The 7.35×51mm Carcano is a rifle cartridge that was the main small arms ammunition used by the Italian military during World War II.
It was designed during the 1930s, to replace the
6.5×52mm Carcano
The 6.5×52mm Carcano, also known as the 6.5×52mm Parravicini–Carcano or 6.5×52mm Mannlicher–Carcano, is an Italian military 6.5 mm (.268 cal, actually 0.2675 inches) rimless bottle-necked rifle cartridge, developed from 1889 ...
used by the Italian military. Unlike the 6.5 mmm, the 7.35 mm cartridge featured a
Spitzer
Spitzer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Andre Spitzer (1945–1972), Israeli fencing coach and victim of the Munich massacre
* Bernard Spitzer (1924–2014), American real estate developer and philanthropist, father of Eli ...
-style bullet, to minimize air resistance in flight.
Description
After reports of inadequate performance of the
6.5×52mm Mannlicher–Carcano at both short and long ranges during the campaigns in
Italian North Africa
Libya ( it, Libia; ar, ليبيا, Lībyā al-Īṭālīya) was a colony of the Fascist Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica ...
(1924-1934), and the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...
(1935/36), the Italian army introduced a new short rifle in 1938, the Modello 1938, together with a new cartridge in 7.35x51mm caliber. In addition to the slightly larger caliber, Italian ordnance designers introduced a
spitzer
Spitzer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Andre Spitzer (1945–1972), Israeli fencing coach and victim of the Munich massacre
* Bernard Spitzer (1924–2014), American real estate developer and philanthropist, father of Eli ...
-type bullet for the new cartridge, with the tip filled with aluminum to produce an unstable (tumbling) projectile upon impact with soft tissue (a design most likely copied from the
.303 British
The .303 British (designated as the 303 British by the C.I.P. and SAAMI) or 7.7×56mmR, is a calibre rimmed rifle cartridge. The .303 inch bore diameter is measured between rifling lands as is the common practice in Europe which follows th ...
Mk VII bullet). Although the intention was to create a more powerful and precise rifle cartridge, the decision to adopt a lighter
bullet
A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...
than in the 6.5 mm Carcano,
[http://bobshellsblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/735-carcano-rifle.html Bob Shell's Blog] and various design problems of the 91/38 rifle, did not permit the cartridge to achieve the intended success.
See also
*
Table of handgun and rifle cartridges
This is a table of selected pistol/submachine gun and rifle/machine gun cartridges by common name. Data values are the highest found for the cartridge, and might not occur in the same load (e.g. the highest muzzle energy might not be in the same ...
Notes
Pistol and rifle cartridges
Military cartridges
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