[danm55]

With ammo prices and especially carcano .268 bullets being hatd to find im wondering. Do .264 bullets ever work well? Maybe if you have a mint bore that isnt worn at all? I have two carcano carbines one ts and one CC with mint bores. if i can shoot .264 bullets in them without tumbling thatd be great. Ive heard some say that they have shot .264s and they worked. I have some lead .268 bullets but the manufacturer told me they dont shoot well in the carbines actually. I could load some up to try but if theres no chance i dont want to waste my time.

 

[bitrclngr]

I have a 1941 FNA Brescia Moschetto that does well with the Privi 156 grain 263 bullets. That is the only rifle I’ve found that shoots well with that bullet I’ve tried so far. At this point your best bet for any decent accuracy will be cast bullets if you can find them. I’ll probably go that route eventually. I still have some pulled original bullets to load up.

 

[danm55]

Nice your very fortunate. Im trying to buy some flat based bullets for a few calibers rn mainly 8mm and 303. I guess it wouldnt hurt to try the PPu bullets. I have some of those too. And those 162 grain leaded gas checked bullets. I think i got from steinel ammo. Its always really nice when the cheap ppus shoot good

 

[1886lebel]

I shot .264 diameter Hornady 160 gr. bullets in my Moschetto Modello 1891 & 1938 alot and never had any tumble in flight, they shot perfectly fine. The key is to use a flat-base, long round nose bullet such as the one Hornady manufactures.
This link will show you me shooting .264 diameter bullets ... Videos of Shooting a Moschetto Modello 1938 | Gunboards Forums

Patrick

 

[danm55]

Thanks againpatrick. I guess it wouldnt hurt to try to fimd RNFB standard 6.5mm bullets and try em. If not ill use em in my arisaka. I really wish PPU would start making em. I cant believe they dont

 

[1886lebel]

Why not use them in the Type 38, they used flat-base, round nose bullets in their loads until September of 1907 when they switched over to the spitzer type of bulletwith a flat base. I have used the Hornady 160 gr. bullet in my Type 38 with excellent results.

Patrick

 

[mag]

It really has nothing to do with worn bores . You can have a early rifle with a mint bore and still have a very large barrel . The Italians did use several different groove size barrels and then you have to factor in gain twist or not . Also it has to do with what you consider accurate .

 

[GFL775]

Back in the Spring I loaded up a batch with .264 160 grn Hornady RNs and 29 grains of IMR 4064.They seemed accurate enough out of my old M91 long rifle.Of course, accuracy for me was minute of laundry detergent jug at 300yds. I managed to put some holes in it and the dirt was certainly flying around it. I would have at least kept their heads down.

 

[1886lebel]

They verified the diameter of the barrels going from lowest of 6,50- 6,55 - 6,60 to 6.65 mm which was highest. 6,50 to 6,60 was acceptable 6,65 was at the point is unacceptable. If you go to the VISITA ALLE ARMI MOD. 91 page of www.il91.it website it explains how thy verified the different part of the firearms. The period manual is what they used to do this whole explanation verifica91.pdf (il91.it)

Patrick

 

[mag]

Those are bore [ land ] sizes , not groove . There is not a Carcano made with a .262 groove . I have over 40 6.5mm Carcanos , from 1892 to 1944 . I have measured the land and grooves on all of them . I do not need a website for that . All the early rifles run about .271 groove .

 

[148Infantry]

I personally have shot PPU 6.5 ammo out of my M91 Long rifle antique date 1896. Could hit a man sized target at over 500 yards regularly with it. Wasn't printing super tight groups, but for general combat accuracy it seemed to be OK. I don't know if this helps. Like someone else said, just depends on what you consider accurate or are looking to do with your Carcano. Looking for a Camp Perry match rifle, or just plinking milk jugs at 100 yards, 2 different animals. Ya know?
But the short answer to your question is YES you can use .264 bullets in your Carcano, what your results are...well you don't know until you try it!

 

[Venom6]

Lyman #46 shows load data with 100, 120, 140, and 160 gr. .264" bullets, but cautions that rifles with groove diameter above .264" can result in blow-by with starting charges (implying that heavier charges result in obturation - viola!). If you don't have access to that manual but are interested in the powders/charges, respond on this forum.

 

[danm55]

Good info thanks im just gonna be plinking in my yards most of the time so thats good they should work ok. Ill have to try it. Idk if the ppu bullets which sucks cuz thats all u can find rn.

