Читать книгу Bolt Action Rifles - Wayne Zwoll - Страница 22

Italian Carcano Rifles FdH

Model 38 Italian Carcano Short Rifle, caliber 7.35mm.

THE CARCANO BOLT-ACTION rifle was adopted by Italy in 1891 as her official military shoulder arm. Adopted with it was the 6.5mm Carcano cartridge, one of the first small caliber smokeless military cartridges to be used by a major military power. The Model 1891 Carcano rifle and its various versions, and the 6.5mm cartridge, were in continual production and use until Italy’s defeat in WW II. No doubt several million of these Carcanos were made in this long period (about 54 years). Returning American servicemen brought many home as souvenirs, but this number was a mere drop of water in a tub compared to the countless thousands dumped on the U.S. military surplus arms market since the late 1940s.

The Carcano action was developed jointly by Lt. Col. Salvatore Carcano and Col. G. Parravicino, both employed in the Torino (Turin) Arms Factory in Turin, Italy. Perhaps most of these rifles and carbines were made in Terni, but they were also made in Turin, Brescia, and Gardone in government or privately owned arsenals. The action, a turnbolt repeater with dual front locking lugs on the bolt, was copied from the Model 89 Mauser, but made with a single column box magazine of Mannlicher design. As a result of the various names and places connected with these arms, they have been called the Parravicino Carcano, but they’re now generally called the Mannlicher-Carcano, Italian Carcano, or Terni.

Carcano Markings

Markings are many and varied, and specific models are not always marked alike. The model designation is never stamped on the rifle, nor are the words “ Carcano” or “Italy.” Some receivers are entirely unmarked.

The serial number, usually beginning with one or two letters, may be stamped on the breech end of the barrel, on the receiver, or on both.The serial number, or any part of it, is seldom stamped on any other part of the rifle.

There is usually an assortment of inspector’s and/or proof marks stamped on the barrel breech, receiver, and bolt. Often unclear, they’re not really important.

The name of the manufacturer, and/or the Carcano city where the rifle was made, is usually stamped on the receiver ring or on the breech end of the barrel. The marking TERNI indicates manufacture there by the Italian Army small arms arsenal. The marking RE TERNI stands for Regio Esercito Terni, which means ARMY, TERNI. The marking “F.N.A. Brescia” stands for Fabbrica Naziionale d’Armi (National Arms Factory) in the city of Brescia. The marking BERETTA GARDONE means manufacture by P. Beretta Arms Factory in Gardone, V.T., Italy.

The year of manufacture of many Carcanos is often stamped on the receiver ring. On others the date of manufacture may be stamped on the barrel breech, such as 01 for 1901. Most rifles produced during the Fascist regime were also marked with a Roman numeral, such as XVI, indicating manufacture in the 16th year of the regime.

Many Italian rifles were re-marked; for example, some are found marked SPECIAL-GUARD-BAVARIA; others carry the letters SA within a rectangle, which means “Suomen Armeija” or “Finnish Army.” The Finns obtained these rifles from Italy during WW II for defense against Russia. No doubt there are Carcano rifles and carbines with other markings unknown to me. Various Carcano rifle and carbine models were produced. Since they’re all based on the same action, I’ll describe the principal models briefly.

The first model was the 1891 Carcano rifle, its 30.8” barrel adapted for a knife bayonet. Next came the M1891 Carcano carbine with a folding bayonet permanently attached to its 17.5” barrel, and the M1891 TS carbine with a 17.5”-plus barrel and detachable knife bayonet. There was also the Model 41 rifle with a 27” barrel. All of these were made only in 6.5mm caliber.

In 1938 Italy adopted a new cartridge of larger caliber—the 7.35mm Carcano. It was based on the same case as the 6.5mm Carcano cartridge but with the neck expanded to hold the larger 7.35mm bullet. The rifles chambered for this cartridge were the M38 short rifle with a 21.1” barrel and detachable bayonet, and the M38 carbine with a 17.5”-plus barrel. Italy, however, soon became involved in WW II and could not make a complete change-over to the new caliber, so it was dropped in favor of the older 6.5mm. As a result, many M38 rifles and carbines made for the 7.35mm cartridge were rebarreled for the 6.5mm load.

W.H.B. Smith, in his The Book of Rifles says that some M38 rifles were made in 7.92mm caliber (8x57mm Mauser) for use by Germany during WW II.

The 6.5mm Carcano rifle barrels were made with progressive or gain twist rifling; that is, the rate of twist gradually increasing from breech to muzzle. At the breech the twist was about one turn in 19”, increasing to about one turn in 8” at the muzzle.

