6.5 carcano reloading data

Skylark 4

Skylark 4

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Eston Saskachawan (2 hours south West of Saskatoon
Using the data from the sheet that came with my lee die's, for the 160gr RN , I went with 38gr of H380(only one on the list I can get here). This is half way from the min load and max. Set to factory specs, they "should be fine". BUT, first 2 rounds didn't just blow the primers, they vanished without a trace and pockets are enlarged .005". it's a sweet little Cavalry Carbine, hate to have to feed it only factory loads.

Anyone have proven loads that I can use ??


Ken
 
28-31 grains oh H380 is the listed min/max load............someone was looking over you the day you shot 38 grains............
 
Holy cow man! That's some serious over pressure there! Good thing the Carcano is a strong action.

Are you sure 38gr's of H380 is correct for a 160gr bullet? My loading notes and books are all packed away right now but that seems awfully high to me. A quick google showed one load for 120gr bullets with 37.7gr of H380 being max.

I used BL-C2 with the .268 dia 160's out of my Carcano for 1 1/2 inch groups and mild pressures.

Edit: I see a bunch of us jumped all over the 38gr load charge.:D
 
SKYLARK 4 KEN,have the loading data from a brand new set of LEE 6.5 carcano dies in front of me

H-380..........28gr. to 31gr. for 160 grainers (Slug your bore it may be .264 )if you are shooting HORNADY'S 160 gr they are .268"

at the TOP of the list for 160 gr. projectiles is H-4831 THAT POWDER IS........37gr. to 39 gr. even the 100gr.projectiles .264 dia. max load is 36gr.with h380. YODAVE is well versed in military rounds heed any advice he may offer. Glad you are o.k.
 
something tells me that it was .264 bullet..........a 7 grain over charge with a .268 bullet would have likely had more reproductions then oversized primer pockets.............
 
38 grs seems like a heck of a lot for a 52mm case, was the load the one you used off the Lee 6.5x52mm Carcano die sheet ?

I will check my Lee carcano die set tomorrow and see if mine has the same thing.
 
I have a Carbine which was the original "eargesplitten loudenboomer".... all the way to the point at which I parked it on a rack for 20-odd years.

Then the BRAIN started to work. Rare, I know, but it does do things such as that on occasion.

The Carcano military ammunition was loaded with 30.09 grains of a type of Nobel Balistite. This was a double-base flake powder formed from thin sheets of nitrocellulose which had a coating of nitroglycerine rolled into its surface by steam-heated rollers. It then was allowed to cool and then chopped into flakes, tumbled with a bit of graphite to prevent clumping.... and loaded into the military rounds. This all is detailed in the TEXT BOOK OF SMALL ARMS - 1909 (HM Stationery Office, London, 1909). It was a very energetic and very fast powder..... and it worked just FINE.

So I loaded up some ammo with the only bullets I had (Remington FLAT-base 140s) and about 30 grains of IMR-4198 (a load NOT mentioned in the books) and tried it out. Little rifle performed beautifully, bullets on target, no 2-foot fireball at the muzzle, no ear-splitting crash. So I tried a few in a nice, new Model 41, which has a 27-inch barrel...... and got sub-MOA groups. No problems at all. Brass comes out almost as nice as it went in, no pocket expansion, easy to resize.

A couple of the guys on this forum now are using the same load..... and they are getting excellent accuracy. I'll let them speak for themselves.
 
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As Smellie states ive been using the same load with 4198 and have had good results.

One thing I'll add from my own testing in my own m38, and Smellies m41 and m91 is that Carcanos are very picky with bullets. They seem to need flat base bullets with a long bearing surface. If one uses a tradition 140 grain boat tail accuracy is all over the place.

Also, my m38 doesn't like the .268 Hornaday 160 grain carcano bullets unless I reduce the charge slightly. My bore slugs at a tight .264 so I use flat base .264 bullets and a fast powder (IMR4198) which bumps them up a bit.

