Need some load data for 6.5 Carcano

[redbear705]

Hi All!....

Just got a 6.5 Carcano that is in pretty good shape.

I am wanting to find some loads for cast boolits.....I have done a search on site here for the 6.5 loads and only a few posts have anything about that particular load....

I also have been checking out the powder manufactures websites for info on shooting lead from the carcano but can only find loads for the jword bullets.

Thank you for any help you can give.......JR

[Buckshot]

.............Which mould(s) do you have for it? The 6.5 Carcanos tend to run about .268" in the grooves.

http://www.fototime.com/802765D10573352/standard.jpg

This is my M91/38 Moschetto TS in 6.5. It is a post WW2 manufacture and I don't think it was ever issued.

...............Buckshot

[redbear705]

I picked up a mold off ebay. A Lee 6.5 /.264cal 140gr single cav with 1000gas checks.

I need to slug the barrel and get the correct sizing and lubing dies.

This will be the first time casting for a rifle...so I have to get into the swing of things....:)

I did find a few sites that have some loads for the 6.5 carcano so at least I have a place to start.

Buckshot....nice looking rifle.....mine has a lighter colored stock. Once I get the rifle from the owner I will be able to post photos and give dates and model #.



Hope she shoots as well as she looks!

JR

[Buckshot]

..............There are lots of loads. No problem there, but you have to have a boolit to fit or no load will mean much (which I know you know :-)). From everything I've heard and read, the .268" size seems nominal for the Carcano's. In fact when Hornady produced their 160gr jacketed RN they made it .268".

Some of these rifles will shoot .264" jacketed bullets and some won't. But we don't really have that undersized option with cast. There is a heavy long 6.5mm boolit design available from Mid-South Shooters Supply that will fill a .268" groove. It weighs about 170grs.

http://www.fototime.com/8B8B8013CDC151A/standard.jpg

In the above photo the one I'm talking about is #4. The others are either Lee custom jobs or discontinued Lyman's.

................Buckshot

[redbear705]

Well I did get to cast on Sunday.

The 6.5's came out at .268 as cast...no sizing yet.

I am waiting for the sizer lube die....the only one I can find close to .268 is a lyman .266 so I am going with it and hopes it works! :)

I assembled two dummies tonight just for fun....now I have to wait for the luber so I can get down to business!

I got some H4895 to use for three different cartridges, the 6.5 carcano low load for jackected 140gr jwords is 28 grains H4895...can I go lower?

Thanks JR

[leftiye]

Red, If your bore is .268, or .267, or.266 Believe it or not the .268" boolits will probably shoot better as cast (unsized). That is, as long as they chamber. The metal pushed around by sizing becomes dead soft (the crystalline structure that made it hard is broken down).

[redbear705]

I was gonna try sizing and lubing first then if I have trouble I am going to try heat treating them in an oven after sizing.

I am gonna have to start a log so I can keep track of all this stuff!:roll:

JR

[leadhead]

I shoot that #4 bullet that Buckshot shows in my 6.5 cav carbine and can ring
a 10 inch plate at 200 yds all day long with it. I shoot it as it comes from mold
at .270 dia. Load is 14 grs of 2400. Shoots great.
Denny