where to find 0.268 projectiles for a Carcano

[Vince24]

Hi gents

I was never a fan of Carcano, but one such rifle was included litterally for free in a big bundle of stuff that I was purchasing from a seller liquidating his shooting shed before going overseas.

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Now that I have it, I would like to make it shoot correctly.

I got heaps of Highland factory ammo with it, but they are in 0.264, and my first attempt at a 10 shot group at 100m was barely fitting within a 25cm circle!!

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Everyone says they shoot better with 0.268 projectiles - I am willing to try, but...

Where the F can we find 0.268 projectiles?

thanks a lot guys!

[bladeracer]

You won't find any for sale currently, unless Bruce Bertram has done a batch recently. Those holes are circular so the bullets aren't tumbling.

Get some of Hornady's 160gn RN .264" and give them a decent push. In my 1891/38 I use 28.5gn of AR2206H which puts it right around 2000fps. It shoots very well with these bullets, but nothing else. My best group recorded is 58mm for 5rds at 100m off a front bag. I tried pushing them slower but they need the chamber pressure to obturate to the bore. They may not work for you but they're available so you can at least try them, it's the only bullet I use in the rifle. Everything else tumbles, including the 170gn .270" Cruise Missile cast bullet (although I only tested it once at 1300fps).

If you don't mind fiddly, I also paper-patched jacketed .243" 75gn bullets up to .270" on 30gn of AR2206H and they shoot fine as well.

[Vince24]

Thanks for your reply Bladeracer. A shame Hornady did not export their 268 RN down here.

Indeed those PPU/Highland 139 grains soft point boat projectiles did not tumble, which was a good surprise.

And I did get 200+ of those Hornday 264 RN 160 grains with the rifle.
I was planning to shoot them with some 2209 as that's what the previous owner did and after all, that calibre is quite a bit similar to the 6.5x55 which loves slow powder?
I also note that the PPU ammo is made of 36.5 grains of whatever powder they use, which tends to indicate quite a slow powder choice as well?
Did you try 2209 as well or did you go straight to 2206H?
28 grains in that case seems to be a super low load density!
But if it worked well, of course, it's all that matters...

[bladeracer]

Thanks for your reply Bladeracer. A shame Hornady did not export their 268 RN down here.

Indeed those PPU/Highland 139 grains soft point boat projectiles did not tumble, which was a good surprise.

And I did get 200+ of those Hornday 264 RN 160 grains with the rifle.
I was planning to shoot them with some 2209 as that's what the previous owner did and after all, that calibre is quite a bit similar to the 6.5x55 which loves slow powder?
I also note that the PPU ammo is made of 36.5 grains of whatever powder they use, which tends to indicate quite a slow powder choice as well?
Did you try 2209 as well or did you go straight to 2206H?
28 grains in that case seems to be a super low load density!
But if it worked well, of course, it's all that matters...

They're actually .267", I bought a few hundred when I got my Carcano but I found the .264" works very well. So I save the .267' bullets for the Dutch Mannlichers. Hornady used to do a run of the .267" every few years but last I heard they had actually stopped doing them. I don't know for sure, might be worth emailing them though. If they don't know that people might want them they're less likely to bother making them again.

I don't try to run my milsurps near original factory pressures, I just shoot them for fun these days. I loaded them up to .30.0gn but was seeing the first pressure indicators at 29.0gn which got worse at 29.5gn and 30.0gn, so I settled on 28.5gn. I only tried AR2206H and it worked very well so I didn't mess with other powders. I did try Trailboss behind 90gn Hornady .243" bullets inside the front half of a .17WSM case to fatten it up to .270" and it did shoot okay, but those are even more fiddly than paper-patching. They made 1620fps on 12gn of TB.

[Vince24]

thanks for the info Blade, I'll be trying!
Actually I got a few 268 projectiles by dismantling some military ammo.
I will shoot them as well with new powder, case etc.
Unfortunately I have only a handfull, just enough to have some regrets if they do an outstanding group!

