The following article is from the April, 1999, issue of the Military Rifle Journal.

Doss White

At the January Missouri Arms Collectors show in St. Charles I met Mr. Edward Kohlberg. In our conversation, I mentioned that I had an interest in and collected Carcanos and Arisakas. Mr. Kohlberg noted that he had once owned a Carcano 91/38 cavalry ' takedown' carbine and said he would bring in photos the next day. True to his word the photos were there the next morning and Mr Kohlberg kindly loaned them to me for this article.

The carbine was obtained from the veteran who brought it back after WW II. The handguard and bayonet were missing when purchased by Mr. Kohlberg and the rifle had no serial numbers. There was a number on the stock, a two (2) or perhaps a one ( 1).

The metal on either side of the two halves can be seen in the photos, this is similar to the Japanese Model 0 and Model 2 take-down models. What is not clear is the takedown mechanism on the bottom of the rifle. Mr Kohlberg noted that there was a serrated lever on the bottom that was either pushed or pulled, he did not remember which, to release the two halves.

The photographs are too dark and small to show the stock joining area clearly. One of the photographs are reproduced below as a matter of record. A drawing of the right side of the carbine, made from the clearest photograph, is reproduced below.

A 'basement' gunsmith/machinist can make-modify almost any item made by the military. I once owned a Model 14 Nambu that had been modified to Baby Nambu size and I recently examined an Arisaka in which the bolt, extractor, spring and firing pin had been shortened over an inch and still worked. Some years ago a west coast "gentleman" reproduced Japanese snipers, Model 38 short rifles and Model 100 bayonets good enough to fool the experts. My first guess is that this was a post-war modification. BUT it may be an original piece that some GI acquired at an arsenal. With no more information than the above the "jury is stil1 out."