ITALIAN MOD 1870/87/15 VETTERLI RIFLE-6.5 CARCANO QUESTION?

[The Goose]

I am considering one of these and read up a bit. I understand that these are probably not safe with current manufacture 6.5 Carcano ammo. Does anyone here have any experience with shooting reduced load / cast bullet in one of these? I think they are kind of cool. but as always I want a shooter and not a wall hanger.

 

[majspud]

I've put three boxes of PPU out of mine. Not a regular shooter.

T

 

[mac1911]

If you want to shoot it with reduced loads trail boss is a good choice. If you follow Hodgdons directions for trail boss you won't have to worry about to much pressure. Cast loads do well by it.
You can also use reduced loads of H4895 and there's a host of pistol powders to be used for reduced loads BUT many of the pistol powders can get into the danger zone of over charges quickly.

You could run a Hornady 100gn soft point with about 20 grains of H4895 for a,nice light load.

 

[NavelOfficer]

Duplicate...
See next post.

 

[NavelOfficer]

FWIW, my Lyman 266469 drops at about .269", so that should work in your 6.5 Italian. I've used as little as 6g of W473AA (or was it W452AA?) in these with 6.5x55mm. They shoot better than I.

Don't bother with SMI surplus ammo, most will likely be duds.

Also, to be more economical, I omit the gas checks.

 

[50 BMG]

The newly manufactured 6.5 Carcano ammunition is NOT safe to use. The pressure is much to high. I have read on other forums where folks have pulled the projectiles and loaded it with either black powder or a lower amount of powder. I would find a reloading manual which has the correct load and go from there. Or there are still some small time loaders who sell ammunition but it comes at a pretty steep price.
Mine is in very nice shape but I never took it to the range.
Now that you posted this I will probably sell it. Its just taking up space.

 

[mac1911]

If your not geared up to reload this should provide you with some decent loads

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00162PZK...qmt=b&hvbmt=bb&hvdev=t&ref=pd_sl_926ztwcknm_b
If it's pressure your worried about load with trail boss its easy and safe. Scroll down to reduced load section
https://www.hodgdon.com/resources/data-sheets/

18 grains of H4895 would produce a nice mild load also.