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Romeo 33 Delta · January 31, 2014, 01:00 PM

Knight Cadet ... why rechamber it? Before answering, I'll admit to having done ALOT of rechambering and wildcatting ... but, why with a Carcano?

Just because you have a rim diameter matching the bolt face does not address the unique feeeding issues with a Carcano. You can't just drop a round in the chamber and slam the bolt home. You are likely to bend the extractor ... at worst you'll break it. The extractor will not ride up over the rim like you hope it will ... you need to feed from a clip or pull the bolt and hook the cartridge under the extractor and reinsert the bolt. (I've done that, it's easily done and it does work, but it may not be your cup 'o tea).

Dies (Lee), Brass (Privi), Bullets (Hornady 6.5 & Buffalo Arms 7.35), Good Loading Data (Hornady and all over the Internet) are all available and not costly. You don't reload? If you don't, that's just a cryin' shame, Dude!

44 AMP hit some great points, especially about not being praticularly suited to being sporterized: a) a 6.5mm bore that needs to see a .2675" bullet that's not available rather than our common .264" bullet which is available. b) a 7.35mm bore that wants to see a .300" bullet that's not available. c) a clip (6 round capacity) is required for feeding (many States have a 5 round limit. You can deal with this issue, but it still requires one more "jerking around" step). d) with its Mannlicher receiver, mounting a receiver sight is out of the question and the original iron sights are not calibrated for our sight picture (they bury the front sight into the bottom of the rear sight "V"). e) Mounting a scope requires an off-set mount which is "unconventional" to our way of thinking. Too many negatives when you can spend a couple of more bucks and buy a surplus Mauser and go hunting!

My 2 cents worth; buy a Carcano in 6.5 and some Privi ammo and clips and go shooting. A number of my Carcano 6.5s shoot quite well with a .264" bullet (that Hornady .264" is like their .268" ... long, parallel sides that a Carcano likes to see). If yours needs a bigger bullet ... just get into reloading. If you start with Lee equipment (Challenger press is fine) you're only looking a a couple hundred bucks. OK, that's a chunk for only one, stupid caliber ... but once you have the equipment, all you need is another Lee die set (8mm Mauser?), some Boxer brass, some more bullets, primers and powder and you're now loading for your Kar98k ... and so it goes.

January 31, 2014, 01:00 PM	#59
Romeo 33 Delta Senior Member Join Date: March 27, 2009 Posts: 315	Knight Cadet ... why rechamber it? Before answering, I'll admit to having done ALOT of rechambering and wildcatting ... but, why with a Carcano? Just because you have a rim diameter matching the bolt face does not address the unique feeeding issues with a Carcano. You can't just drop a round in the chamber and slam the bolt home. You are likely to bend the extractor ... at worst you'll break it. The extractor will not ride up over the rim like you hope it will ... you need to feed from a clip or pull the bolt and hook the cartridge under the extractor and reinsert the bolt. (I've done that, it's easily done and it does work, but it may not be your cup 'o tea). Dies (Lee), Brass (Privi), Bullets (Hornady 6.5 & Buffalo Arms 7.35), Good Loading Data (Hornady and all over the Internet) are all available and not costly. You don't reload? If you don't, that's just a cryin' shame, Dude! 44 AMP hit some great points, especially about not being praticularly suited to being sporterized: a) a 6.5mm bore that needs to see a .2675" bullet that's not available rather than our common .264" bullet which is available. b) a 7.35mm bore that wants to see a .300" bullet that's not available. c) a clip (6 round capacity) is required for feeding (many States have a 5 round limit. You can deal with this issue, but it still requires one more "jerking around" step). d) with its Mannlicher receiver, mounting a receiver sight is out of the question and the original iron sights are not calibrated for our sight picture (they bury the front sight into the bottom of the rear sight "V"). e) Mounting a scope requires an off-set mount which is "unconventional" to our way of thinking. Too many negatives when you can spend a couple of more bucks and buy a surplus Mauser and go hunting! My 2 cents worth; buy a Carcano in 6.5 and some Privi ammo and clips and go shooting. A number of my Carcano 6.5s shoot quite well with a .264" bullet (that Hornady .264" is like their .268" ... long, parallel sides that a Carcano likes to see). If yours needs a bigger bullet ... just get into reloading. If you start with Lee equipment (Challenger press is fine) you're only looking a a couple hundred bucks. OK, that's a chunk for only one, stupid caliber ... but once you have the equipment, all you need is another Lee die set (8mm Mauser?), some Boxer brass, some more bullets, primers and powder and you're now loading for your Kar98k ... and so it goes.