Terni Carcano Serial Numbers

Posted on 15-09-2021 by admin

The stamp of the royal crown and 'Terni' identifies this manufacturing site. Its serial number identified it as the single weapon of its type made with that number. The so-called Model 91 bolt-action rifle had been introduced in 1891 by Salvatore Carcano for the Turin Army Arsenal. The rifle, made in the Terni arsenal in 1940 and bearing the serial number C2766, was equipped for an extra $7 with a new 4x18 Japanese telescopic sight, on a sheet metal side mount. It was later scrutinized by local police, the FBI, the U. Army, and two federal commissions.

For the sake of this post, I do not want to discuss whether or not a man could shoot this rifle three times within 5 to 6 seconds and hit a moving target at approximately 80 – 90 yards. I am not here to provide my opinions on assassination and conspiracy theories. There are literally hundreds of websites and blogs out there on the interweb where those discussions can be had.

For this post, I would like to talk about MY new/old rifle.

Much has been said about this little rifle, both good and bad. From some who say it can’t hit the side of a barn at 10 paces to those who say it is a tack driver at 100 yards. Much of that argument has to do with the ammunition being fired through the rifle. The factory ammo usually comes loaded with .264 diameter round-nose bullets while the rifle generally has a .268 diameter bore. From everything I have seen and read on the interweb, if you hand load or know someone who hand loads and you load your cartridges with .268 diameter bullets rather than .264 diameter bullets, you can achieve stellar accuracy from this rifle. I have yet to fire mine as I just received it yesterday, so I’ll let you know what I can do with it when the time comes.

Let me cover some basic history. The rifle known as the Carcano was designed by Salvatore Carcano in 1890 and was manufactured from 1891 through 1945. Because of wartime needs, there were 11 known factories that produced the Carcano rifles at some point in its history. It was most commonly manufactured for the 6.5 x 52mm cartridge although for a short period of time there were some manufactured for the 7.35 x 51mm cartridge. Some were even converted to 8 x 57 mm Mauser by Isreal. After the end of WWII many rifles were recovered and reassembled from parts so to find one now with matching serial numbers (as mine has), while not altogether rare, is still rather unusual.

Since I just picked up my rifle yesterday let me share my initial impressions. The rifle is actually in much better condition than I anticipated. Buying from GunBroker.com you can never really be sure of what you are getting but the seller described it in “poor” condition. Taking it out of the box at the gun store I can tell you that I, Aaron, and the 3 guys working in the store at the time would all tell you that this rifle is far from being in “poor” condition. Yes, there is a small amount of rust on the barrel, not at all unusual for a rifle almost 75 years old. While I was waiting for the rifle to come I was imagining that I was going to have to strip all of the metal down to white and re-blue it, now I do not believe I will need to do that at all.

Normally on these old Carcano’s the bolt is sticky and does not fit well because they were pieced together and an ill-fitting bolt was placed in the rifle. I cannot say for sure but I suspect that mine may have the original bolt because the bolt on my rifle is smooth as glass. Not only that, but the trigger pull is better than any modern rifle that has a lawyer trigger on it. I would estimate that it would come in at about 5 to 6 pounds of crisp, no-travel, trigger pull.

The wood bears clean serial number and inspector marks. The barrel shows clear manufacturers marks as well as the year of manufacture. It is quite possible that this rifle never saw action in the war as many of the Terni rifles were shipped to Finland to be used by security forces and legend has it that the Finish security forces did not like the rifles and laid them aside in favor of battlefield pick up rifles.

So this is what I believe is in the future for my rifle. I will completely strip it and check all internal and external parts. It will need to be de-gunked of the thick old grease on the bolt and receiver so I will probably de-grease all of the metal parts. At this point I will decide what I will do about the finish on the steel, whether to re-blue it or possibly just do a cold blue touch up. I may replace the firing pin spring just because of the age of the spring and because a new one is only $5.00.

Italian Carcano Rifle Serial Numbers

The wood is in good condition for a rifle of its age and history and I do not want to destroy any of the inspector or manufacturers marks so I probably will just clean the wood and give it a coat of lemon oil or linseed oil.

