The Italian Workhorse: Carcano M91 Rifle
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Today we start a series looking at the evolution of the Carcano series of rifles. Starting with the M91 rifle adopted in 1892, the Carcano would be the workhorse of the Italian military through two world wars and many colonial expeditions. The rifle is a simple but durable and reliable system with a Mauser type bolt, split bridge, Mannlicher magazine/clip system, and Salvatore Carcano's safety design. It was designed around a 6.5x52mm cartridge, the first 6.5mm military round adopted by any nation and using progressive-twist rifling.
The Carcano action would remain unchanged through all models of production until the end of World War Two, and it was a simple enough system that no "last ditch" sport of simplification was needed when the stresses of wartime manufacture began to press Italy. It is a much better system than it is generally given credit for.
Thanks to InterOrdnance / Royal Tiger Imports for providing this rifle from their Ethiopian imports for the video!
Contact:
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Italy- "Why serialise it if it's supposed to be interchangeable?"
Germany- "Wait you're not supposed to serialise the screwheads?"
pakistanin northern frontier; "you guys have serial numbers? and interchangeability?"
this
Saying World War I was "a little worse than anyone expected" is the biggest understatement I've heard in a while.
A proper British understatement if I ever heard one.
Serbian radicals off yet another aristocrat. By the end of July everyone will be over it and we can get back to hoard huge weapons stockpiles.
@@CanalTremocos I dont know old chap, the Austrians seem properly ruffled this time
DeepCFisherman - Oh, quite. Spoiling for a fight, I’d say. The Hapsburgs gave the Serbs an ultimatum with so many terms they can’t possibly agree to all of them. On purpose, of course...Kaiser Willi has written Vienna a ‘blank check’ promising support and then buggered off on holiday on his yacht, relying on the Austrians to sort out this latest Balkan mess. I hope Frank Joseph gives the Serbs a sound thrashing....but I do hope Czar Nicky keeps his mucky little fingers out of it. Who knows what will happen if he intervened...?
@@jimstanga6390 Oh, pish posh! They are all talk, but they don't have the belly for a fight! A few spirted lads will make a ruckus, the constables will round them up and give them a good thrashing and we'll hear no more of it. You just have to remind people of their place every now and again! Oh, don't forget, I'll be taking holiday with the Yanks next year. I'll send a post card when I get to New York. I've secured a state room on the Lusitania for the return trip next May.
"the bayonet is not stupidly long like some other countries did at that time"
*grumbles in French*
**swears profusely in Japanese**
*Grogne en français*
Preposterous! How could you outfit an army with that tootpick of a fruitknife?! A proper bayonet should be sized accordingly to the range indicated on the rearsight!
GRUMBLES IN RUSSIAN
Grumbles emerge from England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, etc.
When I started watching forgotten weapons like 6 years ago I didn’t understand a lot of terms. Now I’m explaining casting, heat treating, trunnions, milling and standings etc etc. to others. #forgottenweapons Thanks Ian
Stampings*
Plus, how many weapons do we now know how to disassemble and reassemble?
@@burnsboysaresoldiers you know you can edit your comment. You dont have to make another comment commenting about the spelling mistake
@@PabloB-KMP Then you have (edited) next to the comment and people can't actually tell whether that is the original comment or if it has been tampered
he is not Ian, He is Gun Jesus
I'm Italian and some months ago, when cleaning the basement of my grandfather, i've found a weird rod-like farming tool which was made by two Carcano barrels welded together by the muzzle, as well as a short knife, which was a cut down Carcano bayonet!
It seems like that he brought some souvenirs back home when he... left the army in 1943
I find it funny that many people say the Carcano is trash, and that the Mosin-Nagant is fantastic.
@@jason200912 How about the Carcano-Arisakas? Italy made a special rifle for Japan. It was mostly a Carcano, but had some Arisaka featurs to it. Very neat rifle.
