Maybe - maybe not. The arsenals all made spare barrels. They had the arsenal name, steel code and date but the serial number was left blank. When a banged up rifle came in for refurb, the bad barrel was removed, the serial number stamped on the replacement barrel and everything was put back together.
Seen here is a barrel from Brescia made in 1895 which was installed on a 1917 Terni receiver. The bore is pretty good so it just might get a donor stock and put back in service. Onle 50,000 rifles by Brescia. SW
Besides 1895 Brescia, we see the Tubata mark showing the bore was drilled out and a liner brazed in. The mark over Brescia relates to a refurb.
Barrel 003 (1024x683).jpg [ 231.94 KiB | Viewed 2242 times ]
Here's the receiver made in Feb, 1917. My guess is that it was worn out in the fighting around Caporetto. The barrel is in fact an antique, but the rifle is not.
Barrel 001 (675x1024).jpg [ 262.43 KiB | Viewed 2241 times ]
Another mark is the crossed rifles and target showing the rifle has accuracy potential. I''m still not sure if it was test fired or it was decided by gauges.
Barrel 009 (1024x614).jpg [ 284.76 KiB | Viewed 2241 times ]
Also seen is another standard Carcano mark = the steel code. In this case, PO is for Poldi, Czech Republic. Which was the Austro-Hungarian province of Bohemia at the time.
Barrel 006 (1024x718).jpg [ 325.4 KiB | Viewed 2241 times ]
The tip off to a replacement barrel is the serial number. If you don't have the book with serial number lists, ( it's out of print now) watch for signs of hand stamping. Uneven numbers - light or heavy strikes, etc & so forth. In this case, the letter prefix TI is nowhere close to a Brescia prefix.
Barrel 002 (1024x579).jpg [ 222.59 KiB | Viewed 2241 times ]
Another tip off is the arsenal identifler. A Brescia barrel should have a receiver showing a tiny BL arsenal ID stamp. Instead, we see the Terni TNI mark.
Small deails, Friends! Always scrutinize the small details! SW
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