 

[168762]

With ammo prices and especially carcano .268 bullets being hatd to find im wondering. Do .264 bullets ever work well? Maybe if you have a mint bore that isnt worn at all? I have two carcano carbines one ts and one CC with mint bores. if i can shoot .264 bullets in them without tumbling thatd be great. Ive heard some say that they have shot .264s and they worked. I have some lead .268 bullets but the manufacturer told me they dont shoot well in the carbines actually. I could load some up to try but if theres no chance i dont want to waste my time.

I shot my 6.5 Italian rifles and carbine with the .264 bullets, worked well in mine.
VWMAN.

 

[1886lebel]

I personally have shot PPU 6.5 ammo out of my M91 Long rifle antique date 1896. Could hit a man sized target at over 500 yards regularly with it. Wasn't printing super tight groups, but for general combat accuracy it seemed to be OK. I don't know if this helps. Like someone else said, just depends on what you consider accurate or are looking to do with your Carcano. Looking for a Camp Perry match rifle, or just plinking milk jugs at 100 yards, 2 different animals. Ya know?
But the short answer to your question is YES you can use .264 bullets in your Carcano, what your results are...well you don't know until you try it!

Yup, I am not a match rifle shooter at all, I shoot for fun, I could care less about group size, my accuracy is can I hit a man-sized target at different distances from 200 to 1000 meters, my idea is combat accuracy at those distances, you hit it, he is taken out of action.
Everyone has different shooting styles, competition, targets, ways of doing things, etc., to each his own as they see fit, the main key is to have fun and shoot.

Patrick

 

[1886lebel]

These are the loads I use

"All reloading data contained in the following attachment is to be use at your own risk and any failures, mishaps resulting from this data will not be directed towards me, this board or this group”, again these are be “USED AT YOUR OWN RISK", this should be used as a guide to help develop your own loads. I am not responsible for any accidents for using this reloading data.

Each test load was fired in two successive six-shot strings from the prone supported using a front rest at a range of 200 meters using a Beta Master Shooting Chrony® chronograph which was located 15 feet ahead of the muzzle to measure the velocity of the bullet. All test loads above were developed at the Albuquerque Shooting Range Park which is located at an elevation of 6,009 feet above sea level.

 

[BlackPowder]

These are the loads I use

"All reloading data contained in the following attachment is to be use at your own risk and any failures, mishaps resulting from this data will not be directed towards me, this board or this group”, again these are be “USED AT YOUR OWN RISK", this should be used as a guide to help develop your own loads. I am not responsible for any accidents for using this reloading data.

Each test load was fired in two successive six-shot strings from the prone supported using a front rest at a range of 200 meters using a Beta Master Shooting Chrony® chronograph which was located 15 feet ahead of the muzzle to measure the velocity of the bullet. All test loads above were developed at the Albuquerque Shooting Range Park which is located at an elevation of 6,009 feet above sea level.

Thanks for this, Patrick.

Since you tried a number of different powders in these guns, were there any that stood out as particularly sweet or had notable vices?

This sheet is way more informative than an unqualified “I used X amount of Y powder and boy howdy it shot great,” which is what most of these discussions tend to generate, totally lacking context about shooter’s expectations, bullet, rifle used, etc.

 

[1886lebel]

The ones I liked best were the IMR 3031, RamShot TAC, Hodgdon Varget and IMR 4350. I have used the IMR 4350 load with original Italian cupronickel and copper bullets, it absolutely likes this load with them.
The Hodgdon BLC(2) load is too slow and pushing it any faster than what I listed is not accurate at all, it just goes all over the place I personally just found this powder in this cartridge not useful at all.
I have sheets like this one for all the different calibers I use and reload, it is my quick reloading data to use reference

Patrick

I reloaded 12 rounds of 6,5x52 mm; 6 with Italian cupronickel and 6 with Italian Copper bullets with 35.2 grains of original Solenite powder in new PPU brass to shoot the next time I am at the range to try to chronograph them if it is not too cold or windy. I have done this in the past but now want to see how they do in colder weather, my problem is I HATE COLD WEATHER, rather be hotter, the hotter the better LOL

 

[matt167]

My 1936 dated Cavelry Carbine has a mint bore and it hits where I point it shooting PPU commercial but it does not group well. It would hit a man sized target, which is the rifles intentions. Not going to win matches but should hit a steel plate at 100 yards.

I have a few 140gn reloads with 27 and 28gr of BLC-2 loaded to specifications listed by Hornady for the SST bullet that I used. But I have not shot them

 

[schmidt]

My M 38 6.5 has a .271 barrel. Not much wear but rough from some rust. I use sized down 270 cal 130 gr spire point bullets. Sized from .277 to .271 in one pass on my lee aluminum press. It shot 3" 100 yard groups and about 6" groups at 200 yards.If I can do it anybody can. The effort was like sizing a 30-06 case FL.