Ballistics3

[John Ritchson]

Greetings:

Here is some more info on the many faults and defects of the war-time production M38 Mannlicher Carcano for your edification and hopefully understanding of just how bad of a weapon it truely is.

Proper twist is an absolute requirement for bullet stability leading to down range accuracy. Heavier,(longer) bullets need a faster twist for in-flight stability and smaller lighter bullets require a slower twist. When the M38 Carcano was first developed, it was chambered for a 7.35mm cartridge which was the same case as the 6.5mm but with the neck expanded to accomodate the larger 7.35mm bullet. The 7.35mm barrel was cut for a 1 in 10" turn twist which was just fine for this bullet. However, and here is the problem, sometime around the beginning of WWII, the Italians decided not to proceed with the retooling for the 7.35mm and instead went back to the 6.5mm bullet. Now the original 6.5mm barrels on the model 91 Carcanos were cut with a progressive or gain twist starting with a 1 in 19" turn at the breech and ending with a 1 in 8" turn twist at the muzzle. Such barrels are far superior IMO, to a standard cut barrel which is why I think the Italian National Shooting Team still uses the M91s in competition match shooting, but when the M38 Carcanos were rebarreled to 6.5mm, only a very few were rebarreled with a gain twist barrel, probably only until what existing stock was left was used up, and the rest composing the vast majority of all M38 Carcanos ever made were fitted with standard rifled barrels which unless the gun factories retooled their groove cutters to the faster 1 in 7" turn twist which is optimum for the 6.5mm bullet, they would have produced the slower 1 in 8.5" to a 1 in 10" turn twist, and I have seen no evidence that such retooling ever took place.

On another issue, during wartime production, the gun factories were under extream pressure to produce the massive number of firearms required to prosecute the war. As a result the factory gunsmiths could not simply shut down production to perform basic maintenance on their machines resulting in a situation where the cutting tools would become dull and start [Hogging] the steel producing a wide variation in bore diameters. Also, they were unable to properly finish their production models resulting in sloppy actions, poor bedding, crowning and improper headspacing.

Such weapons under the right circumstances could be as dangerous to the shooter as the target resulting in cases of catastrophic breech failure in which the weapon could and would literally blow-up in the shooters face. As a matter of fact, if memory serves, it wasn't until the 1990s that my friend Dave Emory who is the chief ballistican for Hornady Arms was able to produce a bullet that can be safely fired from a war-time production M38 Carcano, provided of course one can find one in fairly good shape. However, I would still strongly recommend that anyone contemplating using a M38 carcano to have it checked out by a competent gunsmith before loading and firing it as in the event of a cartridge or primer rupture or a condition of excessive breech pressure due to improper headspacing such a shooter will most definently notice the after-effects.

At any rate, this snafu with respect to the production of this rifle is just one more reason why the M38 Carcano, with the possible exception of the Japanese Arisaka, is concidered by many in my trade to be the worst rifle ever made, and all the LNers can say about it is it was good enough to do the job which has got to be the weakest arguement I've ever heard.

Equipped with this rifle, a shooter of the caliber of LHO on his best day couldn't have hit the water if he shot it off a boat, much less accomplish what the WC said he did.

Respectfully:

[George Bollschweiler]

Mr. Ritchson

From the posts so far you seem to be the right person when ballistic or weapon

knowledge is needed.

Back in 1963 what sniper rifle was the most sophisticated concernig, accuracy,

velocity and low noice that was on the market including rifles for special army

units or else?

Because there are so many diffrent statments about the number of shoots heart

at Dealey Plaza, that IMO the shooters may used weapons that were not that noisy.

Regards,

[John Ritchson]

Mr. Ritchson

From the posts so far you seem to be the right person when ballistic or weapon

knowledge is needed.

Back in 1963 what sniper rifle was the most sophisticated concernig, accuracy,

velocity and low noice that was on the market including rifles for special army

units or else?

Because there are so many diffrent statments about the number of shoots heart

at Dealey Plaza, that IMO the shooters may used weapons that were not that noisy.

Regards,

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Greetings Goerge:

Many shooter's including military shooters from the US used the pre-1964 Model 70 Winchester Bolt-Action rifle chambered to fire the .30-06 cartridge or the newer more powerfull .300 Winchester Magnum cartridge. Also, the Remington Model 700 Bolt-Action rifle saw wide popularity in this area.

John Browning produced some excellent rifles when he relocated to Belgium and

and started or helped start the FN company.

The Austrian Made 6.5x54mm Mannlicher Schoenauer was/is an excellect rifle

as well as the 6.5x55mm Swedish Mauser.

Virtually any well made rifle could be fitted with a sonic suppressor which would cover the muzzel crack thus rendering it more difficult to locate the shooter's position, thus allowing the shooter a critical few moments to change position or exit the area/kill-zone.

I posted some past articles on this forum in this area which should still be available along with some photos.

Respectfully: