M91/41: A Step Back From the M38 and the Last Carcano
Italy
•
9m 30s
In my opinion, the M38 Carcano as a very insightfully designed infantry rifle for World War Two, acknowledging the real-world use conditions of such weapons. With the M91/41 (aka M41), Italy took a step back from that. Originally designed as the M40 in 1940 with a new rear sight design adjustable out to a reasonable 500m, it was adopted in 1941 with a copy of the original M91 carbine rear sight, graduated out to 1000m. The barrel was shorter than the M91 rifle, but only by about 3.5 inches. It had a straight bolt handle, and sling attachments on both the side and the bottom.
The M41 was produced at the Terni Arsenal until September 1943, when Italy signed an armistice with the Allies. Production also took place at Armaguerra in the north, and that factory was controlled by German forces after the armistice, and would continue producing rifles in 1944. A total of about 917,000 M41 rifles were made between the two factories.
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