could be just the ticket.  IMO.

[gcrank1]

I never have used other than .264 commercial bullets in my Dad's, and with open sights (Williams sporting rear and a bead/ramp front it shoot surprisingly well (better than our pre-'64 Win. '94 30-30 carbine). It likes 129gr Hornady(?) as well as 140 Sierra(?), and the longggg 160's, of course. It has been said to be a ballistic twin to the 6.5 MS, and who says that wasnt a dandy hunting round?
Take a strip of black plastic electricians tape and loop it under the magazine drop opening to keep the clip inside once empty (avoids loss and grit). Just open the action and pull it back out the top.

[supertodd]

took my first deer with a Carcano 6.5.   So it's special to me-also my very first gun

[jeepmann1948]

Matter of fact if I run onto a bolt face  for a Savage I am going to do a 6.5 Carcano in a short action  with a bull barrel just to see how accurate the cartridge can be!
George

[Type99]

I have 2 Carcanos: an 1895 Torre Annuziata long rifle, and a short carbine made 1944 Terni.  I have used the .268 bullets in the long rifle which shoots them good.  These reloaded rounds will not chamber in the short carbine, but Privi Partisan works good.  The carbine is surprisingly accurate with the Privi.  Agree the Carcanos are much maligned.  I am going to make my carbine an ATV rifle, for general purposes.  I have not shot game with it, but I see no reason that it cannot be as effective as other 6.5mm cartridges.  Incidentally, I see it is loaded to lower velocities than, say, 6.5 Jap, which I also reload for.  Not that 100-200 fps is that big a deal.

[kombi1976]

Why is it your reloads don't work in the carbine. My friend has had good luck with standard .264" 6.5mm bullets in his Terni carbine. Have you tried loading these in the Terni?

[Steve85569]

In my humble opinion the reason Carcano's are maligned is IF I take the 6.5's AND the 7.35's out at the same time it's real easy to get the ammunition mixed up. That's what happened in WWII. The difference in the ammunition is the bullet diameter and headstamp. If I get in a hurry and shoot 6.5 in a 30 cal pipe I don't hit much of what I'm aiming at.
That said...
Ammunition is available for both of the common calibers from PRIVI.
 Most of the Carcano's that were rechambered in 8mm did not survive so they are rare and I personally would not go about shooting one. I don't care what One Eye and Lefty say.
That said the 6.5's tend to be nail drivers. Got hooked on them for $10 several years ago.

Steve

[Rex in OTZ]

Without one of these, it'd be a single shot.