Carcano is the frequently used name for a series of Italian bolt-action , internal box magazine fed, repeating military rifles and carbines . Introduced in 1891, the rifle was chambered for the rimless 6.5×52mm Carcano round ( Cartuccia Modello 1895 ). It was developed by the chief technician Salvatore Carcano at the Turin Army Arsenal in 1890, and was originally called the Modello (model) 91 or simply M91. Successively replacing the previous Vetterli-Vitali rifles and carbines in 10.35×47mmR, it was produced from 1891 to 1945. The M91 was used in both rifle ( fucile ) and shorter-barreled carbine ( moschetto ) form by most Italian troops during World War I and by Italian and some German forces during World War II . The rifle was also used during the Winter War by Finland, and again by regular and irregular forces in Syria, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria during various postwar conflicts in those countries.
72-657: M91 or M-91 may refer to: Various iterations of the Carcano , an Italian rifle M-91 (Michigan highway) , a state highway in Michigan M91 rocket launcher, a 115mm, 45-tube, trailer mount for the M55 rocket used by the United States Army and United States Marine Corps McCarthy 91 function , a recursive function defined by the computer scientist John McCarthy as
144-421: A "6.5 [mm] Italian carbine", later improperly called a Mannlicher–Carcano (although it uses a Mannlicher-style en bloc clip system), through mail order, for $ 19.95 (equivalent to $ 183.90 in 2022.) The advertisement only specified a "6.5 Italian Carbine" and actually shows a Carcano model M91 TS, which was the 36-inch (91 cm) Carcano carbine model sold through the ad when it was originally placed. However, from
216-673: A Semitic people, distantly related to the Arabs and Jews). Of special interest were the Roman colonies of Leptis Magna and Sabratha , and the preparation of these sites for archaeological tourism . Tourism was further promoted by the creation of the Tripoli Grand Prix , a racing car event of international importance. After independence, most Italian settlers still remained in Libya; there were 35,000 Italo-Libyans in 1962. However,
288-740: A broad land bridge between Libya and Italian East Africa . During World War II , there was strong support for Italy from many Muslim Libyans, who enrolled in the Italian Army . Other Libyan troops (the Savari [cavalry regiments] and the Spahi or mounted police) had been fighting for the Kingdom of Italy since the 1920s. A number of major battles took place in Libya during the North African Campaign of World War II. In September 1940,
360-424: A decree law transformed the commissariats into provinces within the metropolitan territory of the Kingdom of Italy. Libya was thus formally annexed to Italy and the coastal area was nicknamed the " Fourth Shore " ( Quarta Sponda ). Key towns and wards of the colony became Italian municipalities ( comune ) governed by a podestà . In 1939, key population figures for Italian Libya were as follows: Population of
432-627: A historic cooperation treaty in Benghazi . Under its terms, Italy would pay $ 5 billion to Libya as compensation for its former military occupation. In exchange, Libya would take measures to combat illegal immigration coming from its shores and boost investments in Italian companies. The treaty was ratified by Italy on 6 February 2009, and by Libya on 2 March, during a visit to Tripoli by Berlusconi. Cooperation ended in February 2011 as
504-573: A result of the Libyan Civil War which overthrew Gaddafi. At the signing ceremony of the document, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi recognized historic atrocities and repression committed by the state of Italy against the Libyan people during colonial rule, stating: " In this historic document, Italy apologizes for its killing, destruction and repression of the Libyan people during the period of colonial rule. " and went on to say that this
576-481: A single clip of ammunition. The practice of intermixing powder types and ammunition lots in clipped rifle ammunition was generally avoided by arsenals of other nations, as it frequently resulted in varying bullet velocities and excessive bullet dispersion on the target. After reports of inadequate performance at both short and long ranges during the campaigns in Italian North Africa (1924–1934), and
648-509: A test case for formal verification within computer science Messier 91 , a barred spiral galaxy about 63 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices Mosin Nagant Model 1891 Infantry Rifle , a Russian/Soviet rifle Psihološko propagandni komplet M-91 , the third studio album released in 1991 by Montenegrin-Serbian musician Rambo Amadeus Zastava M91 , a Serbian sniper rifle [REDACTED] Topics referred to by
