So I picked up what I think is a fairly rare bird here in Canada (thanks P&S!), an M1909 cavalry carbine. I've had a few M1909 rifles over the years, but never an engineers carbine or cavalry carbine before.
Many of the rifles came to Canada in nearly unissued condition, while many more were well used. Many of the more well used guns were harvested for their actions and lovely hinged bottom metal. I myself built a couple lovely sporting rifles on otherwise beat M1909 rifles back when they were worth nothing and were everywhere (late 1980's, early 1990's), so I get how and why that happened. The calibre (7.65x53) was (and remains) a real oddball - ballistically it's basically a .308 with a .303 British projectile, of all things, and basically it's an orphan calibre today that I handload for.
In any event, I'm sure some pristine cavalry carbines must have been around back when century was peddling these out of Montreal, but I honestly don't recall seeing any myself. This one turned up for what I thought was a fair price given its condition and I had to bite on it.
It's definitely been through at least two arsenal refurbs (one in the 1920's to move the sling bar from behind the trigger guard to the side of the stock - they virtually all got this mod in Argentina) and another later one where they force-matched a stock from another carbine to this gun, and parkerized the barelled action.
When I got it, I suspect whoever the previous owner was had bought it and set it aside for a future project or a collectible, it was still slathered in cosmoline all over the rifle's insides, it had only been wiped off the exterior. It's now all cleaned up and range ready - very curious to see how it will shoot with my usual handload.
If anyone else has an Argentine carbine, would love to see yours! When these were freshly made with white receivers, rust blueing, etc. I'm sure they would have been a sight to behold
Many of the rifles came to Canada in nearly unissued condition, while many more were well used. Many of the more well used guns were harvested for their actions and lovely hinged bottom metal. I myself built a couple lovely sporting rifles on otherwise beat M1909 rifles back when they were worth nothing and were everywhere (late 1980's, early 1990's), so I get how and why that happened. The calibre (7.65x53) was (and remains) a real oddball - ballistically it's basically a .308 with a .303 British projectile, of all things, and basically it's an orphan calibre today that I handload for.
In any event, I'm sure some pristine cavalry carbines must have been around back when century was peddling these out of Montreal, but I honestly don't recall seeing any myself. This one turned up for what I thought was a fair price given its condition and I had to bite on it.
It's definitely been through at least two arsenal refurbs (one in the 1920's to move the sling bar from behind the trigger guard to the side of the stock - they virtually all got this mod in Argentina) and another later one where they force-matched a stock from another carbine to this gun, and parkerized the barelled action.
When I got it, I suspect whoever the previous owner was had bought it and set it aside for a future project or a collectible, it was still slathered in cosmoline all over the rifle's insides, it had only been wiped off the exterior. It's now all cleaned up and range ready - very curious to see how it will shoot with my usual handload.
If anyone else has an Argentine carbine, would love to see yours! When these were freshly made with white receivers, rust blueing, etc. I'm sure they would have been a sight to behold