The 7.35mm Carcano barrels were made with a uniform rate of twist, one turn in 10”.

The Carcano Action

The Carcano is a relatively simple turnbolt, 6-shot repeating action having some Mauser and Mannlicher features, plus others found only in this action. Despite wide criticism leveled against it, the Carcano is a well designed and rugged action for military use since, presumably, the Italians did not have any major trouble with it or they would have changed the design.

The Carcano receiver appears to have started as a forging which was then milled and machined to final dimensions. The round receiver ring is quite large in diameter (1.335”), with only a small projection underneath to form the recoil shoulder. The inside of the receiver ring, threaded to receive the barrel shank, has a thin collar left in its center against which the breech end of the barrel abuts. The barrel breech is flat except for a thin ring which fits inside the receiver collar and around the head of the bolt, The rear of the receiver ring is milled to form locking recesses for the bolt lugs. There is more than ample metal at this point to securely support both locking lugs. In the lower left side, in the locking lug recess, a shelf of metal is retained which has a forward sloping surface. The angle of this surface matches a beveled corner on the left (upper) locking lug; on opening the bolt this arrangement provides the initial extraction camming power; on closing the bolt rapidly it helps to start the closing rotation of the bolt. The receiver walls behind the receiver ring are smaller in diameter than the ring; on the left side of the receiver there is a definite step, as in the large ring 98 Mauser action.

The left receiver wall is much higher than the right, and the high left wall lacks a thumb notch. A long opening is milled in the bottom of the receiver for the magazine. The rear half of this opening is wide enough to accept the cartridge clip, while the front half is only slightly wider than the body of the cartridge. The front end of this opening is sloped toward the chamber to form a loading ramp to raise and guide the cartridge from the magazine to the chamber. Cartridge feeding into the chamber is positive and reliable.

The receiver bridge is split or slotted at the top to allow passage of the bolt handle. The receiver ends in a top tang about 2.5” long.

The trigger mechanism is mounted below the receiver bridge and tang. The sear attaches to the receiver, pivoting on a pin crosswise through a hole in the bottom of the bridge. A projection (made separately, but more or less permanently pinned in place) on the rear of the sear projects upward through a hole in the tang into a groove which is milled out for the sear notch to engage the cocking piece when the bolt is closed. The sear is tensioned by a coil spring positioned between recessed holes in the front of the sear and receiver. The trigger, attached to the sear, pivots on a pin through the sear. The upper part of the trigger, which bears against the bottom of the receiver, has twin humps which produce the two stage pull.

The ejector is a collared pin positioned over and inside the sear spring and extending upward through a hole in the receiver. A long tapering groove is cut into the front half of the bolt body to allow the ejector to rise, as the bolt is opened, to contact the head of the cartridge or case and eject it from the action. This appears to be a very efficient, though simple, arrangement.

Italian Model 91 Mannlicher-Carcano action (shown with loaded clip in place).

The bolt-stop is equally as efficient and simple as the ejector. It is a bar extending upward through a hole in the bottom right side of the receiver which projects into the right locking lug raceway in the receiver bridge. The bolt-stop is attached to an arm on the trigger. Pulling the trigger back moves the bolt-stop down so the bolt can be removed.

The bolt and bolt handle appear to have been machined from a one-piece forging, although the latter may have been permanently attached to the bolt by other means. The bolt handle is near the center of the bolt and, when the action is closed and locked, the heavy rectangular base of the bolt handle is forward of the receiver bridge, acting as a safety lug should the forward locking lugs fail. The shank of the bolt handle, round and quite thin, ends in a round grasping ball. On the Carcano rifles the bolt handle sticks straight out, but is bent down on the carbine.

The dual-opposed front locking lugs are quite large and solid; neither has any slots or holes. The bolt face is recessed for the cartridge rim, but the rim of the recess is cut away one-fourth of its diameter for the extractor hook. Another quarter is cut away beyond the bottom of the extractor hook to allow the cartridge head to slip under the extractor hook when fed into the chamber from the magazine. This prevents double loading.

The one-piece spring steel extractor, about 2” long, is mortised into the front of the bolt. A projection under the front end of the extractor fits in a slot in the bolt, preventing the extractor from pulling out. Cartridges normally slip under the extractor hook when being chambered from the magazine. Closing the bolt on a cartridge that is chambered ahead of the extractor (as in single loading the rifle by dropping a cartridge into the chamber) is difficult because the extractor hook is not made to slip easily over the cartridge rim.

