6.5 grendle vs 6.5 carcano!!!

[nekshot]

Does any one know other than stats what is the diff between these. I pulled a 6.5-06 barrel that I got tired of and am seriously thinking of shorten the chamber end and put it on a carcano and chamber it to carcano chamber. With a true bore that cartridge must shooting with more authority than the books advocate, and that brings me back to the grendle. People cheer the grendle and snob the 6.5 carcano and I believe in a correct bore and tight spec chamber that cartridge will do better. I get the ar reason for the grendle but I am talking of a bolt, single shot or other application.

[MT Gianni]

I cannot imagine anyone getting tired of a 6.5x06 but if I were going to shorten one i would chamber it in 6.5x257 Improved. Tough to find a more efficient cartridge per Ackley.

[nekshot]

I know doesn't sound right but I had it for 40 years and the twist was wrong for my interest now. It really would shoot 100 gr with perfection and that would be up the carcano's alley.

[Yodogsandman]

Could be that the lower velocities and the gain twist rifling turn people away from the 6.5 Carcano.

[Doc Highwall]

You could shorten it more and make it a 260 Remington.

[leadman]

You must have a 1 in 10 twist for your 6.5-06. I had a "gunsmith" fit a barrel to a Mauser action many years ago. Told him I wanted a fast twist to stabilize the 140gr bullets. Like your mine likes the 100gr, but not the 140gr. An interesting thing happened with this gun at the range one day. As I was shooting I noticed the brass was stretching and cracking. Not a hot load at all. Found that the barrel was unscrewing itself!. Hi quality work there!

[vzerone]

Some say the 6.5 Carcano is the perfect balance in a cartridge for the 6.5 caliber. Actually the sleeper is the 6.5 Jap. Another cartridge that is overlooked today is the 6.5x54MS although it is rather close to the 6.5 Carcano. The trouble with the 260 Remington is they wanted to shoehorn it into a short action so two things, the throats are too short as is the magazine. Remington did the same thing with the 6.5 Rem Mag. Their 7mm-08 suffers the same fate. At least with the 6.5 Carcano and 6.5 Mannlicher you don't have to load the bullet into the powder space.

[bruce drake]

I recommend the shift to the 6.5x57 first and then if you don't care for it, then to the 260 Rem. The Carcano and the Grendel re-chambering would also require adjustments to the bolt as well to deal with the smaller diameter cartridges. The first two suggested chamberings don't require expensive bolt adjustments.

[Jack Stanley]

I've got a box of bullets Hornady made for the Carcano around here somewhere and they measure .268" . That might be interesting unless all your ammo is hand loaded .

Jack

[Doc Highwall]

I just picked up 1000 Hornady 6.5mm, 123 grain SST bullets for my 6.5mm Br and 260 Remington today. I hope to get to shoot some of them shortly.

[Tackleberry41]

I think the more likely issue with the Carcano is that it was only ever chambered in the one gun, a not so popular one. And since there are not many weapons chambered in that round, the ammo companies put little effort into it. A self fulfilling thing. And it does not help being old, the ammo made tends to be a bit wimpy. It is not hard to imagine in a good rifle with less conservative load data it works just as good as anything else. But as others have pointed out, there are other versions of the same thing that are easier to get brass or ammo for. So few would put the effort into getting a chamber reamer for 6.5 carcano, when theres 6.5 grendel, or etc thats way easier to get.

I like 'weird' stuff as I am told. So something like Carcano would appeal to me, but not something I would go and custom build. And the rifles are not very common, and like most surplus many are questionable on accuracy. A friend of mine thinks I am weird to reload 7.62x54r. But he has a hard time arguing with the results I get. Will it do anything more than a 308? No not really, but I do not have a 308 bolt gun, but I do have 2 Mosins. I was asked why I would chamber a gun I built in 30-30, when there is 300AAC etc on the market. Economics, I already have all the stuff to load 30-30, I have nothing for a 300AAC.

[CTone03]

I have no experience with loading or shooting the Carcano, but I can see that the case rim is close to the Grendel, with the case length of the Carcano being longer. Bullet weight for the Grendel is not in the same class.

I can tell you that the Grendel is very easy to load for and make accurate, and load data and accuracy nodes are well known. It cannot be hotrodded, so if you're looking for extra velocity you need a longer barrel.

[mtnman31]

I would love to find a Carcano barrel for my Encore. I feel it has great potential in a well made barrel.

[leadhead]

I have 14 different Carcano's and shoot all of them... Not all Carcano had gain twist barrels..
The problem with them is the bore diameter is .268 dia. and finding bullets that fit the bore
is almost impossible. That's why I shoot cast bullets that measure .270 dia. and they shoot
great. No problem hitting a 10 inch steel plate at 200 yards off the bench. I love the Carcano.
Denny

[Optimist]

Interesting thread. I've got a Carcano in the shop that I'm working up a load for. Appreciate the guidance.

[Rick459]

i have a carcano action that none of the gunsmiths here in the L.A. area willing to rebarrel it for me. they say it is a metric whitworth threading and they do not want to attempt it. i even had Dave Kiff at PTG make me a chamber reamer and a headspace guage. so i took a rusted up 7tcu barrel for my contender cut off most of the barrel and made a stub out of the rest. had a 15 inch 6.5 barrel and threaded it to the stub but after maching it and chambering into a 6.5x52 carcano i ended with a useable 12 1/2 inches. i have only shot cast bullets using the Lee 6.5 170 gr. mold machined down to drop a 148 grn. bullet with gas check. i can hit steel at 220 yds. i tried to upload some pictures from my phone but no luck. so if any one wants a photo i need some where to text them.