They're not completely wrong. Having shot both, I'd argue that the Mosin is a better pick as a service rifle, at least in a WW2 setting. Sure, they're both bolt action, but the Mosin is flat out simpler to use and Soviet procurement both updated the rifle and made ammunition commonality easier. Carcanos are also flimsier ( I've seen Carcano stocks destroy themselves after a couple hundred rounds), despite the action being theoretically stronger. Carcanos are nicer to shoot, tho.
Proof that the victors write the history
@@colin1818 "All history is a set of lies agreed upon".
Napoleon Bonaparte
@@RandomUser-cx9kn I own examples of both and I'd actually say the Carcano is easier to use. I find popping in the en-bloc clips to be less of a struggle than wrangling with the Mosin's chargers, and there's no cartridge interrupter to worry about, either. Surprisingly, the Carcano appears to have a controlled-feed action which allows you to extract a round from the chamber even if you haven't fully closed the bolt, while the Mosin has nothing of the sort. And in terms of ease of bolt disassembly, the Carcano wins hands down. The Mosin's safety (just pull back and rotate the entire cocking piece) is definitely simpler, but I don't find the Carcano tab safety to be that difficult to figure out. A Mosin might find more favor with a modern civilian sport shooter, though, due to not requiring a clip to load the magazine.
"Series of future videos": All hail the glory, that is two weeks of Carcano!
Ah yes. One recalls to mind the almost constant stream of a certain "Bergmann"-themed videos in the past.
Should be intriguing.
@@UXB1000 i liked that week. People are miserable.
The lever gun week was nice
Okay italiboo
I expect the videos will switch to another channel about halfway through the series.
My great grandpa carried one of these in ww1, He volunteered at 17 years old under false identity and he was wounded in the second battle of montegrappa. In a field hospital near the frontline He knew my grand grandma. He participated also to the invasion of ethiopia and to ww2. He fought the british in Africa as an artillery captain and He got a silver medal of honor. Basically half of his men died, the other half was wounded, included him. He liked Carcano rifles, unfortunately his unit was issued mainly old captured mannlicker from ww1 and, with very few ammo supplies, they were forced to use british captured small arms most of the time. His artillery unit was issued ww1 cannons and He almost never had airsupport or tanks, while the british had plenty. On his diary He says most times his old artillery pieces were forced to perform direct fire against infantry and tanks. He died at 98 years old with 3 medal of honor, a bullet wound to the left leg, a shrapnel in the right gluteus and a nice family. I still remember when He was Beyond 90 years old and He went for the last time to military barracks on a military festivity. When the soldier saluted him (He got the rank of lieutenat-colonnel) He cried!
I am very happy you started this series. I'll wait the Next video. Thanks!
That's a cool family story
A new book called "Vetterli-Vitali to Arx-160. history of italian military rifles 1870-2010" may be coming?
Not until after we get _Mauser to HK433_ and _Mosin to AK12_ ;)
@@pissyourselfandshitncoom2172 so they adopted the hk instead of the mcx?
@@pissyourselfandshitncoom2172 the next book is going to be on Russian automatic rifles, so you're kinda gonna get what you want. Wont be covering Russian bolt action/semi auto rifles though.
@@marcomenabue7717 i have no clue lol
@@mw3fanatic Me: Cries in SKS and SVT.
Some trivia facts about Terni:
Terni is the city where it was build, nicknamed "The Steel City" because there was a big steel industrial complex in Terni, my grandfather worked there, it's a small city in the middle of Italy, in south of Umbria Region.
it's where the film "life is beautiful" was filmed, it's also known as the "City of Lovers" because the patron of the city was Saint Valentine, the city herald is a Wivern, and it houses Marmore Falls, a man-made waterfall created by Romans.
there was a pretty important arms factory, at that time was one of the biggest in Italy, and because it's in the middle of the mountain, powered by a hydroelectric power plant, the allied tried a lot of time to bomb the dam in wwII but always failed due to terrain conformation, so the allied bomb the shit out the civilian city, flat them to the ground, the nazi blow up the dam's generator when they retreat.
