Editing Carcano (section)

==History==
Although this rifle is often called "Mannlicher–Carcano", especially in American parlance, it was officially the 6.5×52mm Mod. 91 rifle. 
The "[[Ferdinand Mannlicher|Mannlicher]]" title came from the [[Clip_(firearms)#En_bloc|en bloc]] loading clips system, having nothing to do with the action itself, which was a modified [[Gewehr 1888]] action (which itself was a combination of an action inspired from the [[Mauser Model 1871]] with the Mannlicher en bloc loading); in Italy the rifle was commonly reported by army and civilian sources as "Carcano-Mannlicher" since the action engineer is usually named before the magazine designer's in Italian nomenclatures (like with Vetterli-Vitali and others).<ref>{{cite website |last1=Bianco |first1=Diego|title=Nomenclatures|publisher=Carcano Compendium|url=https://www.carcanorifle.com/pronunciations |language=en}}</ref> Some  Italian sources also report the name "Mauser-Parravicino", after General Gustavo Parravicino of the Infantry Shooting School and head of the commission that recommended the Mod. 91 adoption.
Italian soldiers simply called the rifle as the "il novantuno" (the ninety-one).<ref name="Rottman">{{cite book |last1=Rottman |first1=Gordon L. |title=The Big Book of Gun Trivia: Everything you want to know, don’t want to know, and don’t know you need to know |date=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78200-949-8 |pages=203−205 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qEnDCwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>

Until 1938, all M91 rifles and carbines were chambered for the rimless 6.5×52mm Mod. 91/95 cartridge, using a round-nose metal case bullet of 160 grains weight at approximately 2,000–2,400&nbsp;ft/s muzzle velocity, depending upon barrel length. At least one small arms author noted inconsistencies in powder types in arsenal-loaded 6.5×52mm military ammunition, often with different powder types and ammunition lots intermixed within a single clip of ammunition,<ref>Dunlap, Roy F., ''Ordnance Went Up Front'', Samworth Press (1948), pp. 47: Dunlap, a small arms ordnance expert serving with the Foreign Weapons section in the Royal Ordnance Corps, broke down many Italian 6.5×52 mm cartridges, and sometimes found different components in the same rifle clip—up to four different types of smokeless powder, using different size flash holes for the primer in an attempt to regulate the burning speed and resultant velocity.</ref> but most probably was inspecting a mixed batch of different type of cartridges. Modern collectors checking clips from the same batch of mod.91/95 ammo can verify by themselves that the type of smokeless powder is always the same (Solenite in hollow cylinders) and that the average weight of the charge is  35 grains.<ref>{{cite book|first = P.Taviani|last=C.Zambon|title=Munizioni Militari d'Italia 1861-1946|year=2020|publisher = TZ editore}}</ref>

Carcanos shot several different kind of ammunition, with specific purposes and different kind of smokeless powders to achieve the best results. Some were inherited by the Vetterli loads (like the "Mitraglia" grapeshot bullets for crowd control), while some were created during WW1 to help soldiers in the field (explosive, armor piercing bullets and tracers). <ref>{{cite book|first = P.Taviani|last=C.Zambon|title=Munizioni Militari d'Italia 1861-1946|year=2020|publisher = TZ editore}}</ref>

Two government ammo factories (Bologna and Capua) and two major private producers (S.M.I  and B.P.D.), along with several subcontractors, produced ammo for the Italian armed forces, with strict controls on each produced batch, for materiels, consistency and accuracy.<ref>{{cite news|first = Ruggero|last=Pettinelli|title=Il Fucile Utensile|year=2020|publisher = Armi e Tiro}}</ref>

