Naked Snake

I was at a nearby gun shop to pick up some ammo for my AR-15 when I noticed a sporterized Carcano (modified for hunting as opposed to the original military configuration). The Carcano is an Italian-designed bolt-action rifle, most infamous as being the type of weapon used to strike down JFK, and this tragic incident apparently gave it an undeserved reputation as "cheap Wop junk" (excuse the slur). Well, as a result, most sitting in gun shops are marked for low prices and sold as unshootable due to rumors that they are unsafe (they aren't) or are generally poor quality in general (they aren't).

This particular example is somewhat uncommon. It is a Model 38 in 7.35x51 Carcano, a cartridge intended to replace the 6.5x52 Carcano (they share the same case, 7.35 is merely modified to accept the larger diameter projectile). It was manufactured by an Italian state-run arsenal known as Terni in 1939, the first year of a production run of only 2 years (1939-1940). After 1940, they decided to re-adopt 6.5 due to supply issues. Thus, they stopped making Model 38s and started making them in that pattern, yet in 6.5, calling it the 91/38. A lot of 7.35 Model 38s were given to Finland as aid against the Russians, which probably confused the hell out of the Finns. "What do we do with this rifle that shoots ammo we don't use?" so they just ended up giving them to people who MIGHT NEED a rifle as opposed to ABSOLUTELY NEEDED one.

I figured it would be a neat piece to hang on my ammo cabinet, so I asked the guy if he would take $50 for it instead of $75, he did, so after filling out Form 4473 and getting a NICS instant backround check run on me, I walked away with it in about 5 minutes.

Right side

Left side