Pittsburgh'er here.
Pittsburgh was the "steel city".
We even have "Iron City" beer.
i never realized how much engineering went into the simplicity of the Carcano that now i want a carcano
@@andrehashimoto8056 I think that's probably the main point I've learned from watching Forgotten Weapons. Nothing is as simple as it appears.
Little know fact. Terni is still in operations for repairs and logistics, and, best of all, they have in store nearly untouched M38 Truppe Speciali that are sold to collectors on occasional basis. Also, the Carabinieri were still carrying the cavalry version in the post war period for quite a while.
Do you know how much they sell for ?
Simmy Abis and how to buy one from America
@@simmyabis7330 No, sorry. I found out about them by reading the Italian equivalent of Gun & Ammo (Armi e Tiro). It was the October 2016 article about a very rare variant built by FNA Brescia in 1943/44 (The RA series), well worth to end up in a Forgotten Weapons episode. The article noted that the Terni arsenal (Today's Polo di Mantenimento Armi Leggere) stocked quite few of them and were still selling them occasionally circa 2016.
@@scipio10000 Only problem (and I have heard of this, can't confirm first hand) is that to buy a gun directly from the ARSENALE DI TERNI you have to wait over a year and file two different requests: one to the Arsenale itself and one to the Italian MINISTERO DELLA DIFESA which must then authorize the arsenal to sell a military weapon (as obsolete as it is they are still commonly used for practice in several military bases, this I know first hand)... So unless it's a very unique or well preserved gun I'd say it's not worth the trouble, considering that most of the Carcano still in military services are so worn out and rusty inside they are nowhere near good to collect and/or compete with (another first hand experience with a few of them is a military firing range visited a while back)
@@ahmiv8825 hehe i live in Italy
A very underrated rifle. Carcano's aren't anything fancy but they're a simple reliable warhorses that was accurate enough to get the job done.
As an Italian: a) I love it when you make videos on old, "forgotten" Italian weapons, and b) how you say "Fucile Modello" is extremely endearing.
If the video was longer i'd expect a bearded man saying "war were declared".
It is wearing him....
WEE WEET WEEEEET!
My grandfather liberated one of these from a German arms transport train during WW2. In the rush he didn't grab any ammunition. And since 6,5 mm was hard to come by here, he was never able to shoot it.
Still he held on to it and then turned it in to the govt after the war.
Some piece of family history, thanks for doing this vid (and all the others for that matter).
I'm really looking forward to the whole series.
How many videos you can make about the same Carcano? Gun Jesus: YES!
I've heard a lot of people complain about the action and how ti feels wrong. There are two little tricks: use originally shaped ammo and use good mannlicher clips. The action will feel FAR better.
I have shot them with non-originally shaped ammo and all worked just fine. The clips are a non issue as there is only one that fits.
@@johnkelinske1449 That's not true. I have had a few Carcano's over the years and depending on how heavily used they are the ammo can make a difference as improperly sized bullets often using .243 diameter bullets with their spitzer bullets often would get hung up and as for the en bloc clips, I had some original military issue and some reproduction clips. When using that improperly sized ammo in the new production the last round would NEVER feed up properly. When using properly sized ammo it was a non issue.
Now in the original military en bloc clips usually it was the first round that would give me grief with improperly sized ammo. However it would usually just get caught on the feed ramp vs failing to feed entirely.
@@johnkelinske1449 I hade HUGE issues with some spitzer ammo here in Italy, to the point that i decided to trow the remaining ones away. As far as the clips, i meant use good ones as in "non bent or rusty". Sometimes they tend to make the action rattle a bit.
@@Predalien195 It is true. I have had zero issues, sorry you did.
In comparison, other rifles don't have that issue.
FINALMENTE, grazie Ian
I'm exited every time you give insights on my country's military history...I've been waiting for the original Carcano 91 for a long time !
