Finally Able To Shoot My Carcano

[BruceHMX]

For Christmas Santa brought me a Model 38 6.5 Carcano. Being a novice reloader I picked up a box of Hornady 268 dia 160 grn round nose jacketed bullets.

I load reduced so my 10 yr old can enjoy the milsurps without the recoil. Most of my loads consist of 10grs of unique with the lightest bullet I can find. We have had a great time with 30-06's and 303's.

Anyway I loaded up 20 rds for the Carcano and it was a disaster!! Rounds stuck in the bore etc, etc. Then I did my research and found out why this happened. Anyone need some of these Hornady's?

So I started to search for a cast bullet that would fit the bill. Last week I found it. A Lyman 266469 unsized at .266dia. Loaded up 20 rds with unique no buffer. Shot it yesterday. Accurate with no keyholes. I didn't slug my bore but slugs recovered have nice grooves in them. Hopefully my son will be able to try it out this weekend.

[3006guns]

Not suprised that the j-words got stuck.....it takes a fair amount of force to shove them through the barrel. I think more than one of us made the same gaff in the past. It's all a learning experience.

That's why I like cast so much. It's very forgiving, accurate and a darn sight cheaper. With a little searching, you can find molds that will give you different boolit weights for your Carcano and really have some fun.

[Bret4207]

Bruce, sound like a good excuse to buy your son an Arisaka. "But honey, I had all these bullets anyways and..."

[adrians]

bruce, if you would like to sell those .268's i would be interested.
i think you made a good choice with the 266469 it does real good in my 2 italians.
no sizing required...
you probably have this data already but hear it is anyhoo.
from the Lyman Cast Boolit Handbook..
i like the tried and trusted 16gr of 2400 ......

[BruceHMX]

Thank you all for the comments. As a novice I really appreciate them. Yes I want to get rid of the bullets no need for them. Question please explain the benefit/difference in using 2400 vice Unique? Others have emailed me with same info. Am I doing something wrong with unique and light bullets? Would it be cheaper and same result? Arisaka yes LOL But looking at a 7.7 that way I can shoot my 32 S&W Long's thru it. But another question does the 6.5 Arisaka shoot the 266's well too? I knew I should have never sold that 44 Cav carbine years ago.

[leadman]

Unique is a very good powder for low recoil loads. The velocity ceiling is hit sooner than with 2400 but your goal seems to be met with Unique so have at it.

[Shooter6br]

i use the Lyman 266469 in 6.5 Jap . The bored is closser to .268 but i get " minute of deer" accurate. I use Unique and 4759 . May try 2400 loads

[corvette8n]

I bought some .277 cast (for .270 rifle) I then sized to .269, used 10 gr of Unique.
Like shooting a .22.

[Nora]

I shoot an old Herter's 26145 (about a 98 % clone to the 266469) that i picked up at a gun show. 12 grains of 2400 work the best with my M91 carbine. The boolit only drops at .267, but will run it threw a .269 size die to seat the GC, and will normally print around 1 3/4" supported at 50 yards.

Nora

[Multigunner]

Would the progressive twist rifling be the culprit so far as stuck bullets go?
A tough jacket probably would resist the change in pitch of the land engraving, so when a very light charge ran out of steam halfway to the muzzle friction would bring the bullet to a halt.

Not sure whether thats a concern with the short rifle barrels, but would be with the older long rifle barrels.

[jonk]

Hornady has a set of very specific loads for the .268 bullet and you shouldn't go outside those loads.

For cast, slug your bore. If you can get away with one of the Lyman .266 designs, great; I use the midsouth cruise missile.