6.5 JAP Question

[mallc]

I recently purchased a nicely sportorized 6.5mm Arisaka at a flea market. The rifle does not have a US importer serial number, apparently meaning it was sportorized before the 1968 GCA.

Following everyone's advice about the possibility of a caliber conversion or wildcat I've been very cautions about bringing the rifle back into service.

1. Used my set of Brownell action checking dummies to see what would NOT fit.

2. Used letter drills to zero in on the bore diameter. .257 slips in. .264 doesn't.

3. Bought a modified 6.5 JAP case which chambers perfectly.

4. Checked the neck seat by bluing the case and turning it in the chamber with my OAL guage.

5. Bought a set of dies, 100 pcs of primed PVI brass, and a box of 142 gr SGK.

6. Checked the manual for bullet seating depth. Checked the actual length to the leade....ugh oh!

The rifle has .300" bullet jump between the max OAL specified in the manual and the measured seating length. The jump is so large that the 264 would seat in the boat tail region of the bullet.

Is this normal for an Arisaka? Am I missing something? Is it safe to shoot the rifle with the specified OAL and a .300" jump?

Thanks in advance for your advice,
Scott

 

[TEDDY]

6.5 jap

6.5 use a 160 gr bullet I load for 2- 6.5 and only check to see if it works in mag.its a military rifle and will not be a tack driver.the other way is to seat to just short of the end of neck."if you chambered for 30/06 and fired it in 6.5 bore and it did not blow I would load it to shoot in the 2500 fps range.they are real strong guns.just load so you get the best accuracy you can and have fun.

 

[highlander 5]

You might want to invest in some Cerrosafe from Brownell's and make a chamber cast to make sure you got a 6.5 Arisaka and not one that may have been rechambered to 6.5/257. the 257 Roberts case is 7mm/0.280" longer which may account for the difference. Some of the older Speer manuals had loads for this cartridge.

 

[nambu1]

Highlander is on the money. Many bring backs were converted to 6.5 X 257 due to the fact that the jap ammo was nowhere to be found. Speer manual #9 has loading data for the 6.5 X 257.