After reports of inadequate performance at both short and long ranges<ref>Dunlap, Roy F., ''Ordnance Went Up Front'', Samworth Press (1948), pp. 47-48: The 6.5mm Carcano had reportedly proved inadequate in stopping charges of native tribesmen for a number of years, prompting various stop-gap solutions such as employing brass-jacketed multiple projectile or frangible explosive bullets, apparently for use against tribesmen in colonial conflicts.</ref><ref>Weeks, John, ''World War II Small Arms'', New York: Galahad Books, p. 47: the 6.5mm's blunt bullet and relatively low velocity also gave poor long range performance in machine guns, compared to the cartridges used by most other nations.</ref> during WW1 and the campaigns in [[Italian North Africa]] (1924–1934), and the [[Second Italo-Abyssinian War]] (1935-1936), the Italian Army introduced a new cartridge in [[7.35×51mm Carcano|7.35×51mm]] in 1937, followed by a new short rifle in 1938, the Fucile Modello 1938. In addition to the slightly larger caliber, Italian ordnance designers introduced a [[Spitzer (bullet)|spitzer]]-type bullet for the new cartridge, with the tip filled with aluminum to produce an unstable (tumbling) projectile upon impact in soft tissue (a design most likely copied from the [[.303 British]] Mk VII bullet).

However, the war started before the Italian government was able to successfully mass-produce the new arms in adequate quantities to rearm the whole army, and in 1940, all rifle and ammunition production reverted to 6.5&nbsp;mm. Despite some authors' claims, no 7.35&nbsp;mm Mod. 38 rifles nor carbines were ever re-barrelled to the old 6.5×52mm caliber. Some Italian troops serving on the Russian front were armed with 7.35&nbsp;mm Mod. 1938 rifles, but exchanged them in 1942 for 6.5×52&nbsp;mm arms.<ref name="Miller">{{cite book|first = David|last=Miller|title=Fighting Men of World War II, Volume I: Axis Forces--Uniforms, Equipment, and Weapons (Fighting Men of World War II)|year=2007|publisher = Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-0277-5|page=369}}</ref>

[[File:8mm, 7.35mm, 6.5mm.JPG|thumb|upright|left|(Left to Right) 7.92mm Mauser (also called [[8mm Mauser]]), [[6.5×52mm Carcano|6.5mm Carcano]], and [[7.35×51mm Carcano|7.35mm Carcano]] ]]

Approximately 94,500 7.35mm Mod. 38 rifles were shipped to Finland, where they were known as ''Terni'' carbines (from the [[Terni]] stamp with the royal crown, the seal of the ''Regia fabbrica d’armi di Terni'' arsenal where they were manufactured).<ref name="jaeger">''The Finnish Army 1918–1945: Rifles'', Part 6 [http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/RIFLES6.htm Three Mausers and One Terni] Jaeger Platoon Website</ref> They arrived too late for the [[Winter War]], but they were used by security and line-of-communications troops during the [[continuation War]], though some frontline troops were issued the weapon.<ref name="jaeger"/> According to reports, the Finns disliked the rifle.<ref name="jaeger"/> With its non-standard 7.35&nbsp;mm caliber, it was problematic to keep frontline troops supplied with good quality, or any ammunition at all, and its non-adjustable rear sight (fixed for 200 m) made it ill-suited for use in precision shooting at the varied ranges encountered by Finnish soldiers during the conflict.<ref name="jaeger"/> Despite this, it's worth noticing that the Finns themselves modified the fixed optics on the rifle to operate from a range of 200 m to only 150 m.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/m38-ts-carcano-carbine-brilliant-or-rubbish|title=M38 TS Carcano Carbine: Brilliant or Rubbish?|first=Ian|last=McCollum|website=forgottenweapons.com|date=August 1, 2017|access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref> Whenever possible, Finnish soldiers discarded the weapon in favor of rifles acquired on the battlefield,<ref name="jaeger"/> including standard models of captured Soviet-made [[Mosin–Nagant]] rifles. The latter had the advantage of using commonly available [[7.62×54mmR]] ammunition. By the end of the [[Continuation War]], the remaining Mod. 1938 7.35&nbsp;mm rifles were issued to the Finnish Navy, as well as anti-aircraft, coastal defense, and other second-line (home front) troops.<ref name="jaeger"/>

In 1941, the Italian military returned to a long-barrelled infantry rifle once again (slightly shorter than the original M91), the Carcano M91/41.<ref name="Gazette"/> True sniper versions never existed, but in World War I a few rifles were fitted with telescopic lenses and issued for service use (World War II scoped rifles were strictly prototypes).