The major parts of the firing mechanism are the firing pin, coil mainspring, firing pin nut, cocking piece and bolt sleeve. In addition, there is a spring and plunger in the cocking piece, the purpose of which is to prevent the firing pin nut from turning. The mainspring is compressed between a shoulder on the one-piece firing pin and the bolt sleeve which is backed by the cocking piece. All are retained on the firing pin by the firing pin nut, which threads on the rear of the firing pin. A flat spot on the firing pin matching a similar spot in the cocking piece prevents either part from turning on the other. A shoulder at the rear end of the firing pin prevents longitudinal movement of the firing pin in the cocking piece when the firing pin nut is fully tightened.

The bolt sleeve is usually defined as that part of the action which holds the firing mechanism in the bolt. In the Carcano action the bolt sleeve does this, but it also performs the function of a safety. A small lug on the front part of the bolt sleeve slides into a groove and notch cut into the rear of the bolt body. When the action is cocked, the bolt sleeve is held forward by the lug engaging the notch, and heavy mainspring pressure holds it in this notch so that it rotates with the bolt. When the bolt is closed and the bolt handle down (it must be in this position or the rifle cannot be fired) part of the flange on the rear of the bolt sleeve is also engaged in a notch cut into the receiver tang. This keeps the bolt sleeve in place, and there is little chance of it being blown out even in the event of a severe primer rupture.

Italian Carcano action, open.

Model 91 Italian Carcano action.

A deep cocking notch is cut into the rear of the bolt body, which the cocking cam on the cocking piece engages. The cocking cam, quite long, extends into the left locking lug raceway in the receiver bridge. When the striker is down, raising the bolt handle cocks the action.

To prepare the action for firing, the checkered safety wing on the bolt sleeve is positioned forward and to the right. To place the bolt sleeve (or safety—whatever you want to call it) in the “safe” position, it is pushed slightly forward and turned up. When this is done the bolt sleeve is partly released to move back against the cocking piece, relaxing the firing mechanism in the bolt. In this position the firing pin is held back, its tip held well within the bolt, so a blow on the cocking piece cannot fire the rifle. In this position the bolt is also locked, and cannot be opened.

To engage the safety it is necessary to grasp the bolt handle, while depressing and turning the safety (bolt sleeve), to prevent the bolt from opening. The bolt sleeve is under full mainspring tension and it is not easily operated. Moving the bolt sleeve on to “safe” calls for a strong thumb, but turning it again to the “fire” position is quite hard to do.

The action is securely held in the stock by two guard screws, these passing through holes in each end of the trigger guard/magazine, and threaded into the tang and receiver ring. Stock bushings (or spacers) are used with each guard screw. The very small recoil shoulder on the receiver would be entirely inadequate to absorb the recoil if inletted directly into the stock. In the Carcano action recoil is taken up by a clever T-shaped stock bushing and spacer through which the front guard screw passes. The top of the “T” is a heavy metal bar about 1.20” long and .40 ” deep, its top grooved to fit the small lug on the receiver. With this T-bushing snugly bedded into the stock, and anchored between the trigger guard tang and the receiver by the guard screw, action set-back in the stock is hardly possible. In restocking this rifle I strongly suggest this T-bushing be used.

The trigger guard/magazine is made of a single piece of steel. The trigger guard bow is wide and heavy, the bow opening larger than needed. The thin-walled magazine box is an elongation of the guard bow bottom, thus extends well below the stock line. The single follower arm pivots on a pin through the lower front of the follower housing. It is given strong upward tension by a flat spring mortised in the follower housing. The follower housing closes the bottom front half of the magazine box and is in turn partly mortised in the magazine box and held in place by a screw. A special cartridge clip, holding up to 6 cartridges, must be used with the Carcano action if the rifle is to be shot as a repeater. The fully or partially loaded clip is inserted through the top of the open action, depressing the follower by the bottom cartridge. There is no top or bottom to the clip; it can be inserted either end first. When the clip is pressed down fully the spring-loaded magazine catch, located in the rear of the magazine box, engages it and holds it down. The bottom portion of the magazine box below the clip is open and when all the cartridges are fed out of the clip, it drops out. The fully or partly loaded clip can be released to pop up out of the open action by depressing the clip slightly and then depressing the magazine catch button in the front of the trigger guard.

There are no gas-escape holes in the receiver, and only one small hole is provided in the bolt near the front end. When the bolt is closed this hole opens into the right locking lug raceway in the receiver ring. Any gases escaping through this hole would be directed backward alongside the bolt. This provision is sufficient unless the rifle is fired from the left shoulder. To make the action safer there should be a hole in the left side of the receiver ring to coincide with the under-cut in the bolt face recess. Without this hole any gases that got into the left lug raceway would surely be felt by the shooter.