At that point, I should be able to locate some ammunition and some stripper clips and take her to the range to see what she will do. I don’t plan on shooting her on a regular basis and she will make a great wall-hanger/conversation piece, but for me just imagining the history of what this rifle has been through in the past 75 years is quite intriguing all by itself.

I will post more as I delve into the cleaning and refinishing of this rifle, and of course, there will be more pictures.

Moschetto TS

M91 - manufactured by one company: 6.5mm Photo
Brescia; 1898 to 1919
M91/24 - 6.5mm long adjustable rear sight from rifle. Photo
M91/28 - manufactured by six companies: 6.5mm Photo
Beretta;
Brescia;
Gardone Val Trompia;
Pietro Lorenzotti;
Metallurgica Bresciana;
R.E.Terni;
M91/28 Tromboncino Launcia Bombe Photos(new)
M38 - manufactured by two companies: 7.35mm Photo
Brescia;
Gardone Val Trompia;
M38S - manufactured by two companies: 7.92mm Photo
Brescia, R.E.Terni
M91/38 - manufactured by two companies: 6.5mm Photo
Beretta;
Brescia;

Moschetto per Cavalleria

M91 - manufactured by three companies: 6.5mm
Brescia; 1894 to 1936
Gardone Val Trompia; 1935 to 1937
R.E.Terni; 1928 to 1937

M38 - manufactured by four companies: 7.35mm
Beretta; 1939
Brescia; 1938
Gardone Val Trompia; 1939
R.E. Terni; 1938 to 1939

M38S - manufactured by two companies: 7.92mm Photo
Brescia; 1939 to 1941, R.E.Terni

M91/38 - manufactured by three companies: 6.5mm Photo
Beretta; 1940 thru 1943, fixed sight
Gardone Val Trompia; 1940 to 1945, fixed sight, after 43 this gun had no markings other than serial number
Brescia manufactured a carbine during this period but it remained in the 91 configuration with adjustable sight. 1940 thru 1943

While the above are all of the guns called Carbines, the Fucile Corto is within the 21' barrel length to classify it as a carbine, so I am going to add it also.

Fucile Corto

M38- manufactured by four companys: 7.35mm
Beretta;
Brescia;
Gardone Val Trompia;
R.E. Terni;
M38-manufactured by four companys: 6.5mm
Beretta;
Brescia;
Gardone Val Trompia;
R.E. Terni;
M38-8mm conversion done by Heinrich Krieghoff at plant 12
Receiver marked HK

Cleaning kit for all versions
Accessories

Italian Carcano Serial Numbers

Reference books:
The Carcano Italy's Rifle -- by Richard Hobbs
Web Reference:
The Carcano Home Page
Great web page for the Carcano enthusiast

Insignia for the RSI Black Brigade
Photos like the one below of Italian Troops

Italian forces in N. African Desert

The Carcano and Israel

Terni Carcano Rifle Serial Numbers

by Dan Reynolds

Prior to the British withdrawal from Palestine in 1948 Jewish agents were combing Europe for rifles. They were buying anything they could find. A deal was struck for 8mm Carcano carbines and they were stored on an airfield in central Italy which had recently been used by the RAF. This was a relay point for contraband being smuggled by air from Europe. In May of 1948 Israel declared its Independence and and was immediately invaded by the Arab Nations. By July a major arms deal was struck with Czechoslovakia for rifles, machine guns, ammunition, pistols, smgs, and aircraft. Nightly illegal flights from Bratislava in Slovakia in a Dakota (C-47) twin engine aircraft with phony RAF markings and radio call signs were refueling at the Italian air field before flying on to deliver the 98K type 8mm Mausers to Israel. Arab agents were at this time seeking to buy rifles for their forces and were duped into buying the Carcano's from the Israeli agents as Israel no longer needed them. Some or many of them were tampered with so that they could not be of use once it was discovered that they would blow up. I also found out that the Brescia guns were never fully developed thus causing many failures. 10,000 were assembled to fulfill a contract even though they would not function correctly. Some of the 8mm were kept by the Israeli military and are marked with the Star of David, others bare Arabic writing but I do not know from which country as Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Iraq were all involved.

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