Carcano Moschetto Mod. 1938 TS

About the Carcano Moschetto Mod. 1938 TS

The Carcano Moschetto Mod. 1938 TS (Moschetto Modello 1938 per Truppe Speciali) is an Italian bolt-action carbine, the special-troops variant of the Modello 1938 Carcano system issued to engineers, artillery crews, machine-gunners and other second-line and support units who needed a handier weapon than the full-length rifle. Introduced in 1938 chambered for the experimental 7.35x51mm Carcano cartridge, most were later produced or reverted to the original 6.5x52mm Carcano as the M91/38 TS after Italy abandoned the caliber change in 1940. It feeds from a six-round en bloc clip through a Mannlicher-pattern integral magazine and uses a Mauser-style two-lug rotating bolt. Unlike the cavalry carbine's permanently attached folding bayonet, the TS mounts a separate knife bayonet on a lug beneath the muzzle, and like other M38-pattern carbines it carries a simplified fixed 200-meter rear sight.

Italy adopted the 7.35x51mm cartridge and its Modello 1938 rifles and carbines in 1938 to give infantry a flatter-shooting round, but with war looming the logistical chaos of a caliber change forced a reversion to the old 6.5mm in 1940, leaving the 7.35mm M38 TS carbines as short-lived curiosities.

Carcano Moschetto Mod. 1938 TS specifications

The '1938' designation reflects the short-lived 7.35x51mm program; because the caliber change was cancelled in 1940, the great majority of TS carbines were built in or converted to 6.5x52mm and are marked M91/38 TS. Distinguished from the M38 cavalry carbine by its separate knife bayonet and lug rather than an integral folding bayonet.