Italian Model 1891 Mannlicher-Carcano Rifle

In 1888 the Italian government instituted a commission to develop a smokeless-powder rifle for the army. In 1890 the commission finally chose a rifle developed by the Turin Army Arsenals’ chief technician Salvatore Carcano. It used an en bloc magazine system developed by an Austrian, Fernadad Mannlicher. The Model 1891 would replace the old Italian Vetterli-Vitali rifle, and the basic design would be manufactured in various models through WWII, thus serving the Italians in both world wars, as well as being in use by various armies from Japan and Finland in the 30s and 40s to Tunisia and Algeria in the 50s and 60s.

My Model 1891 was built at the Terni Arsenal in 1917. The bayonet and bandoleer shown with it are Italian issue, and will be posted separately. The sling on my Carcano isn’t Italian, but it’s pretty cool and appropriate for this rifle. Among the countries that used Carcanos after WWI were the Bulgarians. The problem is they also used Mosin-Nagants, Austrian Mannlichers, and whatever else they could get their hands on. So, the Bulgarians created this multi-purpose sling. Set the leather tabs one way and they fit a wide sling swivel like the ’91 Carcano. Turn them around and they fit narrower sling swivels. Open them up and they can slide through Russan Nagant stocks. WWI issue Italian slings are rare, and WWII issue Italian slings are too narrow – until I get a WWI sling, I’m very happy with this one.

Ammo: While other countries like France and Germany developed 8mm rifles, Italy was one of the countries that took a different road, choosing a 6.5mm round, largely due to the influence of Major Antonio Benedetti, Secretary of the commission and a big advocate of small bore cartridges - less weight, less recoil, flatter trajectory etc., plus six rounds in the magazine rather than five. Of course the big bore/small bore argument continues today. The Italian 6.5x52 service cartridge was a 162 grain FMJ round nose with a velocity of 2296 fps. Norma makes a nice 155 gr jacketed round nose (shown here) that I’ve had decent luck with. I’ve also loaded some 120 gr spire points backed by 31 grains of IMR 4895, but no range data available.

WARNING: Load data is provided for information only. Many vintage firearms are unsafe to shoot and I do not advise use of this load data for other firearms since I do not know the specific firearm that may be involved or its condition.