Carcanos you won't hit anything? If your using 264cal bullets perhaps, but if you're doing that you're going about it all wrong...
Which milsurp rifle for use as a light-ish hunting rifle?
- Thread starter alpining
- Start date
Carcanos you won't hit anything? If your using 264cal bullets perhaps, but if you're doing that you're going about it all wrong...
Carcanos shoot just fine once you have the right load. If you want a conventional sight picture, get an m38 cavalry carbine with fixed sights. Normal mauser-type sight picture, will shoot to point of aim with the right load.
The m38 does not have a conventional Mauser-type sight picture. Both WW1 and WW2 models of the cavalry carbine have the same bury-the-front-post sight picture.
If yours has otherwise it’s probably been built up at the front or ground down at the back.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Does not really matter what you read on Internet - take an 8" or 9 " (20-23 cm) paper pie plate - at whatever distance that you can put a bullet hole through that - first shot, every time - is the distance that you will always kill a broad side deer. Do not have to hit a particular hair on the thing - put a bullet of appropriate weight about there and it will die - lesser impact energy or poorer placement will result in tracking for perhaps 100 yards (meters). Shoot it in the leg or the gut with super high end magnum and you will have a long day following that track - and that deer will have a worse day and night ...
I suspect you don't actually have an M38 Moschetto to look at.
The M91 moschetto and M38 moschetto have vastly different rear sights. The M91 is a wide, deep V notch and you need to bury the sight for 100m, because it's regulated to 300m 6 o'clock hold with a normal sight picture.
The M38 carbine has a shallow and narrow rear notch and you use a conventional aim, but regulated for 300m 6 o'clock hold.
All of this is with service ammo. With hunting ammo, all bets are off. you need to see where the gun is shooting with a particular load and go from there. For example, most cast bullet loads are much lower velocity and shoot much lower at 100 meters than service ammo - which would help with hunting scenarios.
He said light. The K31 is anything but light.
I'm going to throw up a Russian SKS. Maybe not the lightest, but has fast follow up shots & with the right hunting load you could pull off 2-4 moa with those iron sights. It's got it's own built in mono pod. The rifle is ugly enough that a ding in the furniture just adds character & it could double as an oar without guilt. The cartridge it shoots is good enough up to 150 yards on deer size game. Maybe further if you can get the shot off properly...
Great suggestion, though I'd refine it to any chrome lined sks. Chinese or Russian.
Down side is we know the libtards will ban these at next earliest opportunity. They've shown their hand.
I would agree with that, but they are beautifully made rifles that shoot very well and handle pretty nicely.
I know OP said 'light', but I have to say I find light weight to be heavily overrated. It depends on the kind of hunting you do, of course, but I think balance and ease of handling are at least as important as the actual number on the scale. I've hunted quite a bit with my Garand (3 mulies to its credit so far) and it carries really well, with excellent balance that makes it much nicer to carry than the ~10lb loaded weight would ever indicate. I wouldn't want to carry it over a mountain range or two, but for the walking and pushing bush that I do its weight has never been an issue for me.
Mark
I do have both and the sight technique to hit point of aim is the same.
Also in my experience they hit much higher than would be indicated by the ballistics if they were on at 300m with a conventional picture though I have never shot either model that far. Next time I shoot at that distance I will bring the cav carbines to test
Last edited:
More good ideas, thanks again folks, it helps put everything in perspective. Here are my thoughts:
All 8lbs and heavier rifle options - Hard pass for me in this application. Great rifles for what they are, but that's just not what I'm looking for here.
Lee Enfield Jungle Carbine - Looks good (even though I don't particularly like the 303 for deer hunting). Looks like it would be $800ish for a shooter-grade rifle?
Mosin Nagant M38 Carbine - Maybe. Getting heavy. And that's a lot of cartridge for such a short barrel... Hard to find and expensive?
Swedish Mauser 1894 Carbine - Looks great, but it would be close to $1000 for this option, no?
Carcano Cavalry Carbine - Cheap and available right now, and I think I could handload ammunition and modify the sights to my liking. But I'm wondering if they carry well in hand, with the magazine extension below the receiver.
All 8lbs and heavier rifle options - Hard pass for me in this application. Great rifles for what they are, but that's just not what I'm looking for here.
Lee Enfield Jungle Carbine - Looks good (even though I don't particularly like the 303 for deer hunting). Looks like it would be $800ish for a shooter-grade rifle?
Mosin Nagant M38 Carbine - Maybe. Getting heavy. And that's a lot of cartridge for such a short barrel... Hard to find and expensive?
Swedish Mauser 1894 Carbine - Looks great, but it would be close to $1000 for this option, no?
Carcano Cavalry Carbine - Cheap and available right now, and I think I could handload ammunition and modify the sights to my liking. But I'm wondering if they carry well in hand, with the magazine extension below the receiver.
You can buy a sporterized Enfield (not a Lee Enfield, an Enfield , P-14 (in 303) or a M-17 (in 30-06) )for a pretty reasonable sum, on the hunting rifle exchange section of this site. BSA sporterized a number of them after WWII and did a pretty good job of it. They have a 5 round capacity, which means no magazine sicking out of the bottom of the rifle.
Denis
Denis