The more videos about Italian arms he makes the more I learn that Italian arms design and theory was pretty inovative and ahead of its time. Intermediate cartridges, prolific carbines, simple designs, early automatics. Shame the use didn't really pan out
I recently acquired my grandpa’s 91/41 carcano and it’s amazing all numbers match the bolt wasn’t heated and curved like a Mauser I’ve got some ammo coming in and I can’t wait to shoot it
My granpa used to have one of these
When he came back home he hid it so that the police wouldn't take it away but somebody snitched and it was presumably taken to the station but i think the officer stole it since it wasn't registered....
It was one of the few relics from ww2 that my granpa left
Never show anybody anything you have that might possibly be illegal.
Every story I hear about this ends with the person who had the quasi legal or illegal thing was arrested or the item was confiscated or it was stolen. But since it was quasi legal they cant report it to the police.
A shame Carcano's get such a bad rap, actually quite good guns. Not flawless but well workable.
The carcano, gewer 88, lee metford, krag jorgensen, and the mosin nagant are a largely forgotten era of weapons. They were the first modern military rifles, and most of them get a bad rap because they are compared to the next generation of rifles such as the mauser, lee enfield, and springfield.
They're unarguably nice rifles for shooting at the range. If the ammunition is good, of course. I'd argue they aren't that hot as service rifles for a variety of obsolete characteristics (the reloading can be a mess in combat conditions), chance of catastrophic failure if not properly mantained and at times building quality. It doesn't help that they kept them without significant updates (bar the failed 38 version) until WW2, resulting in a rifle that was essentially behind even the soviet Mosin (at least the Mosin got updated in production and ammunition!).
@@arya31ful: no, this was a post-war WWII charge found in some letters and articles in some of the worst of the 'gun rags' or magazines against the Carcano as the ammunition was nearly impossible to get on the surplus and even newly produced market. All the Carcano's used cartridges that used a non-standard diameter bullet. In some ways, the 6.5 Carcano could have been considered one of the very first military intermediate rounds. that idea is a bit of a stretch, but it meets most of the criteria for an intermediate cartridge, at least for military uses.
I agree...the same goes for the Moisin Nagant, the Carcano was what it was.
@@charlesadams1721 You'r right about some americans use of wrong diameter bulets, altrough Oswald managed to get over that problem when hi nailed JFK....but 6.5 Carcano, Arisaka and oher 6.5mm from that era are not realy intermediar rounds.
At 2500 - 2700 J, 6.5 Carcano - Arisaka are still more powerfull then 1800-2000J 556Nato/7.62x39.
i'm italian and i would listen to you saying this 3/4 italian words for hours.
Is listening to an American speak Italian the same for you as listening to an Italian speak English is to me? I love listening to History on Fire. When Daniele Bolelli does American history It's pretty strange to hear it in an Italian accent but that make even more entertaining.
This made me respect the Carcano more. I'll have to get one and continue my collection of "garage rods". Currently including a pair of mosins, T-53, M-91-30.
The numbers on the stock are the same serial number found on the barrel: 2F 9706. The logo of the arsenal on the stock is basically an oval with some writings and the crescent of the royal italian family of the period, the Savoia. The writings around the logo are: Fabb. d'armi R. Es. Terni ( Literally: Factory of weapons Royal Army Terni). Hope this helps you Mr. McCollum ;)
In Italy we have a proverb:
"arma che vince non si cambia"
"weapon that win musn't be change"
sadly many italian soldier in WWII still had rilfes that were used in the Great War already
Cit. Marco Paolini, il Sergente
Italians are good people that have been handicapped for the past 200 years by their atrocious governments and their inability to do anything at a state level.
"Squadra che vince non si cambia", semmai
So did the british or the americans, if the gun can take it it's not a disadvantage, and the M91 Carcano are rugged tools.
The carcano rifle was at little to no disadvantage compared to the standard bolt action rifles of wwii. A decent rifle with good training is better than a great rifle with poor training.
