Carcano M1891

Following the advent of the first smokeless cartridges and its defeated attempts in colonizing Ethiopia, the newly formed Italian state began to look for new rifle designs to replace their black powder arsenal. In the end, Italy would settle upon Salvatore Carcano’s Fucile Modello 1891 magazine-fed bolt-action rifle, making use of the 6.5x52mm Carcano cartridge. The M1891 (often referred to just as M91) was designed at the Turin Army Arsenal during 1890 and had many advanced features for the time, including an intermediate cartridge, a six round en-bloc clip and magazine based upon Ferdinand Mannlicher’s design, and an Italian bred bolt design. In addition to this, some would be fitted with scopes during the first World War. The M1891 was truly advanced for its time. The rifle would go on to have a long service history from 1891 into the 1940s. The M1891 would be put through its first trials against the Ethiopians in 1895 through 1896, and though the Italian army would lose this war, it would prove superior in the following Boxer Rebellion and the Italo-Turkish War. The primary Italian rifle throughout World War I, it would be pitted against Austro-Hungary and Germany in the rugged terrain of the Alps. Although it would see less frequent use as the Italian army opted for the shorter, lighter M91/24 and M91/38, the venerable M1891 would still see some use in World War II. Even over a century after being designed, the rifle can be found in the hands of insurgents and rebels in the Middle East. Numerous variants would come to pass M1891 by, from the Cavalleria and Truppe Speciali versions during World War I to the rearsenaled versions like the M91/24, the M91/28, and the successor M91/38 that would see major fighting in the second World War. Over 3.5 million would be manufactured by various factories until the late 1930s, and it’s become a very common and popular rifle within the consumer market, despite the rising cost and scarcity of 6.5 Carcano.