720-527: A time 11 months before Oswald placed his order, the Chicago sporting goods store from which he purchased it had been shipping the slightly longer 40.2-inch (102 cm) Model 91/38 under the same ad, and this is the weapon Oswald received. On 22 November 1963, Oswald used this weapon to assassinate U.S. President John F. Kennedy . The rifle, made in the Terni arsenal in 1940 and bearing the serial number C2766,
792-608: A tobacco factory, tanneries, bakeries, lime, brick and cement works, Esparto grass industry, mechanical saw mills, and the Petrolibya Society (Trye 1998). Italian investment in her colony was to take advantage of new colonists and to make it more self-sufficient. (General Staff War Office 1939, 165/b). By 1939, the Italians had built 400 kilometres (250 mi) of new railroads and 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) of new roads. The most important and largest highway project
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#1732772620405864-810: Is based on the Type 38 rifle and retains the Carcano action, but uses the Arisaka/Mauser-type 5-round internal box magazine . The Type I was used primarily by Japanese Imperial Naval Forces and was chambered for the Japanese 6.5×50mm Arisaka cartridge. Approximately 60,000 Type I rifles were produced by Italian arsenals for the Japanese military. A Carcano M38 was used by Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in Dallas , Texas. Although this rifle
936-590: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Carcano#Variants The Type I Carcano rifle was produced by Italy for the Japanese Empire prior to World War II. After the invasion of China, all Arisaka production was required for use of the Imperial Army, so the Imperial Navy contracted with Italy for this weapon in 1937. The Type I
1008-626: Is often called "Mannlicher–Carcano", especially in American parlance, it was officially the 6.5×52mm Mod. 91 rifle. The " Mannlicher " title came from the en bloc loading clips, having nothing to do with the action itself, which was a modified Gewehr 1888 action (which itself was a combination of the action from the Mauser Model 1871 with the Mannlicher en bloc loading); in Italy the rifle
1080-670: The .303 British Mk VII bullet). However, the Italian government was unable to successfully mass-produce the new arms in adequate quantities before the onset of war, and in 1940, all rifle and ammunition production reverted to 6.5 mm, but no 7.35 mm Mod. 38 rifles nor carbines were ever re-barrelled to the old 6.5×52mm caliber. Some Italian troops serving on the Russian front were armed with 7.35 mm Mod. 1938 rifles, but exchanged them in 1942 for 6.5×52 mm arms. Approximately 94,500 7.35mm Modello 1938 rifles were shipped to Finland, where they were known as Terni carbines (from
1152-625: The British and French collaborated with the small new resistance. France and the United Kingdom decided to make King Idris the Emir of an independent Libya in 1951. Libya would finally become independent in 1951. From 1943 to 1951, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were under British military administration , while the French controlled Fezzan . Under the terms of the 1947 peace treaty with
1224-578: The Italian Empire 's conquest of Ottoman Tripolitania (Ottoman Libya), in the 1911–12 Italo-Turkish War , much of the early colonial period had Italy waging a war of subjugation against Libya's population. Ottoman Turkey surrendered its control of Libya in the 1912 Treaty of Lausanne , but fierce resistance to the Italians continued from the Senussi political-religious order, a strongly nationalistic group of Sunni Muslims . This group, first under
1296-592: The Italian invasion of Egypt was launched from Libya. Starting in December of the same year, the British Eighth Army launched a counterattack called Operation Compass and the Italian forces were pushed back into Libya. After losing all of Cyrenaica and almost all of its Tenth Army , Italy asked for German assistance to aid the failing campaign With German support, the lost Libyan territory
1368-406: The Italian settlers still remained in Libya. Libya was administered by the United Kingdom and France until its independence in 1951, though Italy did not officially relinquish its claim until the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty . Italian efforts to colonise Libya began in 1911, and were characterised initially by major struggles with Muslim native Libyans that lasted until 1931. During this period,
1440-638: The Oltre Giuba and France agreed to give some Saharan territories to Italian Libya. After prolonged discussions through the 1920s, in 1935 under the Mussolini-Laval agreement Italy received the Aouzou strip , which was added to Libya. However, this agreement was not ratified later by France . In 1931, the towns of El Tag and Al Jawf were taken over by Italy. British Egypt had ceded Kufra and Jarabub to Italian Libya on December 6, 1925, but it