I recently found a carcano bayonet in my vineyard
Plus some ammo and clips
Nino Štekar can you make a video? I’m curious
Nino Štekar that’s amazing, maybe there is a full rifle somewhere?
Wait, seriously?
some months ago (in northern italy, where i live) i've found a rusty farmer tool in a basement made by two carcano barrels welded together in a single rod, together with a knife made of a cut off carcano bayonet!
An old family friend, spent a crap load of time in Florida. Loved to go plinking. When they came to Canada, they took their .22 with them. They kept it buried at their cottage. Dunno if they ever got licensed for it, but they sold their cottage decades ago. If it wasn't sealed tight, the gun's probably rusted to all hell by now. Shame too, cause though I dunno what they had, I'd have loved to learn to shoot.
3:08 "You can carry more of it" i.e. "you _will_ carry more of it."
I know a guy who rechambered one to 30-06 to try to blow it up. It handled it like a champ. It failed only after he overcharged it and plugged the barrel even so the lugs did not shear.
So wonderfully simple. Incredible to think that the Breda Modello 30 lurks somewhere down this timeline.
The Development of the Carcano from Strawberry to Grape
I see your a shikikan of culture as well 😂😂😂😂😂
Luv muh strawberry
Luv muh grape
Simple as
I knew a fellow Commander would be here.
Welcome fellow shikikan
Lets go gundam hunting!
Another Italian beauty
I've waited so long for this video, thank you, Ian.
This is great! I just learned so much about a rifle that my Grandfather left me and has been in my safe for 35 years. Never really gave it much attention but I sure will now! Thanks!
Seriously though. Who is giving these videos a thumbs down? I just don't understand. Like, for real, tell me what Ian did wrong to deserve the negativity. This video is informative, well put together, and unlike some of his videos on InRange, he isn't being bias or opinionated.
It's been happening for years now within an hour of an upload there is at least one dislike. Would seem that someone subscribes just so they can downvote each video.
probably a dislike bot
Some people don't like the Gun Jesus for some reason
His opinions arent ever without reason though
@@ryanhoelscher2407 gun athiests?
I think the Carcano actually gets a bad rap, of course, the first thing mentioned is that one was used to assassinate Kennedy, despite the fact that Kennedy was shot 20 years after the last Carcano was made, and the fact that the Italians used the Carcano design for better than 50 years. I picked up a 91/38 Cavalry carbine that is actually in excellent condition although it needed a little work. I had to replace the magazine follower spring assembly because of how stiff it was and it was affecting feeding and the firing pin spring in it was too long and it made the bolt hard to work, now the gun feeds a heck of a lot better. The other thing is that some of the current ammo is just too hot for these guns, PPU's 123 grain rounds are loaded at 2,900 fps according to their own data which is much hotter than the stuff the Italians ever put in it. Extracting it is next to impossible when fired because it expands the case so much. I pulled the bullets, dumped the powder, handloaded the rounds myself with a moderate load and the accuracy is decent and the case feeds and extracts like it should. The clips also make a difference, and dings, dents, etc. & they make it harder. The best feeding rounds, I had some Nosler ballistic tips on hand and they feed like glass and with my handloads group very well. The Cavalry carbine to me made a nice little gun that really should have a better reputation than it does.
I’m glad that you’re doing more videos on the Carcano. When I bought mine your video on it really helped me to understand the gun better. Thanks
You should make a shirt
“ World War I A little worse than anyone expected”
There's going to be a series on the Carcano? My day is made.
Very excited for this series Ian! I have one of the later-model Carcano carbines and I'd love to get a detailed video from you on the one I have!
I have a 1942 Carcano and it is a very nice gun to shoot. Light recoil, handy size, reasonably accurate....overall an effective weapon.
Thanks for the Video! I recently got a Carcano M91/24 Carbine and your disassembly of the trigger group will be a big help in getting all the cosmoline off it!!
