Carcano Moschetto TS
- Category
- Carbine
- Barrel
- 450 mm
- Weight, empty
- 3.09 kg
- Introduced
- 1893
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Carcano Moschetto TS (Moschetto per Truppe Speciali) is a bolt-action carbine variant of the Italian Modello 1891 Carcano service rifle, issued from the 1890s to specialist troops such as engineers, artillery crews, machine-gunners and bicycle units who needed a handier weapon than the full-length rifle. It retains the Carcano's Mannlicher-pattern en-bloc clip feeding a six-round integral magazine and a Mauser-style two-lug rotating bolt, but shortens the barrel to roughly 450 mm with a full-length stock and handguard. Unlike the cavalry carbine with its permanently attached folding bayonet, the TS uses a separate knife bayonet mounted on a lug under the muzzle. It saw extensive service through both World Wars in 6.5x52mm Carcano.
The TS carbine was the workhorse of Italy's 'special troops' - the engineers, signalmen, artillerymen and machine-gun crews who needed a rifle short enough to handle around equipment and vehicles but still chambered for the same 6.5mm cartridge as the line infantry, letting a single ammunition supply feed the whole army.
TS stands for Truppe Speciali (special troops), not for cavalry; the dedicated cavalry pattern was the separate Moschetto da Cavalleria with an integral folding bayonet. Early TS carbines used a transverse stock bayonet lug; later production adopted a conventional muzzle bayonet lug. A wartime 7.35x52mm rebarreled pattern (M91/38 TS) was also produced.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Italian State Arsenals (Terni / Brescia / Gardone)
- Category
- Carbine
- Country
- Italy
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1893 to 1945
- Variant of
- Special troops carbine
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 450 mm
- Overall length
- 920 mm
- Weight, empty
- 3.09 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Bolt action
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single stage
- Capacity
- 6
- Magazine
- En bloc clip
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 640 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 2130 J
- Effective range
- 400 m
- Maximum range
- 1500 m
- Rate of fire
- 15 rpm
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
En bloc clip loading
Tangent rear sight
Full length handguard
Side folding bayonet lug
Two lug rotating bolt
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 409 carbines | 3.09 kg | 3.00 kg | Heavier than about 60% |
| Overall lengthAmong 407 carbines | 920 mm | 895 mm | Longer than about 60% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 423 carbines | 450 mm | 406 mm | Longer than about 70% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 423 carbines | 6 | 21 | Holds fewer rounds than about 80% |
Answers
Questions about the Carcano Moschetto TS
How much does the Carcano Moschetto TS weigh?
The Carcano Moschetto TS weighs 3.09 kg (6.81 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Carcano Moschetto TS?
The Carcano Moschetto TS is chambered in 6.5x52mm Carcano.
How many rounds does the Carcano Moschetto TS hold?
The Carcano Moschetto TS holds 6 rounds, fed from an en bloc clip.
How long is the Carcano Moschetto TS?
The Carcano Moschetto TS is 920 mm (36.2 in) long overall, with a 450 mm (17.7 in) barrel.
Who makes the Carcano Moschetto TS?
The Carcano Moschetto TS is made by Italian State Arsenals (Terni / Brescia / Gardone) (Italy). It was designed by Salvatore Carcano.
When was the Carcano Moschetto TS introduced?
The Carcano Moschetto TS was introduced in 1893 and discontinued in 1945.
How does the Carcano Moschetto TS operate?
The Carcano Moschetto TS uses a bolt action, and its firing mechanism is hammer fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Royal Italian Army (Regio Esercito)
- 1893
- Italian Social Republic
- 1943
- Wehrmacht
- 1943
Provenance
Confidence in this record
80%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/carcano-ts-carbine' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "carcano-ts-carbine", "name": "Carcano Moschetto TS", "manufacturer": { "id": "regio-esercito-arsenals", "name": "Italian State Arsenals (Terni / Brescia / Gardone)", "countryCode": "IT", "foundedYear": 1875, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-04-05 22:24:37", "updatedAt": "2026-04-05 22:24:37", "version": "6de7e72b4412acb112d424e900f74c649ff4787b994443b6f6b3ef1ed7848d26" }, "category": { "id": "carbine", "name": "Carbine", "description": "Shortened rifles for close-quarters use" }, "country_of_origin": "IT", "year_introduced": 1893, "barrel_length_mm": 450, "weight_empty_g": 3090, "action_type": "bolt_action"}