I have a bolt action rifle that i have no idea what it is or where it came from. Looks like it would take a pistol clip? Bore is roughly same size as the od of the neck of a 22-250 case. Gun is 36" long butt to tip of barrel. Barrel is 17" long. Fixed iron sights. No safety. Pics included. Any ideas?
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- Thread starter Dbender
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The Original Rooster
Mayor of Spring Hill
Looks like an Italian Carcano at first glance.
Yep. It's an Italian Carcano. Should be chambered in 6.5x52. There were thousands of them sold cheap after WWII. That's the rifle that supposedly killed John F. Kennedy.
snuffy
Senior Member
Bought one at K Mart in the mid 60's for $13.00.
They had shopping buggies full of them and the ammo was loose in 5 gallon buckets. Forgot what the ammo cost but it wasn't much.
They had shopping buggies full of them and the ammo was loose in 5 gallon buckets. Forgot what the ammo cost but it wasn't much.
The Original Rooster
Mayor of Spring Hill
Oh, for the good old days! But I bet 13 bucks back then was a fair sum!
snuffy
Senior Member
It was. My father bought it for me. I refinished the stock for my shop assignment in high school.
Walked down the lower hall at Henry County High with the rifle and nobody thought anything about it. Or even asked if it were loaded.
Things sure have changed. And not for the better.
Some of them were good guns, some not so much, like bout any military surplus rifles. Yours looks like it's been taken good care of. My cousin used to hunt with one. I remember it was loud as the dickens and would shoot a long spout of fire out the end of the barrel in the dark.
Hillbilly stalker
Senior Member
Their called “ Kennedy rifles “ around here any way. Gunsmith told me they were comparable to a .30-30 or maybe a little weaker. The one I shot wouldnt group very well at all. They were inexpensive before the gun madness hit everybody here while back.
Nimrod71
Senior Member
Back in the mid 60's my Dad sold military rifles. I remember the old Carcano rifles and like above they were cheap. I remember him selling them for $10 each, they cost $4 each. I still have one and a couple of boxes of ammo. The ammo was super cheap the boxes I have are market $2.95 for 40 rds.
WaltL1
Senior Member
Some of them were good guns, some not so much, like bout any military surplus rifles. Yours looks like it's been taken good care of. My cousin used to hunt with one. I remember it was loud as the dickens and would shoot a long spout of fire out the end of the barrel in the dark.
A few of them, like the Swedish Mauser M96 for example, will put any modern production rifle and many so called "custom" rifles to shame as far as quality and fit.
The Carcano aint one of those in that category though
fishfryer
frying fish driveler
Shooting after dark? Poor old coon was outgunned,or was it something else? Fess up NCHSome of them were good guns, some not so much, like bout any military surplus rifles. Yours looks like it's been taken good care of. My cousin used to hunt with one. I remember it was loud as the dickens and would shoot a long spout of fire out the end of the barrel in the dark.
Naw, we just used to shoot all the time. We'd shoot at lit candles at night, all kinds of stuff. You sure wouldn't have wanted to poach with that thing, the warden would have heard it in the next county.
fishfryer
frying fish driveler
I had one myself,shot some ww2 ammo with corrosive primers and rusted it up pretty bad.
Anvil Head
Senior Member
I've got one that belonged to my late brother. He killed several deer with it back in the day. Pretty solid little carbine, but real junky safety and typical long two stage military style trigger. He shot some pretty nice tight groups with it by pulling original bullets and replacing both powder and projectiles. Still didn't do complete reloads due to crimped primers and how cheap and accessable the mil. rounds were.