You have the easiest disassembly to follow than about a dozen that I watched on youTube. Thanks.
3:33 “Besides dangling an onion from our belt, our bullets were round-nosed and jacketed, which was the style at the time.”
Just wanted to say thank you for this channel, Ian
Thank you sir. Interesting discussion on this rifle. Brilliant design. You are one of the few alive who would do it justice
This was one of the best videos on FW in a while i love the deep tear downs
YESS!!! Carcano rifle series! Thank you Ian!
Do you think there is enough content to do a video over different cocking handles/reload philosophy/pros vs cons? I've always wondered if there is a marked handling difference between bolts handles that have to go perpendicular (like this one) versus ones with a more curved travel path or even the straight pulls (usually Swiss)
Bloke on the range has done loads of testing/discussion about that, I'd recommend his channel if you're interested in the practicalities of reloads and bolt design
The same Carcano 1891 in its carbine version (exactly speaking "moschetto") has a curved bolt handle...
@@lucamesseri4563 Most carbines have a curved handle for carry ability. They were meant to be slung over the back more than used in combat.
@@colemanmoore9871, you're right! It's exactly the same for the Moschetto 1891
Excellent presentation Ian! Thank you!
Ian: I'm going to cover the history of the carcano.
Me having watched c&rsenal: I know this one!
The final exam should be a cakewalk for you then. I mean-a biscotti walk-a. Here-a your cafe americano to go with-a your Carcano.
Interestingly, if the gun is in safe, you can depress the trigger and push the the rear of the bolt forward causing the rifle to be decocked. It's a very interesting feature not seen on many rifles of the era.
I'm actually really glad you're doing this cause I just so happened to pick up an M38 Carcano short rifle in 7.35x51mm. Looking forward buying that stupid expensive ammo lol
What a fantastic video. Thank you! I look forward to more like this!
The Lee-Enfield action was made for a round nosed bullet as well. When they switched to Spitzer point bullets for the SMLE they began having some feeding issues other than rim lock because of the pointed bullet hitting the entry of the chamber. If you look at the chamber entry of an old SMLE you'll see a distinct groove cut in the chamber entry from the Spitzer point hitting the chamber entry thousands of times. Usually more pronounced on the left side of the chamber entry because the cartridges sit higher on the left side of the magazine. If your SMLE has this sticking issue you can buy round nosed soft point hunting ammo and it should feed without problem.
I have to say I have never encountered a sticking issue with any L-E or Ross I have owned.
Remember shooting this Italian gem. Very nice results.the way it sounds when it's fired, is unique.
That is a beautiful rifle and I for one enjoy simplicity that works. There is a strange beauty in that as well and as a person that has needed to fieldstrip modern guns, in a dark tent, under the shine of a dim light, simple is better and easier not to loose those small very important things that makes a gun work...
Great vid as always mate.
I really like the omni directional clip. Easy to load under any conditions even pitch black. Neat.
I really like when you put up a picture of the ammo. V helpful.
"the Carcano, a mind-blowing rifle" JFK
😳
It was actually an AR15 from one of the Secret Service agents, unintended.
JFK means either John F (fail) Kennedy, or just fucking kidding.
Best comment ever seen
Mind blowing and brain losing.
I cannot be the only one who gets excited about a new series about a rifle's development. Can't wait for the next video.
So this was Strawberry big sister Carcano, i can't wait for the next video with the shorter Grape little sis Carcano.
But GFL memes aside, thank you so much for covering this poor bullied rifle and give it respect and love. Ian you're the best!
Love that bayonet. And super excited for a series of carcanos! Oswalds apparent workhorse as well
Good timing Ian I wanted to know a little more about the carcanos cause I just picked one up neat piece of history
The one dislike is from J.F.Kennedy
Beat me
How are there dislikes on Forgotten Weapons in the first place?
@@joet.s.6283 there are people who think inanimate objects can be evil
You mean this is the “Old Italian Bolte Action rifle” that scored three hits with in only six seconds, including a head shot...?
