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Old February 1, 2013, 01:05 AM   #2
Romeo 33 Delta
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Join Date: March 27, 2009
Posts: 315
It appears to be a Model 1941 Infantry Rifle in 6.5 X 52 Carcano. Privi will chamber with no problem ... but you will ABSOLUTELY need to have at least 1 clip. Yes, CLIP.
It is going to be either brass or steel and will hold 6 rounds. With the bolt open, the clip is inserted until it locks in place. When the last round is chambered, it will fall free out the bottom.

If you do not use a clip. DO NOT simply drop the round into the chamber and slam the bolt shut. You will break an extractor and ruin the rifle.

If you want to shoot without a clip, you can do it this way:
Open and pull the bolt to the rear.
Pull the trigger back, hold it there and pull the bolt out.
Clip a cartridge under the extractor.
While holding the trigger back, reinsert the bolt and lock it.

You can now safely fire the rifle and extract the fired case.

While this seems tedious, it will slow down your rate of fire, keeping your barrel cooler longer and making your ammo and your shooting session longer as well. I had an old M-1891 which will NOT strip rounds from a clip, but its accurate as hell ... so that's how I shot her. No problem!

How will it shoot? That depends. I shoot a M-1891 Infantry rifle, a M-1941 Infantry rifle (like yours), a M-1938 Short rifle (JFK type), a M-1891/38 TS carbine and a M-1891/38 Cavalry carbine; all in 6.5 X 52. Of the 6 ... 4 prefer a .264" diameter bullet. However, 2 require a .268" bullet (actually, I resize the .268" to .266", but that's another story).

You should have someone (who knows how to do it properly) slug your bore and that will tell you which bullet the rifle is likely to prefer. Or, you can buy a box of 6.5 Privi which has, I believe, a .264" diameter bullet and see how it shoots.

The Italian method of sight picture is not like what you're used to, the "pumpkin on a post" bit. They bury the front sight blade into the bottom of the rear sight "V" and even at that, you will need to aim low. If you used a standard silhouette target and stick a 8" Shoot n C mid-chest, my aim point at 50-100 yards would be about at the target's belt-line. Also, just leave your rear sight back and down as far as it goes ... not flipped forward. That's a 200/250 meter fixed, battle sight. I never use it.

If you find that you need a .268" bullet ...you are going to have to get into reloading because noone manufacturers loaded ammo with that bullet. Hornady DOES make both a .264" and a .268" round nose bullet. They are 140grain, flat base and have long, parallel sides ... just like the original military FMJ round. Reloading is fun, relaxing and rewarding ... but ADDICTIVE!

Can you tell that I like Carcanos?

Yes, unless you know enough to do it yourself, have it checked out. I've never had an issue with headspace on a Carcano in 6.5 or 7.35.

Carcanos were very well made and with extremely good steel. Don't believe all the crap about them. I don't believe that these "facts" were generated by anyone who had ever spent much time with a Carcano.

Jap rifles look like crap too ... goofy looking bolt knob ... stupid-looking back end of the bolt. The Type 38 is probably the STRONGEST of the Mauser actions rifles ever built. Would you want to shoot a 6.5 rifle that was rechambered to .30-06 (but not rebored to .308")? I wouldn't want to, but it's been done with a Type 38 Jap!

If you don't want to keep it, you could be looking for $250-300 if the bore is nice. You do have the cleaning rod (a plus) and it doesn't look like it's been sanded or screwed with (a BIG plus).

Whatever you end up doing, at $60 you "done" REAL good!
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