7.7mm Arisaka Type 99

[sweetkicker]

just picked up a 7.7mm Arisaka Type 99, and after I got it stripped. I found out that whoever put the after market sights on it drilled all the way into the bore front and rear.
this sucks because there is no way in hell I would fire it like this "good thing I always check first". now I have to make a new barrel. I have a friend with a machine shop so it will cost me nothing. but I still got ripped off. I am thinking about going with a .30 bore and a 30-06 chamber on the new barrel, but I want some info on the old barrel first.
how the heck can I get it off the receiver to take it to my friend?
has anyone else ever had holes from a sight or scope mount going into the bore?
this is the first time I ever saw this.

 

[yesit'sloaded]

Sounds like bubba was having a bad day.

 

[Gustav]

Best way to take off a barrel is with a barrel vice and a receiver wrench both of which cost probably more than you paid for the rifle.

I would suggest you check around with any of the gun shops in you area find someone who has the tools its a fairly simple procedure with the right tools and it should not cost you that much.

Much cheaper than buying the tools to only do the job the one time.

Some of the old timers might even do it as a favor if you ask them or buy them lunch for the day in the shop.

The Arisaka is a strong action allot of them were sporterized back when they were war trophies and cheap.

The question is how much do you want to spend time and money wise?

Best of luck.

 

[sweetkicker]

is there any tool I can sub as a barrel vice and action wrench? dont care about scaring the barrel lug, but I want no scratches on the action

 

[elmerfudd]

I think you might have a bigger problem than you think. If I remember right, Arisaka barrels use an obsolete thread. I may be wrong, but I think that in order to get your new barrel to work you are either going to have to find a machinist who will cut custom threads for you on a lathe or locate someone who has the proper die.

 

[sweetkicker]

my friend who will make the barrel is the manager of Cleveland punch and die so I hope they have something to cut it. if not then I guess I will fill the barrel and hang it on the wall. what a loss. I hate to see a firearm die.

 

[Gustav]

PM sent

 

[sweetkicker]

this junker has a bolt that is all chrome with a bent pineapple nob. the safety looks like some kind of alloy, but the rest looks like good old steel that was chromed. is this an after market bolt or did bubba have it chromed?

 

[Gustav]

Sounds like allot of late night tinkering with nothing better to do chrome was one of the fads for a while when these where a dime a dozen.

You would probably be money ahead in the long run turning it into a learning experience or practice gun to learn a little smithing sanding or refinishing you can't ruin what has already been defiled.

If it is unsafe make sure it is clearly stamped or marked as such & made unable to fire.

Use it for practice or a wall hanger or a conversation starter.

Trying to restore it would be more expense then it was worth.

As a sporter the only question is how much are you willing to sink into it and would it be better to just go with something else (IMO yes).

Cheap or free is not always good, I would not for example want a free Ford Pinto.

 

[Spiggy]

the threads are in metric, but if I remember correctly, 17tpi should be the approximate

 

[Slamfire]

Frank de Hass book "Bolt Action Rifles", in the section on Arisaka rifles, he states that the 99 barrel has a pitch of 16.93 threads per inch. After that he says 17 is as close as close as you can get without having special metric thread gears for the lathe.

I looked up the diameter of a #6 screw, it is 0.138". To figure the load on one of these screws, I assumed 40,000 pounds per square inch. So the load would be 40,000 X .25 X 3.14 X Dia X Dia = 600 pounds (about)

From this web page, a http://www.cactus.org/~tbodine/ScrewShear.htm a 6 X 40 steel screw has a much greater shear strength.

Unless I am wrong, which is totally possible, (and please tell me if I am!), you might be able to shoot the thing as is.

Incidentally, the diameter in the second table of a #10 screw is about about 0.138. Don't know why the difference.

If I were to try this, I would epoxy with something like a Devcon industrial epoxy, or use soft lead and solder the screws in. You don't want them working their way out.

 

[elmerfudd]

I think Slamfire1 makes a good point, but also it seems to me that this would be very unlikely to ever cause a kaboom. More likely you'd have the screw turning into a projectile and shooting straight up. Holes in barrels aren't exactly uncommon. Every gas operated semi auto has a hole in the barrel as does every magnaported firearm and we don't ever hear about them causing the barrels to rupture. Now of course the hole in your barrel is probably much closer to the chamber where the pressures would be much higher, so that's something else to take into consideration.

 

[lathedog]

I am always running across fairly nice T99 barreled actions that have almost all other part stripped off. In fact I have one in storage.

The wood seems to be the first thing to go on many Japanese rifles, and also lots of tool shed giunsmiths hacked up the wood but left the metal intact.

I might recommend being patient and waiting for a barrelled action to come along. The chrome can be stripped off the bolt, and the handle straightened (although leaving it bent might be not be a horrible idea).

I am curious what aftermarket sight was mounted on the barrel and I am not clicking on what that might be; also the original sights are really pretty nice on a T99. Drilling the receiver for a Williams or Lyman sight is something I have seen, although wonder why. I guess people can't leave something alone and un-buggered.

 

[sweetkicker]

slam, the first holes are about 6 cm from the charge and it is a series 30 from Tokyo arsenal with a pristine chamber. the holes are about 3 mm diameter. I think with some lock tight I will give it a go. I will put it on a bench rest and stand behind a tree with a string on the trigger. "to young to die over something silly". the holes near the muzzle don't worry me so much "compensator" lol
I have already decided to do my own bubba job. I made the poorly cut off muzzle level, and did a proper crown job. I tore into the so called sport stock.
JACKPOT!!, at first this looked like a hand carved log with some water seal on it, BUT I soon found out that it is a beautiful piece of swirly walnut. hell some dumb bubba put a lot of money into this rifle. if I had to guess I would say this is a $100 piece of wood alone. chrome bolt, williams sights, the down side is the barrel. It just might work if I can keep a 3mm screw from being a 2700 fps projectile.
I have high hopes
any other kind of hopes would just be depressing.

 

[Spiggy]

problem is the current market has a vaccuum for arisaka parts, a stripped and parted arisaka can sell for more than one complete one.

it's not uncommon for people to disassemble good matching T99s and attempt to part it out.

unfortunately war time mythology that they are inferior weapons still linger today; despite that two of the top 5 strongest actions made during war time are the T38/44 and T99(A NRA documented test, no less!)

sweetkicker, mind you get some pics?

 

[sweetkicker]

t99 bolt

will post the work in progress soon.