@@SmilingDevil IIRC it was a Moschetto 91/38, the carbine version of this old guy.
The workhorse of italy and a very underrated tool, Ian once again putting stupid misinformation and bias aside for some amazing content, glad to see the M91 here, had been waiting for it for ages!
Great video! Can’t wait for the follow up videos! You mentioned that there was a variety of the Carcano with a detachable 25 round magazine! Was wondering if you had any pics of it because it is the first I’ve ever heard of it! Love the Carcano I take my 6.5s and 7.35s to the range all the time And people are always amazed at how well they shoot! In the past I’ve taken my 6.5s and my 7.35s (with open sights) hunting and both calibers have definitely taken game! My Carcano’s work flawlessly and if I was trapped on the moon during a zombie apocalypse with no logistics I would want the carbine version over any other World War Two to bolt action rifle (if I had full logistics i would pick the SMLE Mark four). I’ve heard that the Austrians during the first world war preferred the Carcayover there 8x50’s because they shot further and flatter. If you could shed any light on this that would be great thank you.
Cant wait see the rest of the carccano video also if your publisher ever does Italian rifle book I'm buying that
I suspect a lot of the carcano's bad reputation is a lack of quality milspec ammo. Cheap surplus ammo for this dried up well before the internet (what is still around is expensive and/or duds as milspec production stopped in 1945) the cartridge is only made by like 2 companies, and it shoots an odd diameter bullet which that has caused problems with accuracy (its not the normal 6.5mm diameter). Also as noted the thing was designed to shoot round nosed bullets and no one makes those anymore so no one is shooting them with the ammo they were designed for. Also, a lot of them are in WORN/CRAP condition.
Compare that to the mosin nagant where dirt cheap / reliable ammo was available up until like 2019. So people get to shoot them more with functional mil spec ammo. Also the mosins are almost all refurbished and in much better shape. Had the Russians not refurbed all their Mosins post war you'd see them in the same worn/crap condition as most carcanos are in (when you lose the war, you don't get to refurb your rifles post war). Mosins, all refurbished, got dumped onto the US market about the time the internet became a thing.
Hence the popularity of the mosin, when the carcano (comparing when both in VG-EXC condition shooting proper new military produced ammo) is pretty much a superior firearm.
Plus the selection of 6.5 was well ahead of its time (I mean, come on, look at that ridiculous rim and system to deal with it the mosin has)
I would always say that a simple design is superior. Reliable and simple is in fact excellent. Being able to make field repairs can save lives. Wow I really want one now. By the way I own a mauser and several mosins and 03 springfield and garands. Your explanation is really fantastic and I thank you. I love learning about old guns.
Looking forward to the next video on carbines. I own an 1891 Truppe Speciali built in 1916 and I'm excited to learn more about it; hard to find much good info on it in English.
Great history lesson and demonstration.
Carcano: Not flawless but functional
a lot of men prefer functional because it can be cheaper and also never fail you when needed
extremely under appreciated but got prettier with age
Thank you , Ian
History through the barrel .
26 min forgotten weapons video?! Just what I needed to get through covid
You Rock Ian thanks for the video🤘😎
IIRC, some of the accuracy "problems" were because of the gain twist - when long rifles were cut down to carbine length they lost a good portion of the final rifling.....
Also the ball used for the 6.5 is a little different is size from the modern 6.5(if I'm not wrong is a little wider) and that create problems with the adesion to the rifling
That is true of the 91/24 carbine. They cut the barrels back and did loose the faster twist needed to stabilize that long bullet.
My dad gave me his Carcano Carbine... Loved that gun.
Medal of honor. I remember using carcano and breda guns in that game.
Ian's video has increased my respect for the carcano, I may seek one out and add it to my collection
I'd be interesting to see a mud test, especially to see if the clip ejection hole causes problems.
It will.
It doesn't.
