1941 Beretta M91 6.5 Carcano Rifle

On display is the 1941 Beretta M91 6.5 Carcano Rifle, a cousin of the Carcano Mod.91/38 rifle used by Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. The Carcano Rifles were a series of Italian bolt-action, internal box magazine fed, repeating military rifles and carbines. They were first introduced in 1891 and manufactured by the Brescia Arms Factory and ended production of and all rifles and variants in 1945. In total 5,000,000–6,000,000 of all variants of the rifles were manufactured. All of them were chambered in 6.5×52mm Carcano with a 6−round box magazine, and typically had an effective range of around 300 to 600 meters (984 to 1,968 feet). These rifles would weigh about 8.6 lb (3.9 kg) Length 50.74 in (1.289 m), and with a barrel length of 30.7 in (0.780 m).

By 1887, the Model 1870 Vetterli rifles in Italian service were rendered obsolete after the French and Australian-Hungarians adopted more modern rifles. This forced the Italian government to form a commission to choose a new infantry rifle at the end of 1888. After conducting trials with a Terni design based on the Gewehr 1888 and design from a team led by Salvatore Carcano from the arms factory in Turin, Italy, the Fucile Modello 1891 (Model 1891 Rifle) was considered by the 5 March 1892, and formally adapted by the the Italian Ministry of War in March 29, with the first Carcano rifles being issued in the spring of 1894. These rifles were used by the Italian Army from 1894–1981 yet some countries, of which 25 counties put them in service, still use the rifle today. Seeing conflicts all the way from the First Italo-Ethiopian War, to WW1 and WW2, to the 2011 Libyan Civil War.

The rifle on display is one of many variants of the original Model 1891 Rifle. The 1941 Beretta M91 6.5 Carcano Rifle, as its name suggests, was manufactured starting 1941 during WW2. Being credited to Major Roberto Boragine, it has a shorter barrel than the Model 91 rifle (but longer than the Model 38) and is fitted with adjustable sights graduated up to 1,100 yd (1,000 m). About 600,000 rifles were made before Italy's surrender in 1943, but production continued under German supervision at the Armaguerra plants in Cremona.