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Carcano M38

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2020 8:08 pm
by PeterN
This is my Carcano M38 in 7.35mm. It was made in 1939. I have had this many years but do not shoot it much due to the odd bullet size, .300 that you can't buy. I did acquire a couple of hundred bullets from Henry Krank at one time as they had dismantled some old ammo and I bought some of the pulled bullets. I am down to my last 20 loaded rounds using those bullets. I did source 100 rounds of original military ammunition at one time and shot some of it. I have some of that left. An interesting rifle to have.
Carc M38 full right.JPG
Carc M38 action.JPG
The slot for the folding bayonet.
Carc M38 bayonet slot.JPG
Regards
Peter.

Re: Carcano M38

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2020 8:15 pm
by PeterN
This is the ammunition I got. It is dated 1939 and came on 20 round clips for the Breda 30 machine gun.
I presume others shoot this calibre. What bullets do you use?
Carcano ammo box.JPG
Breda clip1.JPG
Regards
Peter.

Re: Carcano M38

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2020 11:33 pm
by snayperskaya
Nice looking rifle......have you looked into whether cast bullets or a mould for cast bullets is available in that size?.

Re: Carcano M38

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2020 12:02 pm
by ukrifleman
The 7.35x51 Carcano round is easy enough to load for.

Krank sell PPU 7.35 brass but resizing 6.5x52 brass is very simple.

The dimensions of the 7.35 case is based on 6.5 x52 brass, so all you need to do is run up a 6.5 case into a 7.35 FL die then trim to length.

I honed a .285 Lee push through bullet sizing die to .300 and used the Lee 155gn 7.62x39 bullet gas checked to .300 and got excellent results with Reloader 7 powder.
ukrifleman

Re: Carcano M38

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:38 pm
by PeterN
I made up fifty 7.35mm cases by resizing 6.5mm cases. It might be an idea to alter a Lee sizing die to .300. I have a friend who can do that. I will have look through Henry Kranks new catalogue for the Lee sizing dies.
Regards
Peter.

Re: Carcano M38

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 12:30 pm
by PeterN
Looking online, I see that Hornady make a 128 grain bullet for the 7.35mm. However, it is made exclusively for Graf and sons in the US so is not available to us unless you buy a shed load of them, so cast or resize .308 jacketed will be the way to go.
The price of powder on Grafs website makes you want weep compared to what we pay here. Ramshot is less than $25 a pound after shipping across the Atlantic and across the USA. It only has to cross the English Channel to get here. IMR Enduron 4955 is $30.99 at Grafs, £63.40 at Henry Kranks. Hodgdon H110 $25.79 at Grafs, £52.60 at Kranks. I know volumes are less, but even so I think we are being shafted on powder prices.
Regards
Peter.
https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/21414

Re: Carcano M38

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 12:05 am
by snayperskaya
Not just powder prices Pete, we seem to get shafted on everything!.

Re: Carcano M38

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 12:37 am
by Alpha1
It's not the USA distributors that are shafting us it's the UK importers. If everyone in the UK stopped buying from for instance a well-known gun shop in Pudsey I guarantee powder and bullet prices would drop.

Re: Carcano M38

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 9:17 am
by Blackstuff
snayperskaya wrote:Not just powder prices Pete, we seem to get shafted on everything!.
With the exception of moderators! (Compared to the US anyway)

Re: Carcano M38

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 9:35 am
by MistAgain
Alpha1 wrote:It's not the USA distributors that are shafting us it's the UK importers. If everyone in the UK stopped buying from for instance a well-known gun shop in Pudsey I guarantee powder and bullet prices would drop.
RUBBISH !