CLEANING KITS
OILERS
AMPOLLINI PER OLIO
One issued to each soldier.
Mod. 1891 Lead oiler
Adopted with the new Mod. 1891 rifle, it replaced the old mod. 1870 oiler. Made of Lead, Antimonium, was produced by the same arsenals that produced the Rifles, or otherwise were produced by the Artillery Directorates.
It is different from following productions due to its 4 concentric circles marked on its body.
Mod. 1907 Iron Oiler
Adopted as a possible sobstitute for the lead oiler since deacidified oil was more available, was Made out of stamped tin, and produced mostly 1907-1913. Its fragility, rust tendency and lack of deacidifying properties, quickly put it aside during WW1.
Simplified Mod.1891 Lead Oiler "Slim kid"
During WW1 the old mod.91 oiler was reintroduced into service in order to ease logistics and accept even less pure deacidified oil for service. But war economy required some semplifications, represented by two iterations of the og lead oiler: the first one has a distinctive long and thinner neck, similar to the og mod.91 oiler.
Simplified Mod.1891 Lead Oiler "Fat Boy"
During WW1 the old mod.91 oiler was reintroduced into service in order to ease logistics and accept even less pure deacidified oil for service. But war economy required some semplifications, represented by two iterations of the og lead oiler: the second one has a distinctive chunkier look. This kind of oiler will remain in production way into 1943.
Mod. 91-38 Bakelite Oiler
Towards the second world war, with the adoption of the mod.38 rifle and the overall modernization of the army, several private factories proposed their patents and design to contribute to the war Effort. One of these companies was LAMPA, a bakelite specialised enterprise in Milan, with several patents already registered.
One of those patents was for a simplified bakelite oiler, that was accepted into service by the Italian Army in early 1941 as the "Synthetic resin oiler, for guns mod. 91 and 38". Most of these are made out of orange-brown bakelite, with the LAMPA logo at its bottom
This oiler was meant to employ synthetic gun oils instead of the typical deacidified olive oil.
After the war, Beretta aquired LAMPA's patent and made its own batches of oilers for their own guns, colored black and with the Beretta company name on top of the cap.
Mod. 91-38-41 Bakelite Oiler
During the second world war, with the adoption of the mod.38 and mod.41 rifle and the overall modernization of the army, several private factories proposed their patents and design to contribute to the war effort. One of these companies was Agostini-FALC, a bakelite specialised enterprise in Milan, with several patents already registered.
One of those patents was for a simplified bakelite oiler, that was accepted into service by the Italian Army in 1942 as the "Synthetic resin oiler, for guns mod. 91-38-41"
This oiler was produced by Agostini-FALC and by Radi, and their company name appears on the bottom of the oiler.
Modified Mod. 91-38-41 Bakelite Oiler
After some time from the adoption of the mod. 91-38-41 oiler, it was clear that the design wasn't as airtight as intended, and it needed some changes to be adequately serviceable.
​Several thousands of these (already manufactured) oilers got modified (we don't know if during or after WW2) by adding a leather gasket and by removing some material from the sides of the top.
HORSEHAIR BRUSHES
SCOVOLINO DI CRINI PER ARMI MOD. 91
Standard issue to each soldier.
​
It has a thread on its rear end in order to screw it onto the cleaning rod.
There are both brass and iron versions, indicating peacetime and wartime production respectively.
SCREWDRIVERS
CACCIAVITE PER ARMI MOD.91
Issued only to NCOs and Officers.
Material and details changed overtime, brass caps were produced during peacetime and iron caps during wartime.
Wood can be Walnut, Beech or Ash.
PostWW2 screwdrivers are made with low quality Ashwood and the low quality blueing of the blade give them a redd-ish color.
TIN BOXES
Contrary to what some authors claim, these boxes weren't standard ammy issue.
Soldiers kept their cleaning kits in their rucksakcs/bags, often in the sewing kit pouches they got issued.
No specific cleaning kit tin box or bag was issued to soldiers.
The Tin box you can find on the market are indeed for Carcanos tho, but not military issue: these were made for the civilian Target Shooting market, for the Tiro a Segno Nazionale associates that often practiced with Carcanos (many competitions were paramilitary ones, and Carcanos were often offered as prizes).
There are several different models of these tin boxes, some with compartments, some plain and simple, as the one depicted here is.
BARREL PLUG
TURACCIOLO PER ARMI MOD.91
28.5.1914
To prevent sand and other debris from entering the barrel of rifles and carbines, a plug for Model 91 rifles has been adopted for Colonial Troops, cyclist units, and cyclists.
With this plug, pierced for most of the stem and part of the head, even if inadvertently left on the muzzle, firing the gun poses no risk of damage to either the gun or the shooter.
The Minister, D. Grandi
Just a simple wooden plug , with a stem that fit tightly the muzzle and a red head to remember the soldier that it was still on the muzzle. It was issued to soldiers in North Africa, East Africa and to Cyclist troops, in order to keep enviromental elements out of the barrel and out of the action.
BRASS CLEANING ROD
BACCHETTA NETTATOIA PER FUCILE E MOSCHETTO MOD.91
Just a standard brass cleaning rod, distributed at company level.
Easier and more practical to use than the standard issued steel cleaning rods.
CLEANING RODS
An overview of Carcano cleaning rods. There are some subvariants, which will not be depicted here.
Fucile mod. 91 cleaning rod
​Threaded for the frontend and on its rear.
75cm/29,5" long
Moschetto mod.91 per T.S. Cleaning rod
Moschetto mod. 91/24 Cleaning rod
Moschetto mod. 38 per T.S. Cleaning rod
Threaded both for the frontend and on its rear.
42cm/16,5" long
Moschetto mod.91 Cleaning Rods
Moschetto mod.38 Cleaning Rods
Fucile mod.38 Cleaning Rods
Since its inception in 1893, the Moschetto mod.91 had two separate cleaning rods, kept in the buttstock traphole.
These cleaning rods are 23cm/9" long, both have a threaded end, but one has a patch holder, while the other has a female-threaded head, to assemble the cleaning rod in its entirety.
The mod. 38 short rifle has the same system of assemblable cleaning rods kept in the buttstock, but since the barrel is longer, it uses three cleaning rods (two with threaded head, one with patch holder).
The same exact style of celaning rods was also used for MAB 38 SMGs, only different in length.The MAB 38A SMG used two 20cm/7,8" rods.The MAB 38/42, MAB 38/44 and all the postwar MABs used two 15cm/5,9" rods.
Mod. 41 Rifle
Threaded only on its rear. the old part threaded for the frontend is just a bulge in the metal, that help keeping the rod in position.
66cm/26" long
