I had some spare money after Christmas and I've been tossing up whether or not to get one of these for a while now so when I saw a good price I decided to blow the dosh and take her home.
 

 
For those not familiar with this rifle, it's a Mannlicher Carcano M38 carbine in 6.5x52R.
It's a 1941 model at the Terni factory (a year before the rifle made infamous by Lee Harvey Oswald) and it's in basically good condition.
Here's the receiver stamp:
 

 
And the proofing marks on the bbl just forward of the handguard.
 

 
Up until recently only Norma and RWS made sporting ammo for this cal but now Privi Partizan (sold as Highland Ammo here in Oz) make ammo and components and since the Lee dies are readily availbale it makes for good milsurp fun.
The Highland Ammo I bought on Wednesday when I picked up the M38 was $26 a pack but I know of places where it sells for as little as $17.50 a pack so as you can imagine, even at $26, it's a much better proposition than the exhorbitant cost of European ammo.
There are 2 catches about the Carcano rifles though for those who haven't seen them much.
Firstly, many of the bores are widely different in diameter and vary between .265" and .269", although the latter is unusual.
Hornady makes a .268" cal 162gn RN specifically for the Carcano but getting those bullets here in Oz may be less than straightforward.
Apparently Turton, a small custom firm here in Oz, also make a .268" cal bullet and these shoot very well by all reports but I don't know if they're cast or jacketed and whether they're just a target bullet or suitable for hunting.
Whatever the case, they're only $20 per 100 so I suspect I'll be trying some out.
They are plenty of M38s, like our club president's pair, that shoot perfectly well with normal .264" bullets so I'll also be giving them a try too.
The other catch about the Mannlicher Carcano action is that it requires Mannlicher style clips for the rifle to operate as a repeater.
I'm presently trying to find some of these because while they are around the sudden interest in Carcanos after the recent appearence of new components has made them desirable and people are unwilling to part with them.
I know they're a common feature on Ebay in the US but few people seem willing to ship worldwide which is frustrating.
Anyhow, at AUD$90 the M38 has been a cheap investment.
It does however need a new extractor spring(I think) because the extractor is not holding onto the rim and as such it only extracts one in 3 cases.
It could also do with a re-crown as the muzzle is dinged up quite noticably so it'll take a trip to the 'smiths sometime this week.
Meanwhile, however, I look forward to some fun with it.
It's light and points well, has a fixed 200yd sight which acquires a target fast and generally feels nice in the hands.
What do ya reckon, guys?
Am I crazy or have a made a nice find?

Kombi ......................................


Your an absolute Fruitcake
 
 















Now does that make you feel any better? .

 
Now these clips? I do not know what they look like for sure but I assume they are similar to the ones for the 6.5x53R used by the Dutch. However I will ask Chris when I speak to him on Friday as he is into Carcano's.

Oh the bore size business :undecided: well check the size across the lands I say this because there seems to be some incorrect information flying about that grooves should only be 0.004" deep. Both my Steyr Mannlichers have groove depths of 0.008" and one has a brand new barrel, a genuine Steyr made barrel at that, so I know it's not wear :) . My Model 1892 shoots better than I can hold and the last time I shot it at 200 yards which I am ashamed to say was a few years ago now it was good enough to use on our Roe Deer accuracy wise and the groevs measure 0.268" and not the 0.264" which I read about so often and I shoot normal Hornady 160 Grn RN and 120 & 140 Grn bullets from Speer and Sierra as well with no problems :) .
 
If the 6.5x53R clips would work I may have a couple of spares but would need to check as I did let some go a year of so ago. The 8x56R clips would not work I am pretty sure on that one.

   Oh I cannot see anything wrong with your rifle so what's the beef?  If you get it shootign OK I also cannot see why it could not be used effectivly on Game and Varmints especially if you can find a 120 Grn bullet loading that works. Those 6/6mm 120 Grn bullets are pure poisen on Foxes . I shot a few with the Speer 120 grn bullet out of a Swedish 6.5mm.

Nice rifle. hope it shoots well for you.

Oh, I'm sure that with the correct bullets it'll shoot fine and I fully expect it to do its part on game.
It's just a matter of shooting it with a few different bullets to see exactly what suits it.
And slugging the bore of course.
A mate has some 6.5x53R clips complete with ammo but they're a curved clip because it's a rimmed round.
6.5x52, on the other hand, is rimless so the clips are straight but thanks for the offer.
I'll keep you posted on the results.

well $90 aus is about £35 uk - i paid £285 for my 10/22 so id say u got urself a great bargain!
 
good luck with the rifle

Kombi,

It looks like a pretty nice M38 Short Rifle.  I've got one like that too.  Check out the Carcano website ( I believe stevens.edu or something like that). On there is a "white paper" called Shooting the 6x52 and 7.35x51 Cartridges.  I know the author and you can bank on what he says.  My favorite load is 37 grains W760 or H414 with WLRM primer and the 160 g Hornady "fat" RN bullet.  My barrel is a bit "frosty" but I can hit a softball at 100 yards with this load.  Despite being a moderate pressure/velocity cartridge, that 160 g 6.5mm bullet will penetrate into the next year.

