CARCANO Carbine 91/38

Overview

The Carcano M91/38 is an Italian bolt-action short rifle introduced in 1938. It is most famous historically as the weapon used by Lee Harvey Oswald in the 1963 assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.History and DevelopmentCaliber Logistics: Italy originally built the rifle (designated the M38) for a new, harder-hitting 7.35x51mm Carcano cartridge.War Reversion: Italy could not fully mass-produce the new caliber before entering WWII. In 1940, factories reverted production to the older, standard 6.5x52mm Carcano round.The "91/38" Name: Rifles built in or converted back to the original 6.5mm caliber were designated M91/38.