1512-721: The Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt spelled doom for the Axis forces in Libya and meant the end of the Western Desert Campaign . In February 1943, retreating German and Italian forces were forced to abandon Libya as they were pushed out of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, thus ending Italian jurisdiction and control over Libya. The Fezzan was occupied by the Free French in 1943. At the close of World War II ,
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#17327726204051584-577: The Second Italo-Abyssinian War (1935-1936), the Italian army introduced a new short rifle in 1938, the Modello 1938, together with a new cartridge in 7.35×51mm caliber. In addition to the slightly larger caliber, Italian ordnance designers introduced a spitzer -type bullet for the new cartridge, with the tip filled with aluminum to produce an unstable (tumbling) projectile upon impact in soft tissue (a design most likely copied from
1656-560: The Terni stamp with the royal crown, the logo or seal of the Regia fabbrica d’armi di Terni arsenal where they were manufactured). They were primarily used by security and line-of-communications troops during the Winter War of 1939–1940, though some frontline troops were issued the weapon. According to reports, the Finns disliked the rifle. With its non-standard 7.35 mm caliber, it
1728-707: The United Kingdom of Libya , a constitutional and hereditary monarchy. In 1934, Italy adopted the name "Libya" (used by the Greeks for all of North Africa, except Egypt) as the official name of the colony made up of the three provinces of Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan). The colony was subdivided into four provincial governatores ( Commissariato Generale Provinciale ) and a southern military territory ( Territorio Militare del Sud or Territorio del Sahara Libico ): The general provincial commissionerships were further divided into wards ( circondari ). On 9 January 1939,
1800-439: The 1st and 2nd Libyan Divisions were formed. These Libyan infantry divisions were organized along the lines of the binary Italian infantry division. The 5th Italian Army received the 2nd Libyan Infantry Division, which it incorporated into the 13th Corps. The Italian 10th Army received the 1st Libyan Infantry Division, which it incorporated into the reserve. The Italian Libyan infantry divisions were colonial formations ("colonial" in
1872-580: The Allies, Italy relinquished all claims to Libya. There were discussions to maintain the province of Tripolitania as the last Italian colony, but these were not successful. Although Britain and France had intended to divide the nation between their empires, on November 21, 1949, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Libya should become independent before January 1, 1952. On December 24, 1951, Libya declared its independence as
1944-474: The Allies, though it is reported that neither batches ever saw combat, despite unconfirmed claims that some of these conversions were issued to the German Volkssturm ("People's Militia"). Rottman also notes that the 7.92 mm caliber pushed the pressure limits the Carcano could handle and users complained about excessive recoil. These conversions don't require an en bloc clip, but are loaded with
2016-586: The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, who considered the area worthless and so an act of cheap appeasement to Benito Mussolini 's attempts at an empire . During this time, the Italian colonial forces built a World War I –style fort in El Tag in the mid-1930s. In 1939 some Libyans were granted special (though limited) Italian citizenship by Royal Decree No. 70 on 9 January 1939. This citizenship was necessary for any Libyan with ambitions to rise in
2088-518: The British colony of Sudan and a territorial agreement with Egypt . The Kufra district was nominally attached to British-occupied Egypt until 1925, but in fact, remained a headquarters for the Senussi resistance until conquered by the Italians in 1931. The Kingdom of Italy at the 1919 Paris "Conference of Peace" received nothing from German colonies, but as a compensation Great Britain gave it
2160-583: The German 7.92×57mm Mauser sS heavy ball round. This modification entered service in 1943, just before the Italian capitulation. According to Rottman, some were converted in 1941, possibly to make use of German ammunition stocks in North Africa, and another batch in 1945, the latter were done so under German orders since some Italian forces continued to fight alongside the Germans after Italy surrendered to
2232-819: The Italian army. In March 1940, two divisions of Libyan colonial troops (for a total of 30,090 native Muslim soldiers) were created and in summer 1940 the first and second Divisions of Fanteria Libica (Libyan infantry) participated in the Italian offensive against the British Empire 's Egypt: 1st Libyan Division and 2nd Libyan Division . In 1936, the main sectors of economic activity in Italian Libya (by number of employees) were industry (30.4%), public administration (29.8%), agriculture and fishing (16.7%), commerce (10.7%), transports (5.8%), domestic work (3.8%), legal profession and private teaching (1.3%), banking and insurance (1.1%). Italians greatly developed
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2304-535: The Italian government controlled only the coastal areas. Between 1911 and 1912, over 1,000 Somalis from Mogadishu , the then capital of Italian Somaliland , served in combat units along with Eritrean and Italian soldiers in the Italo-Turkish War . Most of the Somali troops remained in Libya until they were transferred back to Italian Somaliland in preparation for the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. After
2376-528: The Italian military returned to a long-barrelled infantry rifle once again (slightly shorter than the original M91), the Carcano M91/41. True sniper versions never existed, but in World War I a few rifles were fitted with telescopic lenses and issued for service use (World War II scoped rifles were strictly prototypes). Several lots of Moschetti M91/38 TS (special troops' carbines) were chambered for
2448-437: The Italian population virtually disappeared after the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi ordered the expulsion of remaining Italians (about 20,000) in 1970. Only a few hundred of them were allowed to return to Libya in the 2000s. In 2004, there were 22,530 Italians in Libya. Italy maintained diplomatic relations with Libya and imported a significant quantity of its oil from the country. Relations between Italy and Libya warmed in
2520-822: The Italians labeled the ' Model 1952 (M52) . Finland sold all of its approximately 74,000 remaining 7.35 mm M91/38 Carcano rifles on the surplus market. As a consequence, large quantities of surplus Carcanos were sold in the United States and Canada beginning in the 1950s. In Italy, the Polizia di Stato and the Carabinieri retained the Moschetto 38 TS, retiring it from service in 1981. Captured 6.5mm Carcano rifles were used by Greek forces post-war, with ammunition supplied by U.S. Western Cartridge Co. Some were also converted to 6.5×54mm Mannlicher–Schönauer , one of
2592-580: The Libyans with some initial education but minimally improved native administration. The Italian population (about 10% of the total population) had 81 elementary schools in 1939–1940, while the Libyans (more than 85% of total population) had 97. There were only three secondary schools for Libyans by 1940, two in Tripoli and one in Benghazi. The Libyan economy substantially grew in the late 1930s, mainly in
2664-684: The agricultural sector. Even some manufacturing activities were developed, mostly related to the food industry. Building construction increased immensely. Furthermore, the Italians made modern medical care available for the first time in Libya and improved sanitary conditions in the towns. The Italians started numerous and diverse businesses in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. These included an explosives factory, railway workshops, Fiat Motor works, various food processing plants, electrical engineering workshops, ironworks, water plants, agricultural machinery factories, breweries, distilleries, biscuit factories,
2736-474: The best Italian infantry formations in North Africa. The Libyan divisions were loyal to Italy and provided a good combat record. After the enlargement of Italian Libya with the Aouzou Strip , Fascist Italy aimed at further extension to the south. Indeed Italian plans, in the case of a war against France and Great Britain, projected the extension of Libya as far south as Lake Chad and the establishment of
2808-410: The campaign of reprisals known as the "pacification campaign" , the Italian government changed policy toward the local population: in December 1934, individual freedom, inviolability of home and property, the right to join the military or civil administrations, and the right to freely pursue a career or employment were promised to the Libyans. In a trip by Mussolini to Libya in 1937, a propaganda event
2880-473: The camps of Soluch and Sisi Ahmed el Magrun with an estimated 33,000 internees having only one doctor between them. Typhus and other diseases spread rapidly in the camps as the people were physically weakened by meagre food rations and forced labour . By the time the camps closed in September 1933, 40,000 of the 100,000 total internees had died in the camps. The colony expanded after concessions from
2952-570: The conflict. After nearly two decades of suppression campaigns the Italian colonial forces claimed victory. In the 1930s, the policy of Italian fascism toward Libya began to change, and both Italian Cyrenaica and Tripolitania , along with Fezzan , were merged into Italian Libya in 1934. In 1923, indigenous rebels associated with the Senussi Order organized the Libyan resistance movement against Italian settlement in Libya. The rebellion
