JG Sales has 7.35 Carcano ammo

[nick]

JG Sales has 7.35mm Carcano ammo on clips. It's about $1/round in 18-round boxes, late 30's Italian surplus. Looks like I'll end up shooting that Carcano, after all.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Why do you need that to shoot? Bullets, brass and dies are readily available. And much of the old Italian surplus stuff has bad primers. A lot of it is loaded with little macaroni-shaped cordite, which is stable and has a shelf life similar to twinkies. But I have heard many, many reports over the years of the 7.35 surplus having 50%+ failure rates. You would be better off saving it for a display. Or pulling the bullets and powder to roll your own. At that price, you can even buy new-made stuff from Old Western Scrounger, and still come out ahead. All you need to do to reload it is to run 6.5 Carcano brass through a 7.35 sizing die, put in a .298-.300" bullet, and go to town. Don't waste your money on the surplus. This is one case where it just isn't worth it.

-Mb (who loves his 7.35 carcanos)

[nick]

I saved this for the future reference for the time when I actually reload, which I currently don't (no space in the apartment).

This was the first time I actually found the 7.35mm ammo, couldn't find it before, much less finding new stuff (which would've been my preference).

I didn't know of Old Western Scrounger, thanks.

And hey, it's worth it; I got the clips, old ammo, and information out of it. The clips are quite expensive by themselves

[SDgarrick]

Ammo is the one thing that kept me from getting a Carcano. Oh and taste, I have taste.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Ammo is the one thing that kept me from getting a Carcano. Oh and taste, I have taste.

Hey now. Carcanos are cool. The 6.5 is a ballistic clone of 6.5x54 Mannlicher, one of the all-time classic hunting rounds. The 7.35 is almost identical in terms of power and performance, to the .300 Savage. If you can get used to the goofy sights, they both make decent hunting rifles. And until the craze started last year, you could still find them in the odd pawn shop for under $50. That makes them darned hard to beat.

[SDgarrick]

Actually the one time I shot a Carcano, I really enjoyed it: mild recoil a neat look, ALOT of history and an economic price. But again it was indeed ammo that kept me from picking one up.

[gunboat]

Save your fired GI brass -- 7.35/6.35 carcano is one of the few berdan cases that convert to boxer primers fairly easily --

[Flintlock Tom]

I have a 7.35 Carcano and it's fun to shoot. However, surplus ammo, for me, fails 60-70% of the time. I have the reloading dies and boxer primed brass, but have not reloaded any yet.
I noticed that Buffalo Arms Co. has both sizes of brass for sale.

[gunboat]

All the surplus ammo I had was good, packed in clips, 15 rounds to a wee box, however, I don't want to say how many years ago that was -- It was Italian, but I think there is some Finn ammo floating around as well -- I bought a lyman 299 mould but I think sierra made bullets for it as well --

[Asphodel]

There is another fascinating historical aspect of shooting a Carcano.

As you know, nearly a half-century ago, an especially infamous murder was committed......allegedly.....with three shots from a Carcano.

As you'll remember, a 'commission' issued its 'findings' about that murder, some time later, in which they stated that they had determined that the homicide was committed by one individual, who fired three rounds from a Carcano in 'x' number of seconds. (I don't remember the exact time figure now, but it would be easy to research)

After that 'report' came out, a great many rifle shooters, who didn't think much of the claim of three accurate shots from a Carcano in those 'x' seconds, obtained Carcanos and tried it for themselves....

You can replicate that bit of history yourself, by researching the report to find the 'x' number of seconds, and trying to hit a target the approximate size of a human head, at the approximate range of the original tragic incident, three times in those 'x' number of seconds.

Everyone I knew or heard of, who tried it for themselves, had little or no problem with the first two hits, but ran out of 'x' seconds of time before they could cycle the weapon for the third shot.

Maybe you could be the one to 'make history' by hitting the appropriate size of target, three times, in that 'x' number of seconds, with a Carcano, and thereby prove that it could actually have been done.

cheers

Carla

[Flintlock Tom]

I thought only one shot hit Kennedy. One missed and one hit the Gov. in the body.

[Saigon1965]

Yah - Good info here fellas - My Carcano will no longer be a virgin to me -

[knucklehead0202]

i ran across reloadable, decently priced ammo for these before, i don't have one yet, but i will. give me a couple days and i'll track it down, i just KNOW i found it before, can't think of where.

[Asphodel]

Flintlock Tom,

Its been quite a few years since I read the Warren Commission Report.....as I remember it, their findings were that Oswald fired three rounds from the Carcano, one missed, one was the so-called 'magic bullet' which hit both Kennedy and Connolly, and one struck Kennedy in the back of his head, fatally.

Aside from the alleged improbability of the path of the 'magic bullet', the specific claim of the Commission's findings were that Oswald fired three shots in 'x'....I just can't remember the exact number.....seconds.

As I mentioned earlier, the official statement was greeted with great derision by those familiar with rifle shooting generally, and the Italian Carcano rifle in particular.

There are plenty of sources on the internet where you can research the 'x' number of seconds, to get the correct number as stated by the official report.

Then, if you'd like, you can join the the number of shooters who obtained a Carcano, and tried to fire three aimed shots in that very short length of time. This was a bit of a 'fad' for a while, after the Commission report was made public.

As I said earlier, if you are able to do that, you will literally 'make history'.

The 'moral of the story', of course, is 'if all those shooters, some of whom were very highly skilled riflemen, couldn't duplicate that feat, then did Oswald really do it?'

That led to the question 'if Oswald didn't do it, who did?' There have been a lot of theories presented by a very large number of people, over the years. (some witnesses at the scene claimed to have heard more than three shots, and from multiple directions)

There are only two things I know for a certainty.

The obvious one is that I wasn't there, didn't see the murder myself, and have no idea as to which of the various theories, if any, are credible.

The other is that I've tried to fire three aimed shots, rapid fire, from a Carcano, and it took me quite a bit longer than the famous 'x' number of seconds. Just try running the bolt fast on an 03 Springfield, and then try running the bolt fast on a Carcano, you'll see what I mean.



cheers

Carla

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Wow, the mind control lasers seem to be particularly strong today. The tinfoil hat crowd is going off about Kennedy again. Time for another layer of foil on there guys. OK, go to youtube. Look up carcano. There are at least a half a dozen videos of people not only making all three shots in time, but hitting their targets. And as for the people that have trouble making the 3 shots in the alloted time, most of them start the clock before they load the first shot. That is completely stupid. The time starts when the trigger is pulled the first time. The action only needs to be cycles twice to get all three shots off. It really isn't that hard. Even I can do it. Drop the conspiracy theories already. He is long dead. You don't need to bring this same damned whackjob arguement up every time there is a Carcano based thread. I'm sorry, but I am on a half dozen gun boards, and there is always at least one person that sees the need to pipe in with this same tired theory EVERY FREAKIN TIME. Drop it already. Oliver Stone is a moron. You shouldn't be relying on him for objective information anyway.

-Mb (who really doesn't care if Kennedy was killed by Illuminati-funded communist space monkeys trying to overthrow the Queen of England. It is not germain to this thread.)