The Contemptibles

Some consider certain rifles to be “Losers” in quality and design, but they also served capably.

My primary shooting focus for several years now has been with military rifles of World War II. My rifle racks hold many samples of US M1 Garands and Springfield ’03s. German K98k Mausers are also plentiful. All the above rifles are held in near reverence by most Americans with an interest in such things.

That is logical. The M1 is America’s most famous battle rifle and the ’03 Springfield has a reputation as being awesomely accurate and finely made to boot. Which brings us to the German K98k; it is a version of Peter Paul Mauser’s Model 1898, which American ordnance officers copied to get their US Model 1903. (Early in the 20th century the US Government had to pay Mr. Mauser a hefty sum for infringing on his patents.)

Conversely it is safe to say among Americans that several battle rifles of WWII can be lumped together as The Contemptibles.  Shooters of Springfields and Mausers cannot help but curl their lips in sneers when The Contemptibles’ names are mentioned. Just last weekend I heard a shooter at a match refer to one of them as “horrible junk.” And I must admit—just as with all those thousands of American shooters who despise the rifles to be described shortly—for many decades I did too.

I was wrong. The Contemptibles may not be paragons of fit and finish like American ’03s and German 98s. Instead they are simply battle rifles, intended primarily to function well, and secondly to deliver at least enough precision in regards bullet placement to hit human beings out to a few hundred yards.

My opinion is that among the unenlightened The Contemptibles of WWII battle rifles are: Italian Carcanos, Japanese Arisakas, French MAS 1936s and Soviet (and Finnish) Mosin-Nagants. Disregarding “last ditch” types made under wartime duress, not one single model of the above battle rifles deserves contempt or disgust.

When I bid on an Italian battle rifle on a firearms auction site, it was for a common Model 1891 generically called Carcanos. What I luckily got instead was the rare Model 1941 version with slightly shorter barrel and odd rotating rear sight. Of course caliber is 6.5x52mm. Carcanos including Model 1941s are an adaptation of the basic Mannlicher design. That is cartridges are inserted by means of an en-bloc loader that falls out the bottom of the action when the last round is chambered. Whereas ’03 Springfields and Mauser 98s hold only five rounds, Carcanos hold six.
By Mike “Duke” Venturino

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