event of a severe primer rupture.
Italian Carcano action, open.
Model 91 Italian Carcano action.
A deep cocking notch is cut into the rear of the bolt body, which the cocking cam on the cocking piece engages. The cocking cam, quite long, extends into the left locking lug raceway in the receiver bridge. When the striker is down, raising the bolt handle cocks the action.
To prepare the action for firing, the checkered safety wing on the bolt sleeve is positioned forward and to the right. To place the bolt sleeve (or safety—whatever you want to call it) in the “safe” position, it is pushed slightly forward and turned up. When this is done the bolt sleeve is partly released to move back against the cocking piece, relaxing the firing mechanism in the bolt. In this position the firing pin is held back, its tip held well within the bolt, so a blow on the cocking piece cannot fire the rifle. In this position the bolt is also locked, and cannot be opened.
To engage the safety it is necessary to grasp the bolt handle, while depressing and turning the safety (bolt sleeve), to prevent the bolt from opening. The bolt sleeve is under full mainspring tension and it is not easily operated. Moving the bolt sleeve on to “safe” calls for a strong thumb, but turning it again to the “fire” position is quite hard to do.
The action is securely held in the stock by two guard screws, these passing through holes in each end of the trigger guard/magazine, and threaded into the tang and receiver ring. Stock bushings (or spacers) are used with each guard screw. The very small recoil shoulder on the receiver would be entirely inadequate to absorb the recoil if inletted directly into the stock. In the Carcano action recoil is taken up by a clever T-shaped stock bushing and spacer through which the front guard screw passes. The top of the “T” is a heavy metal bar about 1.20” long and .40 ” deep, its top grooved to fit the small lug on the receiver. With this T-bushing snugly bedded into the stock, and anchored between the trigger guard tang and the receiver by the guard screw, action set-back in the stock is hardly possible. In restocking this rifle I strongly suggest this T-bushing be used.
The trigger guard/magazine is made of a single piece of steel. The trigger guard bow is wide and heavy, the bow opening larger than needed. The thin-walled magazine box is an elongation of the guard bow bottom, thus extends well below the stock line. The single follower arm pivots on a pin through the lower front of the follower housing. It is given strong upward tension by a flat spring mortised in the follower housing. The follower housing closes the bottom front half of the magazine box and is in turn partly mortised in the magazine box and held in place by a screw. A special cartridge clip, holding up to 6 cartridges, must be used with the Carcano action if the rifle is to be shot as a repeater. The fully or partially loaded clip is inserted through the top of the open action, depressing the follower by the bottom cartridge. There is no top or bottom to the clip; it can be inserted either end first. When the clip is pressed down fully the spring-loaded magazine catch, located in the rear of the magazine box, engages it and holds it down. The bottom portion of the magazine box below the clip is open and when all the cartridges are fed out of the clip, it drops out. The fully or partly loaded clip can be released to pop up out of the open action by depressing the clip slightly and then depressing the magazine catch button in the front of the trigger guard.
There are no gas-escape holes in the receiver, and only one small hole is provided in the bolt near the front end. When the bolt is closed this hole opens into the right locking lug raceway in the receiver ring. Any gases escaping through this hole would be directed backward alongside the bolt. This provision is sufficient unless the rifle is fired from the left shoulder. To make the action safer there should be a hole in the left side of the receiver ring to coincide with the under-cut in the bolt face recess. Without this hole any gases that got into the left lug raceway would surely be felt by the shooter.
Takedown and Assembly
Check to make sure the rifle is unloaded. To remove the bolt raise the bolt handle, hold the trigger back and pull the bolt from the receiver.
To disassemble the bolt, first rotate the cocking piece one-quarter turn clockwise; with the thumbnail depress the firing pin nut plunger and unscrew firing pin nut; the cocking piece can now be pulled off the firing pin. Next, depress bolt sleeve (safety) slightly and rotate it a bit clockwise, allowing it to come back. Do this again and bolt sleeve, firing pin, and mainspring can be removed from the bolt. Remove the firing pin nut plunger by driving out the cross pin. Remove the extractor only if necessary. It is removed by raising the hooked end with a screwdriver until it can be moved forward. Since the stem of the extractor is usually wedged very tightly into the dovetail groove in the bolt, it may be necessary to drive the extractor forward with a pointed tool while the hook end is held up. Reassemble in reverse order.
To take the barrel and action from the stock remove barrel bands and the two guard screws. With barrel and action removed, the sear, sear spring, ejector, bolt-stop, and trigger can be removed by driving out the sear and trigger pin.
Pull trigger guard/magazine from the stock. Turn out the clip latch screw, remove the clip latch and spring. Turn out the follower housing screw, drive the housing forward to remove it. Depress the follower arm fully, insert a screwdriver blade in the slots in the sides of the housing to hold the follower spring down, and remove the follower pin and follower. Pull the screwdriver out and the follower spring can be removed. Reassemble in reverse order. Do not attempt to remove the barrel unless proper tools are available.
Carcano Action Strength
Many Carcano rifles may not be well finished compared to M91 Mausers, but they’re certainly better than most of the many Japanese Model 99 rifles I’ve seen, and far better than most WWII M98 Mausers. Carcano receivers are not always smoothly polished, and some concealed parts show no polish at all, but the bolts are generally well-machined and smooth. The receiver and bolt appear made of good steels and to be properly heat treated. Although the 6.5 and 7.35 Carcano military cartridges are only loaded to a maximum breech pressure of less than 38,000 psi, I believe Carcano actions are strong and safe enough to handle heavier loads. The 6.5 Mannlicher-Schoenauer cartridge is generally loaded to 40,000- 45,000 psi and, in those 6.5 Carcano rifles rechambered for this cartridge, the actions seem to take these higher pressures in stride. However, in handloading Carcano cartridges I advise keeping loads moderate, not exceeding 40,000 psi.
Top view of the Model 91 Italian Carcano action. The jeweling on the bolt is not the original finish.
Italian Carcano Model 91
General Specifications
Type . . . . . . . . .Turnbolt repeater.
Receiver . . . . . .One-piece machined steel forging; slotted bridge.
Bolt . . . . . . . . . .One-piece, with dual-opposed forward locking lugs. Base of the bolt handle serves as safety lug.
Ignition . . . . . . .One-piece firing pin and coil
