Italian terni rifle

[GRSmeister]

GRSmeister, you have just proved that you have never worked seriously with Italian military rifles... ANY of them.

The old Vetterli was beautifully made and, considering when it was adopted (1870) it was close to a decade ahead of just about anything else available. It survived the conversion to a magazine rifle (1887) and then the conversion to smallbore/smokeless
(1915). The Swiss Vetterli is still being shot (and lauded) by collectors and BP fans alike, but the Italian rifle had something the Swiss did not: centrefire ammunition..... in 1870!

The Carcano is an immensely tough, lightweight rifle, very accurate if it is fed decent ammunition, handy, quick to get into action. Most of them are everything except pretty and that is because the money was put INSIDE the barrel rather than outside, plus the fact that many of them have been through anything from 2 to 6 wars. A NEW one, or a factory rework, now, that is beautiful.

The successor to the Carcano was supposed to be the semi-auto Armaguerra 39. It may have been a toolmaker's nightmare inside, but it did pass one heck of a test..... and the milling-machine work on the action body is so beautifully done that the top cover (part of the standing receiver: the rifle has 2 receivers) looks like a stamping!

Lotsa guys are very happy with their Beretta and Breda Garands and the BM-59, believe me, was better-finished than any M-14 ever turned out: an absolute work of art, even in the original selective-fire version.

The QUALITY is THERE in Italian military rifles. It just doesn't manifest itself in snazzy woodwork, that's all.
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I guess I certainly stand corrected. My humble appologies. And given what you said to whip my arse I will be looking more seriously at the Italian war rifles. My wife may end up hating you for it smellie!

 

[smellie]

Nice thing about the Italian rifles, GRSmeister, is that so very many people think they are junk. This keeps the prices down..... and you can assemble an entire collection of Italian rifles for about the cost of ONE beat-to-death '98 sniper with a busted ZF-41 scope: REALLY keeps the women happy.

BTW, Carcano brass $35/50 and Hornady Carcano slugs $39/100 from Trade-Ex, banner advertiser with link at the top of this page. Dies available everywhere, even Lee makes them. I prefer 4198 for the Carbines (17-inch and 21-inch tubes) and 4895 or 4064 for the Model 41s and original '91s. Works.

Good luck and have fun!
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