Carcano Moschetto TS

About the Carcano Moschetto TS

The Carcano Moschetto TS (Moschetto per Truppe Speciali) is a bolt-action carbine variant of the Italian Modello 1891 Carcano service rifle, issued from the 1890s to specialist troops such as engineers, artillery crews, machine-gunners and bicycle units who needed a handier weapon than the full-length rifle. It retains the Carcano's Mannlicher-pattern en-bloc clip feeding a six-round integral magazine and a Mauser-style two-lug rotating bolt, but shortens the barrel to roughly 450 mm with a full-length stock and handguard. Unlike the cavalry carbine with its permanently attached folding bayonet, the TS uses a separate knife bayonet mounted on a lug under the muzzle. It saw extensive service through both World Wars in 6.5x52mm Carcano.

The TS carbine was the workhorse of Italy's 'special troops' - the engineers, signalmen, artillerymen and machine-gun crews who needed a rifle short enough to handle around equipment and vehicles but still chambered for the same 6.5mm cartridge as the line infantry, letting a single ammunition supply feed the whole army.

Carcano Moschetto TS specifications

TS stands for Truppe Speciali (special troops), not for cavalry; the dedicated cavalry pattern was the separate Moschetto da Cavalleria with an integral folding bayonet. Early TS carbines used a transverse stock bayonet lug; later production adopted a conventional muzzle bayonet lug. A wartime 7.35x52mm rebarreled pattern (M91/38 TS) was also produced.