@ FONESTAR:
The Oswald thing had a bit to do with it, but the Carcano was already junk by that time.
Italy adopted the Carcano rifle as the Model 1891; it entered production in 1892 and continued until late 1943/early 1944. Some continued in Italian service MUCH longer than that because they were just so damned accurate if you fed them what they wanted.
A great deal has to do with war-time propaganda. In World War One, the Carcano was that lightweight, accurate, long-range rifle used by our glorious Italian allies in their struggle against the bullying Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Beastly Hun.
But then came il Duce, who re-founded the Roman Empire in 1922 (that is why the Roman number on every rifle made or rebuilt since then: I have a Vetterli here with a Roman date on it!). In May of 1940, the Duke attacked France, likely hoping to get some of the spoils which Italy was promised and then denied from the First War.
Well, the first thing you do in a war is denigrate the enemy, so the Italians became the Fascists or a bunch of blackshirt Wops who couldn't do anything right and all were cowards. (This ignores the fact that some Italian outfits fought VERY well indeed and that plain foolhardy bravery was more than a bit common in their ranks. Ask anyone who was THERE.). And World War 2 is the first war in human history in which the HATE has been kept alive, 2 whole generations following the PEACE. It just makes too much MONEY to be allowed to die.
And so the poor Carcano, which had not changed at all, suddenly was transformed into that ill-fitted, poorly-designed, piece of junk that the cowardly Wops were using: complete piece of crap. And that was the COMMON KNOWLEDGE even BEFORE Oswald bought his from Klein's Sporting Goods of Chicago.
But that's the whole ugly story. It's not fair to the Italian people, nor to the brave men who served in the Italian forces in the Second World War..... and by NO means is it fair to the Carcano, which happens to be an excellent design.
The rifle which got me into gun collecting as a hobby is a Vetterli from Torre Annunziata, dated 1883 and with a Roman rebuild date and marked to AOI: Africa Orientale Italiana: Italy's 6-year East African Empire. I bought my first Carcano 6 months before Oswald bought his. I have been playing with them for a long time now and my respect increases almost daily.
Hope this helps.
BTW: for some of us, the war is OVER.... and the old Carcano came out of it a winner, even if not on the "winning" side. It is still a dandy rifle for its purpose.