Several lots of Moschetti M91/38 TS (special troops' carbines) were chambered for the German 7.92×57mm Mauser sS heavy ball round. This modification entered service in 1945, just before the Axis capitulation.<ref name="Gazette"/> According to Rottman, some were converted in 1941, possibly to make use of German ammunition stocks in North Africa, but this is basically an unsubstantiated rumor. The only batches of converted guns were produced in early 1945, with different conversion methods being developed both by Krieghoff and by F.N.A. Brescia. These guns most likely never saw combat, despite unconfirmed claims that some of these conversions were issued to the German [[Volkssturm]] ("People's Militia").<ref name="Rottman" /> Some of these conversions don't require an en bloc clip, but are loaded with the standard German five-round stripper clips.<ref name="Rottman" /> , while Krieghoff's used a wooden block in the magazine in order to allow single loading, while F.N.A. Brescia developed a proprietary en-bloc clip for their conversions. <ref>{{cite book|first = Ruggero|last = Pettinelli|title = Le armi della Repubblica Sociale|date= November 2022|publisher= Armi e Tiro}}</ref>

[[Nazi Germany|German]] forces captured large quantities of Carcanos after Italy's capitulation in September 1943. It was the most commonly issued rifle to Volkssturm units in late 1944 and 1945.<ref name = "Yelton">{{cite book|first = David|last = Yelton|title = Hitler's Home Guard: Volkssturmman|year = 2006|url = https://archive.org/details/hitlershomeguard00yelt|url-access = limited|publisher = Osprey Publishing|isbn = 1-84603-013-7|page = [https://archive.org/details/hitlershomeguard00yelt/page/n34 62]}}</ref>

After World War II, Italy replaced its Carcano rifles first with British [[Lee–Enfield]]s and then with the U.S. .30 caliber (7.62&nbsp;mm) [[M1 Garand]] [[semi-automatic rifle]],<ref name="Gazette">{{cite magazine|title=Le Carcano modèle 1891 et ses dérivés|language=fr|pages=25–29|magazine=La Gazette des Armes|date=December 1993|url=http://fr.1001mags.com/parution/gazette-des-armes/numero-239-decembre-1993/page-28-29-texte-integral|issue=239 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214064513/http://fr.1001mags.com/parution/gazette-des-armes/numero-239-decembre-1993/page-28-29-texte-integral |archive-date=14 December 2018}}</ref> which the Italians labeled the '''Model 1952 (M52)''. Finland sold all of its approximately 74,000 remaining 7.35&nbsp;mm M91/38 Carcano rifles on the surplus market. As a consequence, large quantities of surplus Carcanos were sold in the United States and Canada beginning in the 1950s. In Italy, the [[Polizia di Stato]] and the [[Carabinieri]] retained the Moschetto and T.S. carbines <ref name="Gazette"/> retiring them from service in 2001 and 1981 respectively. Captured 6.5mm Carcano rifles were used by Greek forces post-war, with ammunition supplied by U.S. Western Cartridge Co. Some were also converted to [[6.5×54mm Mannlicher–Schönauer]], one of the standard cartridges of the Greek military at the time.

During the [[2011 Libyan Civil War|Libyan Civil War]] in 2011, many rebels went into battle with their personally-owned weapons, including old bolt-action rifles and shotguns. Of these, Carcano-style rifles and carbines have been the most frequently observed style of bolt-action rifle. They were predominantly used by rebels in the [[Nafusa Mountains]]. These old weapons saw combat once again due to the rebels' limited access to modern firearms. Additionally, some Libyan rebels preferred to use their familiar hunting weapons over the more modern, yet unfamiliar, assault rifles available.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSRYm-fvs0A| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720114034/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSRYm-fvs0A&gl=US&hl=en&amp;has_verified=1| archive-date=2011-07-20 | url-status=dead|title=YouTube|website=www.youtube.com|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Inferior Arms Hobble Rebels in Libya War |first=C.J. |last=Chivers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/world/africa/21rebels.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 20, 2011}}</ref> According to Al-Fitouri Muftah, a member of the rebel military council overseeing the western mountain front, as many as 1 in 10 rebels in the region were armed with World War II-era weapons.<ref>{{cite news |title=Libyan rebels make gains against Gaddafi forces in western mountains |first=David |last=Smith |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/12/libya-rebels-fighting-near-tripoli |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=July 12, 2011 |access-date=August 26, 2011}}</ref>