6.5 Jap

[Billll]

I've had this 6.5 Jap fall into my lap, and I'm rather puzzled as to what to do with it. It's not complete: the wood is missing, but all the rest of the metal is there. This gun has been rode hard and put up wet. I cleaned it up and the barrel and breach look quite good. Outer areas show pitting and minor surface rust The action works quite smoothly, and it came with a box and a half of Norma "olympic match grade" ammo.
From what I've found on the web, the rifle would be worth about $200 if it were all there, as a shooter. The ammo I found was priced from a low of $1/rd to a high of $1.75/rd, so right now, the ammo may be worth more than the gun.
1. Where could I find wood for this gun without spending too much?
2. It was suggested that the action is quite good, and it could be rechambered for a more common 6.5 round. Opinions?
3. Other thoughts?

The gun is 1963 vintage, 38th year, presumably of emporer Hirohito, according to the breech stamp.

 

[Jim Watson]

1. Hanged if I know.
2. A lot of 6.5 Japs were rechambered for .257 Roberts necked up to .264. Not a factory round, obviously, but something easy to handload for. Not much different from the rather uncommon 6.5x57 Mauser when you look at the history. I don't know if a .260 Remington would clean up the chamber.
3. If you can't DIY, it is probably not worth paying to have done.

 

[GunGoBoom]

1. Where could I find wood for this gun without spending too much?

Probably here is the most likely place:

www.e-gunparts.com

 

[Billll]

Probably here is the most likely place:

www.e-gunparts.com

Yep:


Arisaka ''RIA''
Sportsman Stock
$78.40

 

[GunGoBoom]

 

[Bigfoot]

The 260 is just a bit longer and wider at every point, easy cleanup. Bolt face has to be opened up a bit but it should handle the higher pressure no problem, they are pretty much indestuctable IIRC.

 

[Billll]

OK One more question:
Mr. Watson is suggesting a .264, and Bigfoot is suggesting a .260. 6.5mm works out to .2559" so I gotta ask; how much squeeze is considered acceptable?
.257 sounds like a better fit to me, but I admit to knowing very little about this.

 

[pauli]

it seems that 6.5 japanese uses a .264 bullet, from what i can tell.

 

[Jim Watson]

Billl,

You are getting into the bore vs groove diameter confusion.
Many (most?) calibers are designated by bore diameter. 6.5 mm = .2559", called .256 in England. Groove diameter is .264" or larger, some European rifles up to .268". Bullets of .264" or so. You will occasionally but not very often see a reference to a 6.7 mm from bullet diameter but it is the same cartridge.

But a 6.8mm Remington SPC shoots the same diameter bullets as a .270 Winchester, .277". Supposedly an influential member of the development committee was a dedicated .270 fan and urged that diameter in preference to 6.5 or 7mm.

Some calibers are designated by groove/bullet diameter. Like .257 Roberts.

But a .256 Newton shoots 264" bullets.

And a .300 H&H Magnum and a .308 Norma Magnum both shoot the same .308" bullets through a barrel that was drilled and reamed to a .300" bore diameter and rifled with grooves .004" deep, .308" side to side.

The Lazzeroni proprietary cartridges have peculiar sounding names because they are designated with the metric bullet/groove diameter. Which makes the 7.82 Warbird use the same barrel and bullet as any other .30 caliber.

 

[Bigfoot]

To simplify things, the 260 Remington fires the same diameter bullets (.264=6.5mm)as your gun was designed for, exactly the same. The 260 Rem is the .308 Win class of cartridges necked down for the 6.5mm bullet. It's a perfect fit in your magazine and chamber because it's almost the same size, only longer by a hairs width and just slightly wider. Ammo can be bought loaded at Wall-Mart and you will never ever run short of brass. Because the 260 rim is wider, your bolt face will have to be enlarged, but it's easily done by a gunsmith as is running a reamer inside the chamber to allow for the larger cartridge. But is it worth it to hire a gunsmith like Jim pointed out? I'm sure others here can give you more accurate labor estimations, but with the stock and labor costs you will have a couple of hundred into it and you can buy a new, very acccurate Stevens for $250. And Stevens parts/accessories will be cheaper if something breaks down the road.