Reloading 6.5 Carcano with 268 PPU Bullets 

Great video. I really appreciate your relaxed attitude. I have almost every model of Carcano myself, along with French 1886 Lebel, 71/84 Mauser, Snider-Enfield, Martini-Henry, and several hundred other antique and collectable firearms. I am not concerned with my MOA with these old beasts, I just want to make them sing again. Personally I believe that the Carcano's are greatly underappreciated. The ballistic coefficient of that long bullet is excellent. The only time I use the .264 bullet is when I'm loading for the 1870-87-15 converted Italian Vetterli's. Obviously I don't fire full power loads in it, and I really don't even shoot it very often. I look forward to more of your entertaining, relaxed videos.

Kinda like an old 2 stroke Vespa scooter ~ light, manuverable, crusty and cheap-loooking, but when tuned properly, like most Italian designs, that little rifle delivers surprising performance. Thanks for the real world demo! 🎯

That 139 grain looked pretty respectable. I also have a ton of IMR 4064. I’ve held off getting a Carcarno for years because of the odd-ball bore. Bought the son a 8x56R Hungarian with the same challenges. (.329-.330 vs .323) PPU is also the only real source for those bullets too. I also picked mine up from Grafs. As long as I can find those PPU bullets I’m not scared now of getting the 6.5 Carcarno. Thx for doing this series!

A little shocked that you got something that nice from RTI

Totally under appreciated weapon! Love your vid!

If you flip that sight forward the sight will be regulated to about 100 meters. I own two, a cavalry carbine like this one, and a Truppe Speciale, one made with a detachable bayonet, used by truck drivers, artillery men, etc. These are well built battle rifles, not the junkers most people claim them to be. The only reason these rifles were deemed inaccurate was because they needed .268 caliber bullets… they perform badly & shoot keyholes with .264 bullets. The tests here prove that they can be as accurate as any battle rifle made.

Good stuff man!

Great video

👍 good fun for sure

Well, I do my reloads with 264 diameter bullets for my Carcanos. Made tons of videos on those and their accuracy. One gun channel to another, solid sub from me.

Hopefully you’ll find an accurate load that isn’t pushing the pressures too much. Nice looking rifle.

I saw a friend's1936 Gardone in a little rougher condition than yours that was advertised as "good to very good" The descriptions given by RTI are somewhat subjective but the bore was ok, though the bluing is half gone and the stock was beginning to split at the buttstock. Thabk you for this very helpful video!

You should check the production date on those ppu manufactured cartriges they are probably a bit old as ppu started making .268 only since 2018.

Re the .268s actually being closer to .2665. That's actually what most Italian Military ammo measured at. And FYI Gents, if you search "gunboards 200 meter test" you'll find a Site where a guy tested quite a few different Carcano Loads; including .264s that were quite accurate. The Key is using long Flat- Based Bullets at moderate Velocities !

I do the same thing. I have over 50 guns and 90% were made before 1945 and all are milsurps. My M41 Carcano long rifle with 264's looked like a 12 gauge with buckshot at 100 yards. My rifle likes the 139 grain . With the 268's it will not miss 10 inch steel plates at 200 yds if I do my part. Going to try some ww760. It is the same powder as the discontinued H414 which Hornady mentions in their load manual

Was there a big accuracy difference between the 268 diameter rounds and the 264 diameter round, any muzzle velocity difference?

I see that you are shooting the TS Carbine. The original Model 1891s which were longer of course, correct me if I'm wrong but the infantry rifles to include the M38 short rifle and the M41 had Progressive Rifling. Meaning that the long 6.5mm slender bullet would travel up the barrel until mid length then squeezed tighter up till it exited the barrel. The Italians never changed their bullet design of the 6.5X52mm military ammunition. The TS Special Troop carbine was only issued to combat engineers, motorcycle dispatch riders, artillery, and rear troops. Italian soldiers did complain about accuracy with the 1891 during WWI especially the elite Bersaglieri and Alpini troops who were above average marksmen than the regular Italian conscript infantry. The TS carbine was intended for ranges of 300 meters and not more. From your groupings from what I saw is what the Italians wanted for a carbine to do. The worse can be is the bullets would tumble or key hole meaning either the charge is too low or the barrel is shot out using your handloads. War time Italian issued 6.5mm were never under charged because they needed that it operate their infantry machine guns. Machine gun ammo for their Fiat-Revelli and Breda were loaded a bit hotter for better cycling, but using them in regular Carcano rifles the soldier might experience a bit more recoil, this was the only special issue ammo for the Italian Army. Check into the barrel because of the Progressive Rifling, many regular M91s were converted to TS carbines after WWI during the 1920s to save money from building more rifles and cut down many infantry barreled rifles. My friend Uncle Tony a true Carcano fanatic has a bunch of pristine rifles and carbines dating back to the 1960s when these guns were very pristine and unissued never fired still in grease going for $25- 35 Dollars a piece. Coming from RTI, I heard many horror stories about them.

I use ppu 264 dia the dam primers are hot some burn thru

I wish Hornady still made their .267" 160 grain, bottle nose bullets. It was product #2645 Write them and ask for it to be renewed.

Cool , are you planning to cast for it? 👍

Where do I get the dies? Is it Lee that makes them? I haven't gone looking, just watched the video. Thanks.

Can you load and operate this rifle without the brass clip? Or is it just for ease of loading 6 shots at once?

Was the point of impact the same between the 264 and 268 diameter bullets at 50 yards?

Mine seems to shoot a couple feet low at 50yds, are they all like that?

Where did you get your load data I being trying to find data for the 123gr/139gr but I can’t find any? Did you work up your own load

I'm looking for some of this ammo. Where can I find it ?

Is 6.5 x 52 Carcano brass available ? What other brass can be used to form 6.5 ? Thanks George

What kind of primers?

Might wanna spend some time practicing your trigger control and follow through... you'd be shocked at the difference it makes

Harder not being able to put a scope on something and take as much human error out of the equation.

Bed the action to the stock action channel. Use a thin coat of Johnson's paistvwax on the metal release see e agent is what to do is. Free float to he barrel channel.

The Bore is 264,put yourself in Oswald's Place!