An Italian made Carcano that, according to family legend, saw action on the Russian front during WWII.
I still have it and love it.
According to legend, a Carcano was used on Nov. 22, 1963 in Dallas, Tx.
“Italian made Carcano that, according to family legend, saw action on the Russian front during WWII”
If you feel like it, you could post pics and get answers on the type of Carcano it is at this forum, in the Italian section. (An a-hole named dynachrome hangs out there, too)
http://www.surplusrifleforum.com
From wikipedia, FWIW (there is a doctor who survived stalingrad and would have received the equivalent of the Medal of Honor if on the winning side. Can’t remember the name or the unit)
“Aftermath
Since the beginning of the Italian campaign in Russia, about 30,000 Italians had been killed and another 54,000 would die in captivity. By the end of February 1943, the rout of the ARMIR was complete. Mussolini then withdrew what remained of his 8th Army from Russian soil. The Italian forces in Russia had been reduced to less than 150,000 men, and 34,000 of these were wounded. The disaster in Russia was a fierce blow to the power and popularity of the dictator. Both sank as the gloomy news soon reached the public in Italy. Survivors blamed the Fascist political elite and the army generals. The survivors said they both had acted irresponsibly by sending a poorly prepared, ill-equipped, and inadequately armed military force to the Russian Front. According to veterans, weapons in Italian service were awful: hand grenades rarely went off and rifles and machine guns had to be kept for a long time on a fire to work properly in extreme climatic conditions, thus often not capable of firing in the midst of battle. The German commanders were accused of sacrificing the Italian divisions, whose withdrawal was supposedly delayed after the Soviet breakthrough, in order to rescue their own troops.[6]
Throughout 1943, Italy’s fortunes worsened. On 25 July 1943, Benito Mussolini and his Fascist government were put out of power by King Victor Emmanuel III. On 8 September, the new Italian government led by the King and Marshal Pietro Badoglio signed an armistice with the Allies.