(bolt sliding)
(rifle firing)
- [Voiceover] Hey guys, it's Alex C. With TFBTV,
and today we're shooting an Italian Carcano
M41 rifle, chambered in 6.5 by 52mm.
Or simply 6.5 Carcano.
The Carcano family of rifles has a long and
storied history, they were produced for over
50 years in a variety of configurations,
were used in both World Wars, and perhaps most famously,
a variant was used to assassinate President Kennedy.
Cue the conspiracy theorists.
Anyways, the M41 is interesting, as it is
the result of a failed experiment.
Italy had tried to switch to a 7.35 caliber cartridge in
the late 1930s, but supply and logistical
constraints caused by the outbreak of World War II
caused Italy to ditch their new cartridge and
go back to the old 6.5.
Anyways, the Carcano is a relatively simple
cock unopened design, and the safety is
actuated by the user's right thumb with relative ease.
The sights are kind of a throwback to the old
Vetterli rifle, and are adjustable from 300 to 1000 meters.
Although you can flip it forward and it reveals
a different V notch to serve as a 200 meter battle sight.
You can see the bolt is a little bit difficult to
actuate, and it is removed by pulling the trigger,
unlike on a Mauser where you pull the ejector box.
That's not a feature I like in a bolt action rifle.
It does have one of the simplest bolts of
any military bolt action rifles, aside from
maybe the Moss 36 and the Arisaka.
Two horizontally opposed lugs with a simple hook extractor,
and the bolt handle serves as the safety lug.
These rifles do take in block, Mannlicher style clips,
and that's why they're erroneously sometimes
referred to as Mannlicher Carcanos.
They are loaded quite easily, and you'll find
these clips either brass or in kind of a black
finished simple metal clip.
It does hold six rounds as well, instead of the
usual five in these types of systems.
To load them, you simply depress the clip into
the magazine, and bolt forward, and you're ready to go.
(bolt sliding) (rifle firing)
So a few notes on the Carcano system.
I really do like how easy they are to load,
as I experienced when I did a run and gun
with this rifle, loading it was extremely quick.
Also, the recoil is very low, the 6.5 by 52mm
cartridge doesn't kick that much, but as you can
see here, I'm really struggling to work the bolt.
My biggest gripe about the Carcano is that primary
extraction doesn't begin until the bolt is almost
turned up 90 degrees, so you don't get that
nice camming action of the bolt handle interacting
with the rear receiver bridge like you do on
a Mauser 98 system, or something like that.
They're just not smooth to operate, and that makes
shooting them kind of a pain, it's almost as bad
as a crudely made M9130, I know crudely made M9130
is a bit redundant, but it's just the way
these rifles are, and they're a bit difficult to
shoot and handle quickly as a result.
(bolt sliding)
(rifle firing)
I hope you guys enjoyed this quick look at
the Carcano, I would like to do an in depth accuracy
test with one of these rifles, however,
most of the ammunition produced by manufacturers
has an improper bullet size.
The Carcano bullet diameter is actually slightly
different than every other 6.5 that's ever been made,
so most manufacturers just take that shortcut.
Anyways, guys, hope you enjoyed this video,
special thanks to Ventura Munitions.