1940 Beretta 6.5 carcano , hard to like this rifle.

[mac1911]

Heres one that I was able to check out. Other than 50 years or so of closet rust its in very nice shape.
I will shoot it and hope it shoots well but that rear sight is going to be a problem with my eyes.
its not adjustable and the notch is small.
It has no import marks that I can see and the bore looks very good other than the slightly crusty crown it has nice strong lands and grooves right out to the crown. if there are any numbers or markings they either match or are PB the only thing that's a little buggered up are the front and lower band screws

I have no idea if this is a gain twist bore or just a 1/8
The trigger surprised me. Although the first stage is VERY long it breaks at a nice crisp 5.5lbs
going to get it cleaned up and shooting for a friend


We will see. maybe after my next eye exam I can find a Rx that works for the rear sight and the front sight... Notch sights are becoming laughable

 

[majspud]

Well, there you go. Nice piece.

t

 

[mac1911]

now to hunt down some reloading gear for it.
Still unsure if it's a gain twist of normal.

 

[mac1911]

Moving along its 1/8 twist barrel. So that helps some.
Next I need to slug the bore and hope it's on the snug side.
It seems no one is manufacturing much in the way of .268" bullets except a run hornady did years ago.
PPU at one point offered a .267" bullet offering in the 6.5_Carc but only offer a .264" 123 or 139 grain option now.
Looks like I will just buy some PPU and try it and at least start the brass collecting.

 

[mac1911]

Clips and ammo came in. Almost test time.
I'm going to run it as I got it. Only thing I did was give the bore a quick clean and snugged up the screws.
Then I will tinker with it.

 

[mac1911]

Was able to get out today for a test run.
Nothing fancy just rested the rifle on a bench chair flipped over on top of the bench.
Ammo was PPU 139g fmj and PPU 123g soft point.
I will start out saying this. There is not much I like about this rifle as far as milsurps go it's down there with the mosin/nagant.
The action and trigger keep this rifle from getting lower on my list than the 91/30.

The down side
Stock: I'm not sure who these stocks are supposed to fit. I'm not a big guy and these stocks are small! There was no way to mount this rifle with out the recoil getting my thumb to smack my nose. I get nose bleeds easy so I left a good amount of blood on the bench. Also the pitch of the butt pad let's the rifle jump up into your cheek. Not much fun and it increases the perceived recoil. The wrist area is about as useless as a stock can be. There was no real comfortable and functional way to get a good grip.

Sights.....they suck and are only good for those with young strong eyes.

Clip system. Just to flimsy and whimpy.

The good: trigger is pretty good other than the 1/4mile of take up on the 1st stage
Action: don't pussyfoot and it cycles fine even left handed.
Only issue I had was one clip ended up pushing forward on the last round and locking things up?

Accuracy was lets say, better than the rumors and horror stories. Not terrible and good for the first 5 rounds in 50 years.
The sights are awful for failing eyes. Also there is no way I could effectively hold the front post low in the rear notch like the Italians did. I had to use post centered and level with top of rear sight. Which produced high shots. 16" from point of aim high. Which is ok as I plan on reloading whimpy cast loads at some point.

Now for a deep clean

 

[Mountain]

So how accurate would it be at 83 yards?

Sounds like it's less user-friendly than a 91/30. Interesting, but not user-friendly.

 

[mac1911]

So how accurate would it be at 83 yards?

Sounds like it's less user-friendly than a 91/30. Interesting, but not user-friendly.

I think if it had a 1903a3 C stock style stock it would be so much better,

surprised to see such a high BC with ppu 139 grain bullet
139 FMJBT
Ballistic Coeficient 0.375 0.536
Bullet Striking Velocity in FPS at Yardage Indicated
Muzzle 2690 2525
100 2450 2365
200 2225 2205
300 2020 2055

 

[Mountain]

A 139 gr BT in 6.5mm should be pretty long and aerodynamic. Longest / highest BC I shoot in the 6.5 Creedmoor is 140 gr.

 

[paracarry]

I am not surprised that the bore was good on the Carcano, I don't think they were shot much during the war, most of them were only dropped once. " I surrender". Sorry couldn't resist.

 

[mac1911]

I am not surprised that the bore was good on the Carcano, I don't think they were shot much during the war, most of them were only dropped once. " I surrender". Sorry couldn't resist.

yeah the old sales pitch ",never fired dropped once" I also can see why they would not want to shoot this thing either.
Italians must have been -5' tall and have great eye sight.
that rear sight is tough to see.

 

[bfm]

Well, the sight is probably fine for the average 18-24 year old that would be the most likely user. The fixed sight was not really a bad idea as long as the alignment was good.

There are a couple or three Forgotten Weapons episodes that break down the reasons for each of the features.

 

[Mountain]

yeah the old sales pitch ",never fired dropped once" I also can see why they would not want to shoot this thing either.
Italians must have been -5' tall and have great eye sight.
that rear sight is tough to see.

No, a little shorter than that. I found a pic of a ww2 Italian soldier and his Carcano:

Nice man purse, by the way...

 

[CrackPot]

Nice piece! On my list to track down at some point.

I understand if you put a scope on it they are accurate to at least 265ft when shooting at democratic politicians sitting in the back seat of moving convertibles.

 

[Mountain]

Nice piece! On my list to track down at some point.

I understand if you put a scope on it they are accurate to at least 265ft when shooting at democratic politicians sitting in the back seat of moving convertibles.

I think that's debatable and no accuracy necessary for a decoy rifle.

 

[paracarry]

yeah the old sales pitch ",never fired dropped once" I also can see why they would not want to shoot this thing either.
Italians must have been -5' tall and have great eye sight.
that rear sight is tough to see.

Where is FRANCO when you need him lol

 

[mac1911]

Where is FRANCO when you need him lol

I think Franco would toss it in the trash if I brought it to the range