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3024-435: The establishment of new industries and a dozen new agricultural villages. The massive Italian investment did little to improve Libyan quality of life, since the purpose was to develop the economy for the benefit of Italy and Italian settlers. The Italian aim was to drive the local population to the marginal land in the interior and to resettle the Italian population in the most fertile lands of Libya. The Italians did provide
3096-519: The first decade of the 21st century, when they entered co-operative arrangements to deal with illegal immigration into Italy. Libya agreed to aggressively prevent migrants from sub-Saharan Africa from using the country as a transit route to Italy, in return for foreign aid and Italy's successful attempts to have the European Union lift its trade sanctions on Libya. On 30 August 2008, Gaddafi and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi signed
3168-516: The leadership of Omar Al Mukhtar and centered in the Jebel Akhdar Mountains of Cyrenaica, led the Libyan resistance movement against Italian settlement in Libya. Italian forces under Generals Pietro Badoglio and Rodolfo Graziani waged punitive pacification campaigns using chemical weapons , mass executions of soldiers and civilians and concentration camps . One-quarter of Cyrenaica's population of 225,000 people died during
3240-624: The main urban centres: Many Italians were encouraged to settle in Libya during the Fascist period, notably in the coastal areas. The annexation of Libya's coastal provinces in 1939 brought them to be an integral part of metropolitan Italy and the focus of Italian settlement. The population of Italian settlers in Libya increased rapidly after the Great Depression: in 1927, there were just about 26,000, by 1931 44,600, 66,525 in 1936 and eventually, in 1939, they numbered 119,139, or 13% of
3312-537: The military or civil organizations. The recipients were officially referred to as Moslem Italians. Libya had become "the fourth shore of Italy" (Trye 1998). The incorporation of Libya into the Italian Empire gave the Italian Army a greater ability to exploit native Libyans for military service. Native Libyans served in Italian formations from the beginning of the Italian occupation of Libya. On 1 March 1940,
3384-567: The nomadic peoples of northern Cyrenaica were forcibly removed from the region and relocated to huge concentration camps in the Cyrenaican lowlands. Fascist regime propaganda proclaimed the camps as hygienic and efficiently run oases of modern civilization. However in reality the camps had poor sanitary conditions and an average of about 20,000 Beduoins, together with their camels and other animals, crowded into an area of one square kilometre. The camps held only rudimentary medical services, with
3456-571: The official name of the newly combined colony. It had a population of around 150,000 Italians . The Italian colonies of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were taken by Italy from the Ottoman Empire during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912, and run by Italian governors. In 1923, indigenous rebels associated with the Senussi Order organized the Libyan resistance movement against Italian settlement in Libya, mainly in Cyrenaica. The rebellion
3528-464: The population of Cyrenaica, from their settlements, slated to be given to Italian settlers. The Italian occupation also reduced livestock numbers, killing, confiscating or driving the animals from their pastoral land to inhospitable land near the concentration camps. The number of sheep fell from 810,000 in 1926 to 98,000 in 1933, goats from 70,000 to 25,000 and camels from 75,000 to 2,000. From 1930 to 1931, 12,000 Cyrenaicans were executed and all
3600-406: The rebels' limited access to modern firearms. Additionally, some Libyan rebels preferred to use their familiar hunting weapons over the more modern, yet unfamiliar, assault rifles available. According to Al-Fitouri Muftah, a member of the rebel military council overseeing the western mountain front, as many as 1 in 10 rebels in the region were armed with World War II-era weapons. All variants used
3672-526: The region. Before 1911, no archeological research was done in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. By the late 1920s the Italian government had started funding excavations in the main Roman cities of Leptis Magna and Sabratha (Cyrenaica was left for later excavations because of the ongoing colonial war against Muslim rebels in that province). A result of the Fascist takeover was that all foreign archaeological expeditions were forced out of Libya, and all archeological work