Keep checking ebay for the clips; I once bought some from a fellow in Italy.  Also check with your ammo importers down there. Sometimes the clips get separated from the ammo and they end up laying on their back shelves.

Occasionaly I'll see a M38 here show up in an auction sporterized into a deer or pig hunting rifle, which they should excel at in heavy cover.  Being the "Oswald" rifle, I keep mine as-is.

A hint on shoot the carcano fixed sights: at short ranges (100 m) put just the tip of the front blade in the bottom of the rear sight notch. For longer ranges (200-300m) raise the front blade into the rear sight notch like one uses mauser-type sights.

Nels

Thanks for the tips, especially those on the website and on aiming.
I'll try them out at the range.
I love this little thing.
It's light and handy.
I saw a mate's M38 and it's a 1940 model.
Real slick and nice but I still think mine is prettier.
He said something very interesting.
He reckons that the trick to getting a really accurate Carcano is simply using modern bullets.
He's tried a few different types and all were equally successful.
The jury's still out for mine though. :undecided:
There are a few guys on the look out for clips for me so one should turn up.
One mate even borrowed a clip and is going to try and form one from sheet metal for me! :D
But I don't think things will become that desperate.
They are around and at worst I can wait until a place up north imports some more from the States.

Kombi, I have one that I took on a trade.  Seems reasonably accurate but I'll admit I've not shot it for accuracy yet...just for function.  It was in pretty bad shape on the exterior but the bore etc were in good shape.  I have to admit that I've begun a sporterizing campaign on it.  I'm hoping to mount a reddot scope on it and do some work on the trigger and safety.  They are both very difficult to use.  It should make a nice brush buster or short range deer cartridge.
 
Mike

ARGGHHH!!! :shock:
Sporterise?!! :huh:
Surely you could've done SOMETHING with the exterior?
It makes for a great short range cartridge.
Much better penetration than a 30-30 in a similar bullet weight.
I reckon they'd be fun with a side mount a'la Lee Harvey Oswald but I couldn't bring myself to do it to a nice rifle.
BTW, does anyone know if the Italians had snipers?

Well it was pretty far gone when I got it.  Restorable??? sure but it would have cost way more than the approximately 35 dollar item I traded it for.  Which is about what the gun would have sold for.  
 
I found stripper clips at a gun show here so I lucked out there.  I bought 2 boxes of ammo on an auction site.  Auctionarms.com if I recall correctly.  This is 140 grain spire point sporting ammo.  I believe it was right around $20.00 a box.  Not bad compared to the Hornady stuff around here.  

Squirrel season will be over in about 6 weeks.  Once that's over hopefully I'll be back out in the shop working on some of the several gun projects I have here.  
 
Mike

Have a read of Sakorick's post on restoring military rifles.
Who know's.....there may be something you can do with it.
With a red-dot mounted on the barrel in it's original timber it would be a nice unit.
Incidentally, what brand was the sporting ammo?
It wasn't Grafs, was it?
Because it's exactly the same as Hornady if my memory serves me correctly.

Kombi, the bubba'izing (what is often referred to as sporterizing) has begun!  It's now well beyond restoring.  The rear sight has been milled down to the same height as the front of the reciever so it will accept a scope rail.  The wood has been removed (although I do still have it along with the bayonet).  
 
The ammo I received is in a plain white box with what looks like a computer generated label that simply states what the rounds are.  It is headstamped Graf however.  Don't know if this means anything to you or not.  I didn't quibble as the rounds were just a little more expensive than buying brass would have been!
 
Mike

Yep, they'd be Grafs. :)
Same as the Hornady loads.....I'm certain of it.
As far as bubba goes, well, post some pics and make sure she ends up pretty!
Otherwise, well, it may be a long way but I'll hunt you down and find you......
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AND MAKE YOU DO IT PROPERLY!!!! :D :D

Kombi,
 
For what it's worth, www.sportsmansguide.com has carcano clips in steel, 5 for $25.
 
Nels

Once you slug the bore, you can order a Lee resizing die in the exact dimension. Through it you can run cast bullets, OR... you can get one that is 0.001" smaller than bore diameter and squeeze some jacketed .277" bullets to bore diameter.
 
Paul