$223 RTI Carcano Moschetto

majspud

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Well, having sold my gorgeous M38 Terni Carcano, there was a distinct Italian gap in my collection. Figured I'd roll the dice and get a cheap replacement. These RTI M91 Carcano Moschettos were advertised as NRA VG/E, and as such, I decided against the hand select for bore and date pre-1918 options for another $90. On first inspection there was surface rust and the bore looked so bad, I almost put it back in the box to send back. However, I decided to take a brass brush to it first, and it turned out to be decent. Soap and water for the stock and a brass brush and oil for the metal. Cut BLO on the stock afterwards. Came out decent. These are Italian surplus and not Ethiopean - so not stored in sheds with goat shit. A bonus was a little Truppen/storage tag with the serial number under the rear sight. Made at Brescia in 1936, went through F.A.T in 1946, and then F.A.O. in 1951 for storage - so this has been in storage for 71 years. Put a reproduction German sling on it and have a pair of butt stored cleaning rods coming for it. Action is stiff. Cycling rounds was difficult. A bolt cleaning may help.
t
 

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Nice, I tried getting into the Carcano.
But man what a pos rifle. Im a shooting collector so if it does not function and shoot good I have no need for it.
Sold mine
 
I have an Italian surname, so it's almost a matter if honor that I've one in the rack...even if I'm not going to use it much.
t
 
Worth it in your opinion? I've been tempted to order one, but I'm not keen on not being able to see the individual weapon I'm buying, and RTI does have a bit of a "reputation".
 
I'll reserve the final opinion for when I shoot it. But for an Italian place holder at a cheap price, I think it's OK. $40 hand select may get you a better piece. You can't touch ANY Milsurp for $200, and they're Italian sourced, not Ethiopean (although my RTI M1 carbine is the best shooter I've ever owned). A Carcano isn't much of a rifle in the first place...I could barely hit the target with any of the Carcano's I've had.
t
 
Nice, I tried getting into the Carcano.
But man what a pos rifle. Im a shooting collector so if it does not function and shoot good I have no need for it.
Sold mine

Same here. Mine shot well enough but I had issues feeding and the bolt felt like I was dragging a piano through sand. I wound up trading it in towards another milsurp.
 
I'll reserve the final opinion for when I shoot it. But for an Italian place holder at a cheap price, I think it's OK. $40 hand select may get you a better piece. You can't touch ANY Milsurp for $200, and they're Italian sourced, not Ethiopean (although my RTI M1 carbine is the best shooter I've ever owned). A Carcano isn't much of a rifle in the first place...I could barely hit the target with any of the Carcano's I've had.
t
Any updates on how it shoots/functions? Just got my FFL03 in the mail today, so I'm debating whether or not I want to take the RTI gamble.
 
Any updates on how it shoots/functions? Just got my FFL03 in the mail today, so I'm debating whether or not I want to take the RTI gamble.
Carcano inho are for adding to a collection and not worry about shooting them.
Unless your like me , I label myself a shooting collector so it has to shoot.
Mine fed fine with the correct ammo and good clips
 
Any updates on how it shoots/functions? Just got my FFL03 in the mail today, so I'm debating whether or not I want to take the RTI gamble.
Not a quality weapon. I would need to practice with it to know where the hell to AIM. Rear sight is 600M; you have to fold the leaf over the front to expose the battle sight....no distance marked. The rifle is comfortable at a 6:00 low hold, but I still had to aim 2 feet BELOW the target to hit. I do have a trust issue with it. Somehow on round 13, the cocking piece rotated from its position of 9:00 to 6:00, preventing the bolt from cycling. I had to fiddle with it at home to get it to function again. The protruding pin on the cocking piece seemed a little mushroomed/lower to me.
t
 

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I went ahead and pulled the trigger on one of the carbines from DK earlier this afternoon. It was a little more expensive than the ones RTI was offering ($259 vs $199 at RTI), but DK seems to have a much better reputation, plus it comes with one of the en bloc clips (I don't recall RTI mentioning theirs came with one). We'll see how it looks when it arrives.

And yeah, I figure even if its not the best shooter, the ammo is scarce enough that I wouldn't exactly be taking it to the range every weekend anyway. As long as it is functional (I would like to shoot it occasionally), and a good representation of an M91 Moschetto for my collection.
 
Now you need to add 1870/87 Vetterli-Vitali, in the old black powder cartridge round 10.4 X 47R!

I shot one last year at the Reading military surplus shoot, using cast 44 mag bullets, sized down a few thousanths so they would chamber, over a load of Alliant 2400 powder and I shot a 3” group offhand @ 100 yards. Surprised everyone … but me, as they’ll shoot!

Four Seasons had one recently for $400 that looked absolutely MINT on the outside, best/strongest cartouches I’ve ever seen on any milsurp arm, looking like it just came out of the armory. Too bad the bore was an absolute sewer pipe, which actually would be a generous description …
 
Web site says sold out. Guess you just got in.
t
Looks like they're still in stock to me.

Now you need to add 1870/87 Vetterli-Vitali, in the old black powder cartridge round 10.4 X 47R!

I shot one last year at the Reading military surplus shoot, using cast 44 mag bullets, sized down a few thousanths so they would chamber, over a load of Alliant 2400 powder and I shot a 3” group offhand @ 100 yards. Surprised everyone … but me, as they’ll shoot!

Four Seasons had one recently for $400 that looked absolutely MINT on the outside, best/strongest cartouches I’ve ever seen on any milsurp arm, looking like it just came out of the armory. Too bad the bore was an absolute sewer pipe, which actually would be a generous description …
They've got one at a gun shop near me for a pretty good price. Almost bought it, but decided not to since I don't reload and that ammo is more or less unobtainium otherwise. Looked like it was in rough shape too.
 
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