Ammo Brief: 6.5x52mm Italian – Gun Digest

Posted by Stanley Graham December 26, 2025
Ammo Brief: 6.5x52mm Italian – Gun Digest

A quick look at 6.5x52mm Italian, aka 6.5x52mm Carcano, the cartridge infamous for allegedly killing President Kennedy.

The 6.5x52mm Italian was the official Italian military cartridge adopted in 1891 for the bolt-action Mannlicher-Carcano rifle. This rifle was a Mannlicher-inspired design in every respect except the bolt, which is a Mauser-type with double-locking lugs at the front. It’s also the only military rifle of smokeless powder design to use gain-twist rifling.

This Italian 6.5mm cartridge is very similar to the 6.5mm Mannlicher-Schoenauer in size, shape and performance. Both unprimed cases and loaded ammunition have been made by Norma.

The Italian 6.5mm military cartridge was unfamiliar to American shooters until after World War II. Large quantities of Italian Model 91 rifles and carbines have been sold at very low prices, and because we are a great nation of bargain hunters, this is now a fairly widely used cartridge. Many surplus arms dealers furnished hunting ammunition that consisted of the military round with the full-jacketed bullet replaced by a soft-point. Reloadable cases can be made very easily from 6.5x54mm Mannlicher cases.

This is a good deer, antelope or black bear cartridge, but the low working pressure limit of the Carcano rifle prevents loading it as heavily as similar military 6.5mms.

6.5x52mm Italian Manlicher-Carcano Loading Data

Bullet
(grains/type)		 Powder Grains Velocity Energy Source
140 SP IMR 4895 33 2,250 1,570 Maximum for Carcano rifle
140 SP IMR 3031 34 2,320 1,730 N/A
156 SP IMR 4064 37 2,280 1,806 N/A
156 SP IMR 4350 35 2,340 1,898 N/A
160 SP IMR 4350 35 2,320 1,919 N/A
139 SP FL FL 2,580 2,045 Norma factory load
156 SP FL FL 2,430 2,045 Norma factory load
162 Ball ML ML 2,296 1,902 Military load

Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt of Gun Digest’s Cartridge’s Of The World.

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