Fucile M91 Carcano

The Kingdom of Italy’s first smokeless powder rifle was wisely adopted to suit the needs of both the Army and the industrial capacity of the nation.

The M91, shown with ammunition, fixed bayonet and entrenching tool

To kick off 2021 we have the Italian Carcano Model 1891 rifle, the first smokeless design adopted by the Kingdom of Italy, and its standard service rifle in the First World War, as well as a common sight in the Second World War. As the original Carcano, this served as the template for a long lived series of Italian military rifles spanning more than fifty years. It is chambered in the 6.5x52mm rimless round nose cartridge, feeding via a Mannlicher style packet clip containing six cartridges, and notably retained the round nose projectile long after other nations moved to spitzers.

The 6.5x52mm cartridge. Note the alloy jacketed round nose bullet

The French adoption of the M1886 Lebel and its smokeless powder did not cause undue worry for the Italians initially, but when the Austro-Hungarians followed suit in 1888 the need was seen for a replacement for the now obsolete Vetterli black powder bolt action rifles, and a government commission was formed to adopt a new smokeless cartridge and rifle. The cartridge development began to move away from larger bullet diameters, such as the 8mm used by France, Germany and Austria-Hungary, and moved toward a significantly smaller caliber, eventually adopting the 6.5x52mm round in 1890. This would prove significant, as it was the first 6.5mm rifle cartridge, starting a trend of small bore rounds that would continue to this day.

The markings on the octagonal barrel shank, with the manufacturer on the top, serial number on the left side and year of production on the right. Note the arched “TUBATA” mark on the chamber, this indicates that the barrel was relined with an insert during an arsenal refurbishment

One of the rifles brought to trial was designed by Salvatore Carcano, a former artilleryman who had since worked at various arsenals since Italian Unification in 1870. The design he submitted to trials in 1889 was modified with a Mannlicher style magazine system, specifically taken from the German Gewehr 88 “Commission Rifle”, and was sent to field trials as the “Model 1”, garnering favorable reports from the troops. In the spring of 1892 the Model 1 was selected as the new primary service rifle by the Royal Italian Army, with intention to keep production within Italy exclusively.

Due to issues with excessive barrel wear and problems with the bullets, the Italians would opt for gain twist rifling, with the rate of twist increasing in proportion to the distance from the chamber, which the Italians considered a great state secret. In most other respects, the rifle was fairly unremarkable, with a simplistic design that was intended to prevent undue strain on the limited industrial capacity of Italy.

The action with an empty clip ejecting, as it would when the last cartridge in the magazine is chambered

Production of the new rifle began at Terni in 1892, joined in the following year by Torino and Torre Annunziata, and finally in 1894 the armory at Brescia would also begin production of the new rifle. The Carcano would see its first action in 1898, when the Army was ordered to put down a march of 60,000 striking workers moving across Milan. The Army troops opened fire, causing several civilian casualties, with the government claiming 80 and the strikers claiming 400.

The distinctive rear sight of the original M1891 rifle. In this position, the 300 meter battle sight is exposed, the leaf can be rotated rearward to sit in the 450 meter position, before being adjusted in 100 meter increments from 600 to 2,000 meters

The Carcano would see it’s first combat use in 1911, as the Kingdom of Italy, looking to build its overseas empire, invaded Ottoman Libya. The rifle was well received, although most of the opposing Ottoman Army was armed with obsolete small arms.

When the Great War began in 1914 the Italians at first did not honor their commitment to the Central Powers to enter the war, citing the defensive nature of the alliance and the fact that the Austrians were the aggressors. In 1915, however, the Kingdom entered the war on the side of the Entente, engaging Austro-Hungarian forces along their shared alpine border.

The simple sword style bayonet of the M1891

The rifle would serve reliably during the high altitude fighting that characterized the Italian Front of the Great War, with it’s relatively flat shooting 6.5mm cartridge performing well at the long ranges typical of the theater. After the Armistice the rifle would remain in service as the primary shoulder arm of Italy until 1938, when it was officially replaced with the M38 short rifle, also a Carcano design, although now in a new 7.35mm round.

Despite this official replacement, the inability of Italian industry to produce both the new weapon and ammunition in sufficient quantity led to the general reversion to the 6.5mm cartridge, and the M1891 remained in front line service until the end of the Second World War. The rifle has since appeared occasionally in conflicts around the world, particularly in North Africa, such as appearing in the hands of rebels in the former Italian colony of Libya in 2011.

The safety of the Carcano is a simple flag, activated by pressing it forward and rotating it up to lock the action closed and take tension off the mainspring. It should be noted that the trigger can still be pulled and the cocking piece moved manually when the safety is engaged

My example was made in 1896 by Torre Annunziata, and is a good example of the M91 Carcano, although the stock has been lightly refinished, unfortunately damaging the large cartouche on the butt. The rifle is also marked “TUBATA” on the barrel shank, signifying that it was relined at some point in the interwar period using a barrel liner to renew a worn bore. The rifle has no import marks evident.

I have long been a fan of the Carcano series of rifles. I enjoy their soft-shooting nature, as well as the light weight and ergonomics of the rifle. The bolts tend to be a bit rough, and the reliability of the rifle is heavily contingent on the condition of the clips, with my experience being that the brass clips tend to not function as well as the slightly less common steel variety. The rifle also notably has an extremely large rear sight notch, which is good for low light shooting. The rifle is reasonably accurate at the close range that I typically shoot at, although it should be noted that most of the commercial ammunition available today uses an undersized bullet, thus leading to serious performance issues with the rifles. I generally shoot handloads using original bullets. Italian surplus ammunition still turns up from time to time, and I find that the powder and bullets are generally still perfectly usable, but the primers are almost all bad. Like the Arisaka rifles, the Carcanos have an undeserved poor reputation, the rifle being a simple, effective rifle that was well within the means of its mother country to produce in sufficient quantities, and served well through two global conflicts.

Italian troops on the Adamello Glacier during the Great War - Italian Army photo

Observed Values and Frequency

Updated: February, 2024

AVERAGE VALUE (USD): $300-$500

FREQUENCY: Uncommon

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