7.7 Arisaka

[mio]

A friend gave me some brass that is supposed to be 7.7 Arisaka. The headstamps are all mixed none of them saying 7.7 anything. here are three examples 768C and LS53 and WTS4. Anybody know for sure what they would be?

 

[Ken70]

Measure the case length; should be 2.270". Case head is .470". 30-06 brass is cut down to make 7.7, that is 2.494" and case head .473". Take an unloaded case and see how it chambers, the pro way is to make a chamber cast and measure that and make sure what you got.

 

[Havok7416]

The headstamps sound like old US military brass, likely .30-06. Do you have any actual 7.7 brass to compare to?

 

[Jesse Heywood]

Original Japanese Arisaka brass has no headstamp.

 

[valleyforge.1777]

Do you have any commercially-made Arisaka ammo to compare it to? sounds like these are old gov't 30-06 cases that were trimmed down to 7.7 x 58 Japanese. You can measure the specs of the cases to be sure.

Anyway, are you going to reload them?

I've got a bunch of 7.7 Arisaka brass, but have not bought reloading equipment for it. Probably will not reload it; at least not this lifetime because I have so much other stuff to load. Commercial ammo is available from Norma (very expensive, and from what I hear it is not the best anyway). Also, Hornady loads 7.7 Japanese and sells it, but I am not sure if they use once-fired cases, and anyway with the Great Ammo Panic still going strong I am sure that Hornady has other things to do with their presses than make a small niche cartridge. When Hornady is loading it, you can get it direct from Graf's and Graf's also wholesales it to Cabela's to sell retail. Used to be kind of a seasonal run that showed up around April or May and took a few months to sell out. Now, there is no telling when they'll make it again. I am not positive, but I think Graf's collects used brass and sends it to be filled. I know they have done that with a commercial reloader called Precision Cartridge Co. Not sure where Hornady gets their 7.7 brass. Anyway, just wondering if you're going to load that brass you have. There are other sources for reloaded 7.7 out there but I can't vouch for them.

 

[clutch]

Do you have any commercially-made Arisaka ammo to compare it to? sounds like these are old gov't 30-06 cases that were trimmed down to 7.7 x 58 Japanese. You can measure the specs of the cases to be sure.

Anyway, are you going to reload them?

I've got a bunch of 7.7 Arisaka brass, but have not bought reloading equipment for it. Probably will not reload it; at least not this lifetime because I have so much other stuff to load. Commercial ammo is available from Norma (very expensive, and from what I hear it is not the best anyway). Also, Hornady loads 7.7 Japanese and sells it, but I am not sure if they use once-fired cases, and anyway with the Great Ammo Panic still going strong I am sure that Hornady has other things to do with their presses than make a small niche cartridge. When Hornady is loading it, you can get it direct from Graf's and Graf's also wholesales it to Cabela's to sell retail. Used to be kind of a seasonal run that showed up around April or May and took a few months to sell out. Now, there is no telling when they'll make it again. I am not positive, but I think Graf's collects used brass and sends it to be filled. I know they have done that with a commercial reloader called Precision Cartridge Co. Not sure where Hornady gets their 7.7 brass. Anyway, just wondering if you're going to load that brass you have. There are other sources for reloaded 7.7 out there but I can't vouch for them.

The only brass I have for my 7.7 Arisaka was made by norma. Making brass out of .30-06 brass isn't recommended due to the 0.003" diameter difference at the base.

I'm thinking the brass you have will visually show a step about 5/16 to 3/8" from the case head.