6.5x52 Carcano: reloading and bullet size/diamter considerations

Reloading
1

Eclectic brain dump follows!

6.5x52 Carcano: reloading and bullet size/diamter considerations

I read a post on Reddit, someone looking for 6.5×52mm Carcano ammo, so I thought I’d post on the topic here.

I am not going to share any load data, because that’s common, boring and I haven’t started working on it yet, but I will talk about bullet sizes. Because bullet sizing for Carcano seems to be the trickiest bit of the entire process. I will test some of these hypotheses at some stage, but for now here’s what I have.

The typical “it shoots like shit” feedback could potentially be explained by what seems like an undersized projectiles. The 6.5 in 6.5x52mm is not in fact 6.5mm.

The first bit of evidence we have to measure against is:

2018-08-09_00-31-25%203
Current stock is actually 0, because I bought the last one LOL. Moving on!

At this stage, we already know that anyone trying to use 6.5mm projectiles is somewhat undersized, because 0.267" converts to 6.8mm.

Now to verify, I have a few pulled milsurp projectiles and I’ve measure them.

cover

Diameter (mm)

  • 6.78
  • 6.79
  • 6.75
  • 6.76
  • 6.81
  • 6.76
  • 6.77
  • 6.78
  • 6.76
  • 6.76
  • 6.73
  • 6.78
  • 6.80
  • 6.76
  • 6.76
  • 6.75
  • 6.76
  • 6.76
  • 6.77
  • 6.74
    Average diameter: 6.7665mm
    Could actually be 6.8 when factoring in measuring equipment error margin

Difference of 0.2665mm (6.7665mm - 6.5mm), seems like a lot, to be honest. Or even bigger if going off 6.8mm.

The complicated part is that there are no projectiles in this diameter, unless you are buying projectiles specifically made for Carcano. However, uncommon and very expensive. I wanted to try them, but I am certainly not buying any more. The other alternative is casting using correct diameter moulds - my go to option, for all hard to find or obsolete cartridges.

Moral of the story:

  • This is an obsolete old cartridge.
  • Ammo can be found, but it’s not worth the money and very expensive for what it is.
  • Do your research and use the correctly sized projectiles.

N.B

  • If anyone is interesting, average weight of the above sample is: 160.795 grains
  • I will be working up loads to try and match the sights, so sending them out pretty fast. I will be learning to powder coat, instead of lube or gas checking, since this seems to be the best option for me (chaper than gas checks and less manual effort than lube).

That’s it for now, will update as I go.

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G’day mate,
The lack of a suitable projectile for many years is why the Carcano gained an undeserved reputation for inaccuracy. Since the advent of Hornadys .267, 160g pill we are seeing a surge of interest in this old warhorse, with a few Mauser fans getting their nose out of joint after losing to a FAT 41. Another problem was the Carcano’s dislike of short projectiles, so 100g pills would often jam during cycling. The last lot of PPU ammo I bought was $24 a box, not unreasonable given the cost of some stuff, but reloading is definitely the way to go for cost and accuracy. Your measurements of .2665 are correct for WW2 military ammo, this is also the nominal groove diameter for Carcano barrels, gain twist or not. Cheers.

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3

CBE make a 150gn .268 mold that is a ripper in the swede, so should be good in the Carcano also. I have just bought a CBE .258 for my 25-303, which I may also try paper patching upto .270 for my Carcano, hope it works.

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I have a Carcano mold. I need to see what it is, I am like 90% sure it’s from CBE.

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5

Your laughing if its .268! If it’s the 150gn one, it’s about 28.5mm long, a real cruise missile! Very accurate in the swede…