deerslayer said:
Was returning all the guns to their proper places following my vacation, and happened to find a firearm I'd never seen before in a closet.
It's a magazine fed, bolt-action rifle, date 1939, and the only caliber markings are "CAL .7.35" just behind the rear sight post. I can't make heads or tails of most of the other markings, but I'm pretty positive it's U.S. made.
Update- made a closer inspection. It's actually Italian, manufactured by Terni, chambered in 7.35mm. Think it has any value to it?
From the sound of it you have yourself an Italian .35mm Carcano M38 short rifle.
In 1938, it was decided to replace 6.5x52 ammunition with more powerful 7.35x52 ammunition, based on the recent experience in North Africa. New pattern of the short Carcano rifle, adopted in 1938 as M38, was technically similar to M91 rifle, but had shorter barrel length, chambered for 7.35mm ammunition, and had fixed rear sights, set to 300 meters range. Since 1938, many of the 6.5mm M91 long rifles were shortened to the M38 length, which was much more convenient to carry and maneuver. With the outbreak of the Second World war Italy was unable to supply enough 7.35mm weapons and ammunition, so, in 1940, it was decided to return back to the 6.5x52 ammunition as a standard. Consequently, many of 7.35mm M38 rifles issued to the Black Shirt Militias or were rebarelled to the 6.5mm.
Some of the M38 rifles, issued to the African corps, also were chambered for the German 7.92x57 Mauser ammunition.
After the WW2 Italian Army replaced its Carcano rifles with American M1 Garand semiautomatic rifles, initially supplied from US and then produced in Italy under license. Many of surviving Carcano rifles were subsequently exported from Italy and sold as military surplus.
One historical note regarding Carcano rifles is that one such rifle, sold as surplus in USA, and fitted with 4X telescope sight, was apparently used by someone Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate President of USA J. F. Kennedy on November 22nd, 1963, in Dallas, TX.
How the hell do you own a rifle that you've never seen before. If that the case, you need to give me some of them.
Carcanos go for okay prices. They aren't worth much because of the lack of 7.35mm or 6.5X52mm ammunition. Most folks that I know that own them are WWII reenactors. They mostly do Italian Partisan.