WW II Italian Youth Training Carcano

[jisuho]

I received this the other day from my brother. Best I can tell as this point is that it is a miniature Carcano built to train their youth in preparation for military service. As you can see it is a small rifle (about 27" muzzle to butt, (pic 6)) and in poor shape. The buttplate has modern screws (pic 4) and the fixed box magazine is broken off just forward of the trigger (pics 1 & 2). The bayonet is still functional, but quite loose. The bolt action works, safety works, and the trigger is functional. Just needs a real good cleaning. As I understand from my limited Google research this was blank firing weapon to train their youth. I don't think it was intended to fire live ammo. But it does have an adjustable rear sight. Why would a gun need an adjustable sight if you are only firing blanks?

I am not a historian so what can you all tell me about this?

j

 

[RedneckFur]

I don't know much about the Carcano rifle, but this one looks like it would be a good candidate for restoration. At least replace the screws with correct ones and put a new magazine in it.

Inspecting the chamber and barrel may shed some light on if it was used for live ammo or just blanks, but hopefully someone else who knows more about these rifles can comment on that.

 

[ronn47]

I have a Mil Surplus magazine at home that talks about 3 different manufactures of these.
Anything on the receiver ring?

 

[jisuho]

Three more photos. After a little more internet research I read that most were made for firing blanks but there were some that fired live ammo. IDK which I have. Finding a box mag/trigger assembly will likely be difficult.

j

 

[ronn47]

👍
Not a real firearm as stated, but a training piece.
Mussolini wanted his own brown shirt boys like Adolf had, so he did a lot of stuff like this.
You know, get them while they are young and teach them what you want them to know.

 

[jisuho]

This training carbine is apparently a slightly smaller version of the M91 cavalry carbine. I wonder if the M91trigger guard/magazine combo would fit on the training carbine as a replacement. Just to make it at least look complete.

j

 

[jisuho]

Searched and searched, emailed antique gun and parts dealers, read what I could find on the internet... Conclusion, I am not going to be able to restore this training rifle, not with my current resources. And I don't think it would be worth trying. It is an interesting conversation piece but I am not a collector so I am going to take this to the next gun show to see if I can sell it.

I have seen auction sites that have sold this rifle (in complete condition) upwards to $800 but with mine in it's current condition I know I would not get near that much. Mine could be used as a parts gun to help restore another. What do you all think this thing is worth? How much could I expect to sell if for? $150, $200? More or less?

j

 

[ronn47]

@cubrock , what's your opinion on this?

 

[cubrock]

Put it in Gunbroker and start it at $150. The bayonet assembly alone is worth that to someone who has one of these but is missing the bayonet. If you take it to a gun show, you are liable to get only $50 or so.

Finding a replacement magazine will be difficult, if not impossible, as you have already discovered.

 

[Schattenreiter]

I received this the other day from my brother. Best I can tell as this point is that it is a miniature Carcano built to train their youth in preparation for military service. As you can see it is a small rifle (about 27" muzzle to butt, (pic 6)) and in poor shape. The buttplate has modern screws (pic 4) and the fixed box magazine is broken off just forward of the trigger (pics 1 & 2). The bayonet is still functional, but quite loose. The bolt action works, safety works, and the trigger is functional. Just needs a real good cleaning. As I understand from my limited Google research this was blank firing weapon to train their youth. I don't think it was intended to fire live ammo. But it does have an adjustable rear sight. Why would a gun need an adjustable sight if you are only firing blanks?

I am not a historian so what can you all tell me about this?

j

Two other pages of parts here.

https://www.sarcoinc.com/rifle-parts/carcano/?page=3&sort=featured


Not sure if this is the same as what you have but here it is.

Carcano 1941 Parts | Numrich Gun Parts

Order Carcano 1941 parts with Numrich Gun Parts. We have parts, accessories and schematics for your firearm needs. Shop now.

www.gunpartscorp.com

Here are some more parts.

Carcano Gun Parts for sale | eBay

Great deals on Carcano Gun Parts. Trick out or upgrade your firearm with the largest gun parts selection at eBay.com. Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

 

[jisuho]

Thanks Schattenreiter. But I have looked through both of those and more. While they have plenty of M91 parts none will fit the youth carbine. The youth carbine is a scaled down version of the M91 Cavalry Carcano. I read on one page that it is a 4/5ths scale replica. And all the parts are scaled down; magazine, bolt, sights, trigger, etc. There is no interchangeability (except maybe the screws).

j

 

[fulch]

I have one of these also, bought at a flea market 10 years or so ago. The magazine is falling apart on mine also. It's made out of some cheap pot metal. I did see one a few years back at the Dixie Show that the magazine was intact.