The biggest change to the Carcano Model 1891 rifle family line came in its shift to the 7.35x51mm Carcano cartridge, a slightly shorter round than the German 7.92mm Mauser with a tapered neck and a conical bullet. Its length was roughly that of the less powerful 6.5mm cartridge it intended to replace, these given a more rounded bullet. The move to the 7.35mm cartridge was essentially forced upon the Italian Army when it was found that their 6.5mm Carcanos failed to provide the stopping power at range in actions across Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia). To make the most beneficial use of available 6.5mm rifle stocks, the Italians decided to simply rechamber the rifles to the new 7.35mm specification. The new internals would be mated to a longer 21-inch barrel for increased accuracy and the culmination of the project would produce the "Carcano Model 1938 Short Rifle" introduced in 1938. The only other drastic refinement of the original Model 1891 lay in the rear sight which was now fixed to 300 meters. As can be surmised, the shift to the 7.35mm cartridge also produced the standard M1891/38TS and M1891/38 Para (short carbine) forms in 7.35mm chambering.
Despite the move to the 7.35mm cartridge, the primary Italian rifle stock going into World War 2 remained the 6.5mm version as retooling never reached the expected levels and the more powerful 7.35mm cartridge was never fully suitable for the internal stresses of the aged Model 1891 rifle. This naturally placed Italian infantry at a major tactical disadvantage when compared to her contemporaries in the conflict - the Italians lacking a true strong service rifle at either short, medium or long ranges. As such, Italian authorities ordered the stop to production of 7.35mm rifles and shifted back to the proven 6.5mm rifles for the remainder of the 1930s and much World War 2 (these becoming the "Fucile di Fanteria Modello 1891/38" and the slightly revised "Fucile di Fanteria Modello 1891/41"). As such, this produced a logistical nightmare and managed to worsen an already unfavorable situation. The shift in production during wartime meant that the two versions saw concurrent use in World War 2. In some cases, frontline 7.35mm rifles were being returned home and replaced with proven, but less effective, stock of 6.5mm rifle.
The Model 38 Short Rifle naturally spawned the requisite carbine form in the "Carcano Model 1938 Calvary Carbine". Like other carbines before it, the type featured the folding bayonet and a fixed rear sight ranged out to 200 meters. Model 1938 Cavalry Carbines were produced from nothing more than existing stocks of prior issued carbines being simply rechambered for the newer 7.35mm cartridge.
The evolution of the Model 1891 was not complete for, in an interesting move brought about by wartime stresses, the Model 1938 Carbine was further modified to accept the German Mauser 7.92mm rifle cartridge in 1944. By 1944, the war had taken a turn for the worse regarding Axis aspirations. The shift to the larger round was required to keep Italian forces loyal to the Axis in play. Only a single Italian factory took part in the rechambering process that saw the internal workings of the Model 1938 Carbine revised to accept the new cartridge. The alteration did, however, manage to nullify use of charger-loaded ammunition and force the operator to manually reload his rifle one cartridge at a time. Additionally, the larger German cartridge produced a noticeable increase in recoil and undue stresses to the action. The program became nothing more than a desperate attempt to arm Italians continuing to fight alongside the Germans after September of 1943 (the official Italian surrender).
The Modello 1891 was only ever officially adopted by the Italian Army. However, did this not restrict its unofficial use elsewhere around the globe. Operators included Albania, Bulgaria and Finland (in its Winter War with the Soviet Union). Due to their wartime relationship, it was not unheard of for German soldiers to take on stocks of Carcano rifles during World War 2 when standard-issue supplies proved limited. In 1905, the Japanese Empire received Carcano rifles from Italy and these were appropriately modified to fire the local 6.5x50mm Arisaka cartridge. Some 60,000 were believed produced.
The Mannlicher-Carcano rifle was in constant production from 1892 through 1945 and served as the standard Italian long gun of both World Wars and lesser conflicts in between. Many private hands sought to obtain the rifle for sport hunting. In this way, the rifle has been featured in the hands of rebel fighters as recently as the 2011 Libyan Civil War.
The Carcano Model 1891 rifle holds an aside in American history as being the rifle Lee Harvey Oswald used (a Fucile di Fanteria Modello 1891/38 purchased via mail order under an alias) to assassinate US President John F. Kennedy on November 22nd, 1963.
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