Pinged out waffenamt?
 

This is on a little 6.5mm Italian Carcano cavalry carbine I recently bought. This small rifle is in good shape, and has it's Italian markings clear and legible, but on top the barrel between the maker(FNA Brescia) and the serial# was another mark that someone put the hammer and a dull punch to. Inspection with a strong magnifying glass shows what looks to me like a droop wing eagle and maybe some other mark, pinged pretty flat. I know the German army would have captured quanitys of this type carbine after the Italian capitulation, and from resistance fighters in various countries. But would they put an ownership/user mark on them?

Thanx, Stevie.

Hobbs' book "The Carcano: Italy's Military Rifle" shows a carbine like yours marked only with serial number and caliber. It should be a fixed sight M38 carbine (if the cavalry type) according to Hobbs. Some were also marked with arsenal if made by Ternia. With no arsenal marking it was probably made by Brescia although Hobbs notes that early Brescia rifles were marked with arsenal markings. Nazi ones are typically conversions of 6.5 mm rifles and will often have a small HK (Heinrich Krieghoff) on the receiver.

rk