Terni Carcano Rifle Serial Numbers

  

By Robert Jensen

A seemingly odd fact has long puzzled me and other collectors of French and Italian rifles. Both nations had armies numbering over a million men in both World Wars I and II. These armies were predominantly infantry and infantrymen are armed with rifles - thus there were certainly over a million French and Italian rifles manufactured. Why, then, are French and Italian sniper rifles apparently absent from collections in this country and even pictures of their soldiers equipped with scope mounted rifles never seen. I have seen two different pictures of French snipers with scoped Lebel 86/93 rifles in trenches but have NEVER seen even one picture of an Italian soldier with a scope mounted rifle.

Terni Carcano Rifle Serial Numbers 222

Dick Hobbs, in his book on the Carcano, states flatly that no telescopically equipped rifles were issued to the Italian Army. He based this statement on his thirty years of collecting data on Carcanos and the fact that he too had never even seen a photo of one in all that time.

Terni Rifle Serial Numbers

That seems to be a Fucile 91/41, probably reworked post-war (hence the discrepancy between butt and barrel numbers), sporterized and rechambered to 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer with British civilian proof for use as a hunting rifle. The M-S is a good cartridge, but is now probably more difficult to find than Carcano ammo (which is made by PRVI). Fabricated National Arsenal Brescia, serial number A3707. This is on a Carcano rifle. Regardless of Bloomgarden's conviction that each Carcano made bore a unique serial number, the fact is that several Carcanos may have carried the serial number 2766 with or without the 'C' prefix. After the war Carcano rifles and carbines found their way back to the RE Terni plant by the thousand. I've read after WWI a lot of M91 rifles were cut down to carbine length and designated the M91/24. This was done in the Terni arsenal between 1922 to 1928 or 1929 and stamped on the barrel next to the original manufacture date. My rifle does not have this stamp yet is still in carbine condition. Also the rear sights were left with rifle rear. This particular firearm, serial number C2766, was made at the Royal Arms Factory in Terni and was manufactured in 1940. It’s chambered in 6.5x52mm — a cartridge invented in the late 1800s. This firearm has been oddly designated “Mannlicher Carcano” because of some features similar to Mannlicher’s firearms. The M1891/41 rifle was only manufactured at two arsenals, R.E. Terni (aka Terni, FAT) from 1941 to 1945 and Armaguerra Cremona from 1941 to 1944. Broadcom 2070 bluetooth driver windows 10. Collector's Comments and Feedback: 1. Most of the Carcano 1891/41 rifles encountered on the surplus market today were imported to North America in the 1960's.

Terni Carcano Rifle Serial Numbers

Four years ago I was fortunate enough to finally purchase a Lebel sniper to give my collection a representive example of a French sniper rifle (see Issue 61 of the MRJ ) but still had yet to locate or even hear of an Italian example. Download old version skype mac. Then it happened!

Terni Carcano Serial Numbers

At the last Tulsa Gun Show a man came in carrying a rifle that his next-door neighbor had brought back from his service in W.W. II. It was stated that it came from North Africa and it was accompanied with an Italian pith helmet and a. Fascist Youth Honor Dagger. It was a Model 38 Cavalry carbine in 7.35mm caliber - quite a scarce rifle in itself and one I did not have in my collection. It was in excellent condition, matching, had beautiful bore, an original sling, and the two cleaning rods in the butt trap. Best of all, it had an optically perfect, Beretta made telescopic sniper scope in two left side rail mounted clamp type bases. The scope still had the original rubber eyecup. Could one ask for more? I was not at the show but a friend of mine was and he immediately bought the piece. Happily, he later sold it to me.