[dnedative]

AV Ballistics makes and sells correct bullets.
PPU also does as well, think Centerway in Vic had some.
Hornady used to as well but they probably will never do another run

.264's shoot awful in my M38

[bladeracer]

AV Ballistics makes and sells correct bullets.
PPU also does as well, think Centerway in Vic had some.
Hornady used to as well but they probably will never do another run

.264's shoot awful in my M38

Useful info there.
Have you actually received bullets from Astrid?

[Vince24]

Yeah I knew AV Ballistics had 0.268 pills listed on their websites, but I could not reach them by phone and they did not reply emails.
Are they still in business?

Anyway, I am not paying $1.5 for a projectile in a Carcano;)

[JohnV]

https://www.castbulletengineering.com.a ... -268-156gc
Load it down to a suitable velocity .
More expensive way would be to bump up .264 jacketed bullets to .268 . It's only .002 per side , nothing really . You would need a custom point form die for a 7/8 x 14 threaded O frame press . Corbin might make you a die . Bumping up does not adversely affect accuracy . Drawing down does . Just shooting a few shots now and then for fun I would just use cast bullets.

[dnedative]

AV Ballistics makes and sells correct bullets.
PPU also does as well, think Centerway in Vic had some.
Hornady used to as well but they probably will never do another run

.264's shoot awful in my M38

Useful info there.
Have you actually received bullets from Astrid?

No; I did buy some 8x52R siamease cases.... took a while but I got them in the end.

The PPU bullets are/were the go for these, they are the correct diameter and they are available.
The later style Hornady ones were arguably the best out there but who knows if they will ever do another run. They shot fantastic.
Only bullet I follow the load data to the letter on, very large warning from Hornady to only ever use winchester magnum large rifle primers with a very narrow power weight window to suit.

[bladeracer]

No; I did buy some 8x52R siamease cases.... took a while but I got them in the end.

The PPU bullets are/were the go for these, they are the correct diameter and they are available.
The later style Hornady ones were arguably the best out there but who knows if they will ever do another run. They shot fantastic.
Only bullet I follow the load data to the letter on, very large warning from Hornady to only ever use winchester magnum large rifle primers with a very narrow power weight window to suit.

I use Remington 9-1/2M's in all large-rifle cases anyway. I don't recall seeing any load data for the .267" bullet, but it was a few years ago. I just checked ADI's data with the .264" bullet and they say 27.0gn to 30.0gn of AR2206H. I tested from 28.0gn up to 30.0gn, but anything above 28.5gn had pressure signs so I just use 28.5gn.

[No1Mk3]

thanks for the info Blade, I'll be trying!
Actually I got a few 268 projectiles by dismantling some military ammo.
I will shoot them as well with new powder, case etc.
Unfortunately I have only a handfull, just enough to have some regrets if they do an outstanding group!

G'day Vince, did you actually mike these projectiles? I have a fair quantity of these pulled surplus bullets mostly from 1938 and 1941 SMI M91/95 ammo and they all measure 0.266 but being an open base projectile they will obturate at the rear to fill the groove diameter whilst the rest of the bullet is bore riding. Flat base .264 long projectiles, Hornady 160g RN/SP #2640, will shoot OK in most Carcano as bladeracer stated.

[Vince24]

yeah they would have been 0.266 or 0.267 at that level it is hard to take an acurate measurement.
Would you be disposing of your surplus bullets by any chance?
I do have some Hornady RN 264 but I have not been too impressed from my preliminary trials.
I wonder whether a better use of those bullets could be in one of my swedes that shoots a bit too high.
Cheers
Vincent

[dnedative]

I don't recall seeing any load data for the .267" bullet, but it was a few years ago. I just checked ADI's data with the .264" bullet and they say 27.0gn to 30.0gn of AR2206H. I tested from 28.0gn up to 30.0gn, but anything above 28.5gn had pressure signs so I just use 28.5gn.

29.7gr - 32.2gr 2208
Win LRPM

Large warnings about using that exact primer and not to load any lower;
Hornady blew up a stack of carcanos with their loaded ammo going back some years so I'm sure there is good reason for the warnings.