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#17327726204053744-631: The rifle ended up in storage at the National Archives . The assassination was one of the factors leading to passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968 , which banned mail order sales of firearms. Italian North Africa Libya ( Italian : Libia ; Arabic : ليبيا الايطالية , romanized : Lībyā al-Īṭālīya ) was a colony of Italy located in North Africa , in what is now modern Libya , between 1934 and 1943. It
3816-547: The same Carcano bolt action, fed by an en-bloc clip; the rifles and carbines had different barrel lengths and differences in stocks and sights depending on barrel length. As noted in the introduction, the word moschetto means literally "musket" but was used generally by Italian arms makers as a descriptor of Italian 20th century rifles, often shorter-barrelled rifles in the carbine style meant for other than regular infantry uses. Regular length infantry rifles are named as fucile models. In March 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald purchased
3888-448: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title formed as a letter–number combination. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=M91&oldid=1147872108 " Category : Letter–number combination disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
3960-441: The same time indigenous Libyans were granted "Special Italian Citizenship" which required such people to be literate and confined this type of citizenship to be valid in Libya only. In 1939, laws were passed that allowed Muslims to be permitted to join the National Fascist Party and in particular the Muslim Association of the Lictor ( Associazione Musulmana del Littorio ). This allowed the creation of Libyan military units within
4032-410: The sense of consisting of native troops). These formations had Italian officers commanding them, with Libyan NCOs and soldiers. These native Libyan formations were made up of people drawn from the coastal Libyan populations. The training and readiness of these divisions was on an equal footing with the regular Italian formations in North Africa. Their professionalism and 'esprit de corps' made them some of
4104-415: The standard German five-round stripper clips. German forces captured large quantities of Carcanos after Italy's capitulation in September 1943. It was the most commonly issued rifle to Volkssturm units in late 1944 and 1945. After World War II, Italy replaced its Carcano rifles first with British Lee–Enfields and then with the U.S. .30 caliber (7.62 mm) M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle , which
4176-436: The standard cartridges of the Greek military at the time. During the Libyan Civil War in 2011, many rebels went into battle with their personally-owned weapons, including old bolt-action rifles and shotguns. Of these, Carcano-style rifles and carbines have been the most frequently observed style of bolt-action rifle. They were predominantly used by rebels in the Nafusa Mountains . These old weapons saw combat once again due to
4248-462: The total population. They were concentrated on the Mediterranean coast, especially in the main urban centres and in the farmlands around Tripoli, where they constituted 41% of the city's population, and in Benghazi 35%. Settlers found jobs in the construction boom fuelled by Fascist interventionist policies. In 1938, Governor Italo Balbo brought 20,000 Italian farmers to settle in Libya, and 27 new villages were founded, mainly in Cyrenaica. After
4320-545: The two main cities of Libya, Tripoli and Benghazi, with new ports and airports, new hospitals and schools and many new roads & buildings. Also tourism was improved and a huge & modern "Grand Hotel" was built in Tripoli and in Bengasi. The Fascist regime, especially during Depression years, emphasized infrastructure improvements and public works. In particular, Governor Italo Balbo greatly expanded Libyan railway and road networks from 1934 to 1940, building hundreds of kilometers of new roads and railways and encouraging
4392-432: The weapon in favor of rifles acquired on the battlefield, including standard models of captured Soviet-made Mosin–Nagant rifles. The latter had the advantage of using commonly available 7.62×54mmR ammunition. By the outbreak of the Continuation War , the remaining Mod. 1938 7.35 mm rifles were issued to the Finnish Navy, as well as anti-aircraft, coastal defense, and other second-line (home front) troops. In 1941,
