There were some relatively unknown Carcano rifles issued as well. Japan bought a version they called the Type ONE. The big difference in the Japanese rifle and the Italian rifle was the stock, which had the regular two piece butt and the mag well, which was identical to the Japanese Type 38 mag, with drop out floor plate/follower and spring. There is one other difference. The Type ONE bolt has the ejector cut dead center rather than offset to the left. I know this because I recently fitted a bolt to a Type ONE. Those bolts are hard to say the least. Carbide cutters wouldn't touch it. I ended up grinding it out with special wheels. The bolts must be machined then hardened after. Makes sense when you think about it.
The other Carcano I have was made by Steyr for Germany or maybe even their own use. It is chambered in 7.92x57. It is a very short carbine with an 18 inch, pencil thin barrel. It also requires a special clip to hold the cartridges that is very similar to the Mod 88 clips, but the lips are shorter. No big deal, they just need to be cut back to fit.
Ok, the Jap Type ONE is a dream to shoot. It is reliable as far as feeding and ejecting go and it is very accurate in the right hands with a shooter with good eyes. Word has it that the Japanese navy issued the contract for 50,000 long rifles and 15,000 carbines. Don't hold me to those numbers.
It turns out the Japanese had some issues with the bolt handles breaking off and many of the rifles ended up in warehouses, never issued, only to be liberated by occupation troops later. There are stories about empty rifle crates floating all over Tokyo and other harbors as the rifles were gathered by the occupying troops as war trophies. I've seen a couple of other Type One rifles other than mine. Both of them were in stocks without finish. They were sanded and ready to be finished but none was applied. Word is, to save money, the Japanese ordered them that way to apply the finish in Japan later. Also, there are no Japanese marks or stamps of any sort on the rifles.
Mine is issued and has some very slight throat wear. Not enough to effect performance.
I am and old man and computer challenged. I've never been able to get the photo places to work. To bad we can't copy and paste photos.
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