Category: The Gun Thing

I’ve always had a yen for the WWI/WWII Italian Carcano M38 (6.5x52mm, a.k.a. 6.52 Carc), because as I’ve wandered through this life, trying all sorts of different guns, the Carcano somehow eluded me.  Specifically, I was interested in the later model with the folding pig-sticker, i.e. the Carcano Moschetto Modello 91/38 Cavalleria (Cavalry Carbine*):

(*The Italians didn’t have any cavalry;  what they did have were ceremonial mounted troops, but they were issued the earlier short M38 with the folding blade bayonet.  Got all that?  It’s more confusing than Ferrari nomenclature.)

Anyway, National Treasure (and Fiend) JimW persuaded me to pop off a few rounds through one of his Carcanos, and after the first shot my eyebrows disappeared unto my hairline, my mouth dropped open and well, I haven’t experienced such gun lust in the last twenty years of shooting.  Of course, the owner had no intention of parting with this wonderful little rifle, but I put my considerable negotiating skills to work, adding pleas, blandishments and in the end, a fat bribe and a swap of one of my own rifles (no details necessary).  And I bought a couple boxes of ammo from him too.

Say hello to Miss Sophia, y’all.

The bayonet isn’t bent out of true, by the way;  that’s how they were issued.  The design probably comes from Alfa Romeo or Maserati.

So, to business.  The Carcano uses an en bloc six-round stripper clip like the Garand, except that when the last round is chambered, the empty clip falls down through the hole in the mag well.  Sounds strange, and it is, but it works.  Many criticisms of the Carcano’s bolt action have been leveled:  gritty, hard, etc. but I have to say that while it’s no Lee-Enfield nor even a Mauser 98, it’s no Mosin-Nagant either;  and coupled with the mild recoil of the little 6.5mm boolet and a smooth two-stage 4lb trigger, it’s an absolute pleasure to shoot.

And on the latter topic, let us all sing hymns of praise to Prvi Partizan who, for a bunch of ex-Commies, have their shit together and make all sorts of cool calibers for gun geeks such as myself — including the 6.5mm Carcano:

And there’s quite a bit available online, so as soon as I’ve ordered a half-dozen clips, the ammo will be next in line.

Ooooh I love shooting a new gun — not so much an out-of-the box gun, but one I haven’t shot much before.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the range.  Oh, and I have new glasses, so my sight picture has improved quite drastically.

After Sunday’s post about sub-machine guns, I guess I’d better reveal my choice:

French MAT 49

I’ve fired most of the others (especially the Uzi while in the army, and the MP40 — actually, an MP-38, but whatever) but never got a chance with the MAT-49.

However, after watching this range report, I picked it over the others.

• slow-ish rate of fire (~600 rpm), so it’s easier to squeeze off singles or double-taps
• solidly made and reliable
• easily stowed without having to take the mag out
• and it looks the bee’s knees when the mag is swung into battery:

WANT

In the hands of an untrained shooter, a slow rate of fire is preferable to that of, say, the Suomi, S&W 76 or MP-40 because it’s more easily controlled.  That’s why the French never bothered with a selector switch.  (Anyone who’s ever fired an M3 Grease Gun, which has a similarly-low rpm and no selector switch, will know what I’m talking about.)  I also like the front grip, because as any fule kno, one way to make a magazine malfunction is to hold it while shooting.

The reason I picked the 9mm cartridge over the .45 ACP et al. was that the Europellet is the most common caliber among subbies, thus yielding a wider choice.

And yes, I’d happily go to war with any of the choices I listed — so there are no wrong answers, in my book.

Seems like this was a popular “conundrum”-type post, so expect more as time goes by.

As mayor of your small town, you are faced with a huge problem.  All civic order has broken down, your town is under attack by [insert villains of choice here, e.g. ANTIFA, Afghan “refugees”, whatever]  and your local police force is woefully undermanned.  The state cops are off fighting federal agents — who are trying to enforce White House mandates on compulsory vaccinations, arresting parents for daring to oppose school boards all over the state, and [insert further examples of gross government action here].

Fortunately, fifty of your townspeople are willing to be deputized for things like guard duty at supermarkets, drug stores, churches etc.   For the sake of argument, however, it turns out that all the volunteers own personal weapons in different calibers, and to make resupply simpler, you need to issue them with common weaponry in a single caliber.

To the rescue comes a crusty, bad-tempered old fart (let’s just call him Kim) who reveals that over the years he has accumulated just over four dozen full-auto sub-machine guns of a single brand, along with 10,000 rounds of 9mm Europellet ammo (200 rounds per gun, and also two spare mags per gun), all stashed away in his fortified barn.  And he’s prepared to let you “borrow” said guns and ammo for the duration of the crisis, as long as you never let on to the the ATF that there are no Class III licenses to be found anywhere.

Your job, as mayor, is to pick which sub-machine gun you would like to see in ol’ Kim’s barn when he swings the door open (video links in case you’re not familiar with any particular model).  Critical, of course, is that the selected gun can be operated without too much training.

Here’s the list (and absolutely no substitutions allowed):

German MP-40

French MAT 49

American S&W 76

Finnish Suomi M31

Israeli Uzi

Remember:  you get to pick one, and only one — and only from this list.

I’ll be posting my choice on Monday.

Back tomorrow.

I get this, I really do:

My problem is that I don’t want to have to carry a revolver in a rifle scabbard — which is the only way I can see this thing working.

And by the way, I’ve had one of the Rough Rider six-shooters, used to teach kids how to shoot with it, and I can’t think of a better training handgun.  Just with a 4″ barrel, and not  that 16″one.