Those .264 Remington 140's that Smellie mentioned seem to do the trick in everything I've fed them to. Only problem for me is local suppliers pretty much only stock boat tail .264 projectiles so I don't fire my Carcanos much.

OP, I'm glad that you didn't get hurt!! I just checked 5 reloading books (some are super old and thus list high charges) and i concur with the others that you were somewhere between 7-8 grains over charged!!

Carcanos are damn strong!!
 
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sunray said:
38 grains of H380 is WAAAAY over maximum.
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wow.........just.....wow........it took you 19,432 posts to finally reply with some actual facts that can be proven both in books and on the internet that I would have to agree on..........
 
Ok I'm bad. That's 28gr NOT 38gr. Looked at the Lee load data, yup start at 28gr. So now I'm wondering WHAT THE HELL DID I LOAD THEM AT !!! Out comes my re-load log binder, Hmm, 28gr to 2.949 overall. Re slugged it twice for a bore of .268. Bullet puller and scale's for the remaining rounds all came in at 27.8 to 28.1 gr. By the book, they should be fine. Going to load up 5 rounds with 30gr of 4198 and hold my eye's closed !!

Ken
 
Skylark 4 said:
Ok I'm bad. That's 28gr NOT 38gr. Looked at the Lee load data, yup start at 28gr. So now I'm wondering WHAT THE HELL DID I LOAD THEM AT !!! Out comes my re-load log binder, Hmm, 28gr to 2.949 overall. Re slugged it twice for a bore of .268. Bullet puller and scale's for the remaining rounds all came in at 27.8 to 28.1 gr. By the book, they should be fine. Going to load up 5 rounds with 30gr of 4198 and hold my eye's closed !!

Ken
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Ken,

It's getting more difficult to interpret what you did. Are you now saying that post #1 had a typo and you used 28.0 grs of H380 (well below published max) and got the extreme high pressure events? You are now going to do up loads with the same components with two grains more of a much faster powder (H4198)? I'm on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen next.
 
I checked my Lee die set for 6.5 Carcano and 28 grs of H380 is anywhere from 2 to 4 grs under the minimum (depending on the bullet weight) yet you reported signs that indicate over pressure.

Are you sure you used H380 or perhaps another powder ? One thing I have learned in reloading, and from others on the forums, is that one powder is not the same as another, even if they have the same number code but are from different manufacturers.

It is good you slugged the bore as that eliminates the possibility of a tighter bore than .268. It has been noted that some bores on Italian military rifles have been observed with tighter bore specifications.

My advice is to pull the remaining bullets, dump the powder, clean the cases out (I recommend a cotton swab), and start from scratch. Smellie has provided a nice load for the carcano that has been used by himself and others so you have a good starting point there.
 
If you are going to use a 160-grain slug, I would drop that load by a couple of grains to start.

I was using ONE-FORTIES.

The load as I gave it works fine in my own Cavalry Carbine, built at Terni, 1942-XX (Roman date).

Please consider.



BTW, original spec for Carcano military ammo is given on page 250 of TBSA - 1909. It calls for a .266" bullet of 163 grains, which agrees with all the original rounds (both World Wars) which I have on hand to measure. That 2 thou extra on the Hornady slug could be problematical.
 
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Kindly take note:

You asked for a proven load for a Carcano Cavalry Carbine. That is precisely what I gave.

Like baking a cake, you must use the WHOLE recipe; if you do not, you do not get the RESULTS you are looking for.

The Carcano load which I gave uses a powder which is NOT normally recommended in this cartridge. It is a single-base powder with a very FAST burning rate.

I recommended the use of this powder with a POINTED, FLATBASED bullet of one hundred and FORTY grains' weight and a standard .264" diameter.

To date, this load has shot very nicely in five out of five rifles in which it has been tried.

Emphatically, I do NOT recommend this powder if used with a round-nosed 160-grain bullet of .268" diameter.

Kindly take note!

It's YOUR eyes, YOUR fingers, YOUR rifle, at risk.

Kindly take note!
 
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