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#17327726204054464-709: Was commonly known as the "Mauser-Parravicino", after General Gustavo Parravicino of the Infantry Shooting School and head of the commission that recommended the Mod. 91 adoption, while Italian soldiers simply called the rifle as the "il novantuno" (the ninety-one). Until 1938, all M91 rifles and carbines were chambered for the rimless 6.5×52mm Modello 1895 cartridge, using a round-nose metal case bullet of 160 grains weight at approximately 2,000–2,400 ft/s muzzle velocity, depending upon barrel length. At least one small arms authority noted inconsistencies in powder types in arsenal-loaded 6.5×52mm military ammunition, often with different powder types and ammunition lots intermixed within
4536-451: Was consolidated under a centralised Italian excavation policy, which exclusively benefitted Italian museums and journals. After Cyrenaica's full 'pacification', the Italian archaeological efforts in the 1930s were more focused on the former Greek colony of Cyrenaica than in Tripolitania, which was a Punic colony during the Greek period. The rejection of Phoenician research was partly because of anti-Semitic reasons (the Phoenicians were
4608-449: Was created where Mussolini met with Muslim Arab dignitaries, who gave him an honorary sword (that had actually been made in Florence ) which was to symbolize Mussolini as a protector of the Muslim Arab peoples there. In January 1939, Italy annexed territories in Libya that it considered Italy's Fourth Shore with Libya's four coastal provinces of Tripoli, Misurata, Bengazi, and Derna becoming an integral part of metropolitan Italy. At
4680-418: Was equipped for an extra $ 7 with a new 4x18 Japanese telescopic sight, on a sheet metal side mount. It was later scrutinized by local police, the FBI, the U.S. Army and two federal commissions. Shooting tests, conducted by those groups and others using the original rifle or similar models, addressed questions about the speed and accuracy with which the Carcano could be fired. Following lawsuits over its ownership,
4752-423: Was formed from the unification of the colonies of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania , which had been Italian possessions since 1911. From 1911 until the establishment of a unified colony in 1934, the territory of the two colonies was sometimes referred to as "Italian Libya" or Italian North Africa ( Africa Settentrionale Italiana , or ASI). Both names were also used after the unification, with Italian Libya becoming
4824-406: Was not until the early 1930s that Italy was in full control of the place. In 1931, during the campaign of Cyrenaica, General Rodolfo Graziani easily conquered Kufra District, considered a strategic region, leading about 3,000 soldiers from infantry and artillery, supported by about twenty bombers. Ma'tan as-Sarra was turned over to Italy in 1934 as part of the Sarra Triangle to colonial Italy by
4896-464: Was problematic to keep frontline troops supplied with good quality, or any ammunition at all, and its non-adjustable rear sight (fixed for 200 m) made it ill-suited for use in precision shooting at the varied ranges encountered by Finnish soldiers during the conflict. Despite this, it's worth noticing that the Finns themselves modified the fixed optics on the rifle to operate from a range of 200 m to only 150 m. Whenever possible, Finnish soldiers discarded
4968-401: Was put down by Italian forces in 1932, after the pacification campaign , which resulted in the deaths of a quarter of Cyrenaica's population. In 1934, the colonies were unified by governor Italo Balbo , with Tripoli as the capital. During World War II, Italian Libya became the setting for the North African Campaign . Although the Italians were defeated there by the Allies in 1943, many of
5040-514: Was put down by Italian forces in 1932, after the so-called " pacification campaign ", which resulted in the deaths of a quarter of Cyrenaica's population of 225,000. Italy committed major war crimes during the conflict, including the use of illegal chemical weapons , episodes of refusing to take prisoners of war and instead executing surrendering combatants, and mass executions of civilians. Italian authorities committed ethnic cleansing by forcibly expelling 100,000 Bedouin Cyrenaicans, almost half
5112-399: Was regained during Operation Sonnenblume and by the conclusion of Operation Brevity , German and Italian forces were entering Egypt . The first Siege of Tobruk in April 1941 marked the first failure of Rommel's Blitzkrieg tactics. In 1942 there was the Battle of Gazala when the Axis troops finally conquered Tobruk and pushed the defeated British troops inside Egypt again. Defeat during
5184-570: Was the Via Balbia , an east-west coastal route connecting Tripoli in western Italian Tripolitania to Tobruk in eastern Italian Cyrenaica. The last railway development in Libya done by the Italians was the Tripoli-Benghazi line that was started in 1941 and was never completed because of the Italian defeat during World War II. Classical archaeology was used by the Italian authorities as a propaganda tool to justify their presence in
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