Takedown and Assembly

Check to make sure the rifle is unloaded. To remove the bolt raise the bolt handle, hold the trigger back and pull the bolt from the receiver.

To disassemble the bolt, first rotate the cocking piece one-quarter turn clockwise; with the thumbnail depress the firing pin nut plunger and unscrew firing pin nut; the cocking piece can now be pulled off the firing pin. Next, depress bolt sleeve (safety) slightly and rotate it a bit clockwise, allowing it to come back. Do this again and bolt sleeve, firing pin, and mainspring can be removed from the bolt. Remove the firing pin nut plunger by driving out the cross pin. Remove the extractor only if necessary. It is removed by raising the hooked end with a screwdriver until it can be moved forward. Since the stem of the extractor is usually wedged very tightly into the dovetail groove in the bolt, it may be necessary to drive the extractor forward with a pointed tool while the hook end is held up. Reassemble in reverse order.

To take the barrel and action from the stock remove barrel bands and the two guard screws. With barrel and action removed, the sear, sear spring, ejector, bolt-stop, and trigger can be removed by driving out the sear and trigger pin.

Pull trigger guard/magazine from the stock. Turn out the clip latch screw, remove the clip latch and spring. Turn out the follower housing screw, drive the housing forward to remove it. Depress the follower arm fully, insert a screwdriver blade in the slots in the sides of the housing to hold the follower spring down, and remove the follower pin and follower. Pull the screwdriver out and the follower spring can be removed. Reassemble in reverse order. Do not attempt to remove the barrel unless proper tools are available.

Carcano Action Strength

Many Carcano rifles may not be well finished compared to M91 Mausers, but they’re certainly better than most of the many Japanese Model 99 rifles I’ve seen, and far better than most WWII M98 Mausers. Carcano receivers are not always smoothly polished, and some concealed parts show no polish at all, but the bolts are generally well-machined and smooth. The receiver and bolt appear made of good steels and to be properly heat treated. Although the 6.5 and 7.35 Carcano military cartridges are only loaded to a maximum breech pressure of less than 38,000 psi, I believe Carcano actions are strong and safe enough to handle heavier loads. The 6.5 Mannlicher-Schoenauer cartridge is generally loaded to 40,000- 45,000 psi and, in those 6.5 Carcano rifles rechambered for this cartridge, the actions seem to take these higher pressures in stride. However, in handloading Carcano cartridges I advise keeping loads moderate, not exceeding 40,000 psi.

Top view of the Model 91 Italian Carcano action. The jeweling on the bolt is not the original finish.

Italian Carcano Model 91

General Specifications

Type . . . . . . . . .Turnbolt repeater.

Receiver . . . . . .One-piece machined steel forging; slotted bridge.

Bolt . . . . . . . . . .One-piece, with dual-opposed forward locking lugs. Base of the bolt handle serves as safety lug.

Ignition . . . . . . .One-piece firing pin and coil mainspring. Cocks on bolt opening.

Magazine . . . . .Single column, non-detachable six-shot box magazine. Special clip is required to load and hold cartridges in magazine.

Trigger . . . . . . .Non-adjustable, double-stage military pull.

Safety . . . . . . . .Combined with the bolt sleeve; 90° swing from right to up. When up, safety locks bolt and relaxes firing pin.

Extractor . . . . . .One-piece spring type recessed in front of bolt.

Bolt-stop . . . . . .One-piece, connected to, and released by trigger. Stops bolt by contacting right (lower) locking lug.

Ejector . . . . . . .Plunger type located in receiver bottom.

The Carcano Clip

As noted before, a special clip must be used if the Carcanos are to function as repeaters. These clips, made of steel or brass, hold 6 rounds. Two crimped-in ridges, inside the back part of the clip, engage in the extractor groove of the cartridges to hold the rounds against the clip rear.

The receiver and the magazine box are milled out to accept the loaded clip, with shoulders left so it cannot move forward. This also holds the cartridges securely in the magazine so they cannot move forward from recoil. The ridges in the clip extend nearly to each end, allowing just enough room for cartridges to be, inserted and removed (or fed out via the bolt) when the head of the cartridge is pressed against the curved lips of the clip. This is a good arrangement: the clip is easy to load; the fully loaded or partly loaded clip is easily inserted into the action (from the top with the bolt open); it is easily removed; feeding is in a straight line and reliable. The drawbacks are these: when the clip is emptied it drops out and is easily lost; without the clip the rifle can only be used as a single shot. Clips are still readily available at this writing, and both Italian 6.5mm and 7.35mm cartridges use the same clip.