Vladimir Grigoryevich Fyodorov, the designer of the Fedorov Avtomat, witnessed the battlefields of the Russo-Japanese war, and made some interesting observation. In the mud and snow, Mauser-style rifles had soon their magazines clogged in frozen mud and became single-shooters.
Mannlicher style rifles, due to the action being cleaned by the passing of the en block clips, remained operative as repeaters.
I have a 1941 Carcano in almost mint condition and I love it. Great shooting rifles.
Pretty cool video! Thanks to this i've learned a little more about the story of military firearms in my country. Even is not forgotten, could you review the ARX160? (The last adopted Italian assault rifle) in the internet, especially on TH-cam there is not that much of information about that rifle. I think that is a pretty interesting gun to see on your channel
It will become forgotten, it didn't had a great success and the civillian version was kinda horrible, so the market and collectors didn't like it
Hi Ian! If I remember correctly there was another Bayonet pattern used for the Carcano TS (Truppe Speciali = Special Troops) which used pretty much the same style for the blade but had a unique Halfmoon type locking lug.
That kind of bayonet was fixed by sliding it on the side of the barrel, then turned 90 degrees where it would snap in place.
I will address those in a later video...
Nice! You're the best💪
These next few videos couldn't have been timed more perfectly for me! I recently figured out what one of these rifles were after 20 something years in my family's house basement. Still doing more research on it though.
The most appropriate day for this video would probably be May24th... great video, nonetheless.
The rifle and especially bayonet are looking incredibly beautiful
Huh. An elegant yet simple little action. It almost looks nicer disassembled than assembled.
It's not very little tho
When I was a kid my grandma (an ex patrisan) taught me a rhyme,that i partially forgot,that said something like: "il fucile 91 che sparando non fa fumo"
Still love mine I haven't bought one for about 9 months.
Last time I was this early bolt action rifles were not obsolete.
That's been a very long time!
very cool
Great video
Now I need more info about the longer magazine.
I look forward to your videos for different reasons. I tend to prefer modern firearms that are obscure and mechanically odd. Still, when it falls into the category of bolt-action rifles from the 19th century, you keep it fascinating. Rare is the channel that pulls me in across the board. Thanks for this content; I’m beyond bored with quarantine.
remember coming across the Carcano and the Italian infantry equipment back in high school. when i read up about the clip system i was instantly interested in italy's weapons from that point on. shame i cant remember the name of the books though there were massive as well.
The reason to serialize interchangeable parts is to allow for increased collector value in some guns later on.
*The Carcano: Still Preferable to the Breda 30*
You'd actually prefer the Carcano to other bolt actions, plus memes aside the M30 wasn't that bad, the clip system was pretty workable for units using them and it kept the gun suprinsigly clean, not saiyng it was better than a Type 99 per say.
The loading mechanism wasn't ideal too. Difficult to keep up a high rate of fire with that thing, although I understand they didn't want to have manufacturing problems with detachable magazines.
@@Fuma._. honestly the breda was over complicated in all the wrong places effectively rendering obsolete even before entering production
The Breda 30 was a fantastic gun... To shoot at a range and having a beer.
Beautiful and very nicely engineered, see trough magazine, you don't really need an assistant to load it, it self oils and the oil helps it cool. Lovely thing. But a bit of dirt jams it and the clip reloading system is just very very slow. Plus you need to carry oil for it if you plan to away for more than a couple of days. The see trough magazine is nice but also jams easily if not kep clean.
All in I think it's a fantastic steampunk looking gun to collect which can work perfectly at the range but as a war weapon? Terrible.
Very good, thanks. I would enjoy a video on the 6.5mm cartridge, please :-)
Or basically, the Grape from GFL.
Edit: Sorry it's actually Strawberry instead as the replies pointed out.
he'll also cover strawberry cano by the looks of iy
Strawberry in this case. Grape is the somewhat failed late 30ies update.
This is Strawberry. Grape is the 91/38, so we'll see her at the end of this series or so.
GFL?
Strawberry milkies!