Japanese Military Arisaka Rifle

[Slowhand]

I bought a Japanese Military Arisaka Rifle, Type 38 (1905) Design.

It’s in reasonable shape for its age. It just needs a bit of cleaning and should be ready to roll.

I get the thing home and pop off the dust cover. The Mum is of course missing. That was a 16 Petal Chrysanthemum stamped on rifle to identify it as belonging to the Japanese Army and symbolized the Emperor. Loads of Mums got chiseled off after WWII.

I also note that the Shiki calligraphy says that it’s a Type 38. I measure the bore and it’s a 6.5mm, the rifle is 50 ¼ inches long, with a 31 ½ in barrel. It’s been reasonably maintained but needs some cleaning.

The Serial Number is s a problem. 5,054,xxx, none of the Japanese Armories produced that volume before or during WWII, unless it was the Manchurian Armory. It was estimated that over 3,400,000 Type 38’s were produced.

The Arsenal Stamp is unknown in any of my research. The closest symbol is the Nagoya Armory but that would have to be an upside down stamp.

It also needs cleaning rod and a bayonet but that can wait.

Loads of interesting stuff at the gun show. But the prices were high.

I’m just curious if anyone recognizes the Arsenal Stamp.

 

[Gunplummer]

I sold all my books in the auctions, but it looks like a Mukdan (Spelling?) which is Japanese. The right side is a little distorted in the picture. If it is 3 straight lines, it is Mukdan made. Many 6.5's were reworked by the Japanese before and during the war. You will see some bizarre marks on them every once and a while.

 

[warbirdlover]

Looks in good shape! Very interesting buy. Can you find ammo?

 

[Slowhand]

Mukden (Manchuria)

I've been reading the radix.net Markings Guide for Japanese Arisaka Rifles and a few other sources.

It's looks lke Kukden in manchuria was the place of manufacture. The smaller marking to the right is the Japanes Character for 6. It's also on the bolt and clearer. 5,054xxx would make her a later production piece. But who knows she a lucky lady to have survived this far.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[tahunua001]

now it's been a while since I tried to teach myself Japanese but I am almost certain that the number markings on the top of the receiver are a 2 and a 4, not a 3 and an 8. she is quite a beauty though. most of the arisakas I see are from mid 30s to the end of WWII and are usually in pretty poor shape for a C&R piece. good find, now you just have to find the ammo for them.

 

[Willie D]

now it's been a while since I tried to teach myself Japanese but I am almost certain that the number markings on the top of the receiver are a 2 and a 4, not a 3 and an 8.

Nope. It's a 3 (san) and an 8 (hachi). 1 through 3 is easy - 1-3 horizontal lines.

It's been a while since I've practiced as well but I can still count in Japanese pretty well.

 

[kilimanjaro]

That's the Mukden arsenal, in Manchuria. No idea how many they made there, but the Japanese Army in Manchuria alone was one million men, and in China proper easily 1.5 million, at war's end in 1945, so could easily be over 5 million produced from 1931 on when they entered Manchuria.

Looks to be in good shape.

 

[Slowhand]

Working on it...

I’m going to give her a cleanup and then sit down with some references and see what numbers match and what don’t. I have a few other antiques that are lying around that have gone through the usual modifications and changes. So far several of the parts look like they have been changed out, let’s call it refurbishment. History on these things is always sketchy to say the least.

I got up early this morning and decided to clean the rifle. One thing nice about the Inter Net is there’s loads of written and You Tube information about how to disassembly it.

I popped the bolt out and disassembled the 5 parts. Rather simple compared to a Mosin Nagant. I hit the parts with some Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber and then some Break Free CLP.

Then I hit the magazine plate and popped out the magazine spring and follower. It must have been years since they got pulled and cleaned.

Next I cleaned the chamber, bore and barrel.

I called it quits there for now and reassembled the rifle. Later on, I’ll do a complete disassembly and get the rest of it done. For now it’s going to sit in the gun case. I have a Mosin Nagant (Tula) 7.62mm x55R from 1932 that I’ve been working on getting the Cosmoline out.

Thanks for all the responses and information. I god lucky on this one, she’s in good shape and hasn’t been fired for who knows how long.

 

[44 AMP]

Before you go to shoot it, (besides a headspace check) slug to bore. 6.5x50 Arisaka should be the caliber, but bore sizes vary with these old gun, and standard .264" bullets might be undersized.

One of my old Lyman manuals specifically warns of this, and recommends always wearing shooting glasses due to the risk of gas blow by.

Original Jap military ammo is more scarce than the rifles. There are some modern loading for the 6.5 Jap, cases can be had. But check the bore carefully. Some of the old military rifles (from all nations) can have bores so "off" from the standard sizes that they are best only shot with cast bullets, sized for the individual rifles.

 

[Slowhand]

Thanks for the warning...

Absolutely.... I have a couple of Mosin Nagant Rifles and several Antique Revolvers that go back to 1865 and prior to 1877... I've slugged a few barrels and checked some head spacing in the past. Im not a very trusting soul when it comes to dealing with new acquisitions.

On this one, I'd checked the bore and barrel first to make sure that wasn't a bullet inside. When I started cleaning the bore and barrel I ran a 6.5 barrel brush down it and it jammed and broke the small metal coupling tht fits the brush to the rod.

I used a second rod and a .22 Cal brush to get things to started. Then a Bore Snake to clean it. After that the 6.5mm ran smooth.

I appreciate your advice. One never knows what is going to find when it comes to old firearms especially with an off bore size being manufactured or modified after production.

 

[doofus47]

Looks like the Mukden, Chinese arsenal. Nice find.

I had a T38 carbine and I loved it.
You're going to have some fun shooting that piece of history.

 

[sc928porsche]

Slug the barrel and check the headspace. Norma makes ammo for both the 6.5 and 7.7. A bit costly, so if you reload, get a box or 2 and pick up some dies. Dies from Lee will cost about the same as a box of ammo.

My first 6.5 had a good barrel, but bad headspace. The stock was a mess, so I rechambered it to 6.5x308 (now called 260 remington), cut the barrel to 26", recrowned, bedded a Fajen stock, Williams ramp front sight with hood, Timely trigger with safety, and new bolt handle. A little metal polishing and hot blue made for a nice hunter. I gave it to my daughter on her 12th birthday. She got a small buck with it that year and has been hunting with it ever since. She is now 38.

 

[Slowhand]

Thanks for the information.