Gunsmithing the Carcano

Carcano rifles are among the least desirable of all modern military bolt actions to remodel or sporterize, nor is the Carcano action a very good choice on which to build a rifle. I’ve already mentioned a couple of poor and undesirable features of the Carcano: the very awkward and hard-to-operate safety, and the necessity of using a clip. There are many more. The slotted receiver bridge prevents the installation of a regular receiver sight. No commercial replacement safety is made for this action, and there is no practical way the military safety can be altered to improve it. No replacement trigger is made for the action although the military trigger can be improved. The box magazine extends below the stock and it isn’t feasible to make it flush with the stock. The clip is too narrow to accept standard 30-06 head size cartridges, so cartridge choice for rechambering or rebarreling is very limited.

None of these objections has really bothered or stopped the enterprising amateur gunsmith from tackling them and working the rifle over into a sporter.

Rebarreling to another caliber, if the rifle is to remain a repeater, is also limited.

Even as a single shot, cartridge choice is limited because the bolt head and extractor are not easily altered.

The only satisfactory remodeling of the Carcano carbine consists of starting with one having a good bore, then limit the work to putting on new sights, refinishing the metal, remodeling the issue stock or installing a new one. A good rear sight choice is the Williams Guide, adjustable for windage and elevation. This should be paired with a new front blade or bead sight mounted on the Williams Shorty ramp base. Mounting a scope on Carcanos is just not practicable.

Bolt head of the Italian Carcano

6.5 & 7.35 Carcano Cartridges

The 6.5 military round was normally loaded with a 162-grain round-nosed, full-jacketed bullet, muzzle velocity about 2300 fps. It was a good military cartridge, comparing favorably with other 6.5 military loads.

The commercial Norma 6.5 Carcano is loaded with a 156-grain soft-point, round-nosed bullet, 2000 fps muzzle velocity. Although this seems a very mild load it has ample power to take deer-sized game to about 200 yards. It could be handloaded safely to higher velocities with the same weight or lighter bullets. Because of the deep throat in the Carcano barrel, best results will be had with bullets of at least 130 grains. Poor accuracy may result with lighter bullets.

The usual 7.35 Carcano military cartridge carried a 128-grain semi-pointed, full-jacketed bullet, its velocity about 2482 fps; normal bullet diameter is .298”-.300”.

Italian Youth Carbine

This title—the name it commonly goes by in English-speaking countries—describes one of the most unusual military arms of the WW II period. Mussolini and the Fascist Party leaders—aping the Nazis—wanted to start training Italian boys at an early age (probably at about 6) and a special small-sized arm was developed and manufactured for this purpose alone. The Youth Carbine is an almost identical but scaled-down version of the regular Model 91 Carbine with folding bayonet.

A photo comparison of the Italian Youth Carbine action (top) with the regular Model 91 Italian Carcano action.

It is believed that about 30,000 of these small Carcano carbines were made between 1930 and 1940. American servicemen in Italy during the war took a number of these carbines home, but they’re quite scarce today.

The IYCs are marked F.N.A. BRESCIA on the receiver for Fabbrica Nazionale d’Armi. Their serial number usually begins with a letter. The year date of manufacture is also stamped on the receiver as well as the Roman numeral(s) indicating the Fascist regime year. On the carbine illustrated a rectangular stamping, atop the receiver ring, shows an insignia or crest with the Roman fasces.

The official Italian designation for the Youth Carbine is Moschetto Regolomentare Ballila Modelo 1891 Ridutto. Translated, this means “Ballila Regulation Musket Model 1891 Reduced.” “Ballilo” was the name of the Italian Fascist Youth Party.

The IYC was used for drill training only, since only blank ammunition was made for them, and the tip of the bayonet dulled. Some are smoothbored, others have a rifled bore of 6.5mm caliber. The blank cartridge is about the size of the 222 Remington, but has a longer neck ending in a folded crimp. The chambers are reamed minus any neck or throat; the neck of the blank cartridge is made small enough to enter directly into the bore, whether rifled or not. It is thought that perhaps IYCs with rifled barrels were made from discarded Model 91 Carcano barrels.

The action of the IYC is a regular little gem, and just over half the weight of the regular M91 and M38 Carcano actions. In every detail it is similar to the larger action. I don’t believe it is made of good enough steel to be used with a modern bulleted cartridge, otherwise this miniature action would be just the right size for the 222 Remington.

The blank cartridges made for these carbines are extremely scarce, much more so than the carbines, and are prized collector items.

(Top)Model 91 Italian Carcano carbine, caliber 6.5mm. The barrel of this carbine has been increased to 18.50” by silver soldering a steel sleeve to the muzzle. (Above) Italian Youth Carbine (minus the folding bayonet).