Mystery Chinese Arisaka?

[WardenWolf]

OK, I finally got the scoop on this mystery relic of mine, or pretty much so anyway. Last week when I tried to pour a mould to see what the chamber measured up to I found that it hadn't been properly milled for a round; One diameter chamber, then a hard shoulder, not a bevel for the neck, with another diameter which came pretty close to the actual barrel. Very confusing. On top of that I finally realized the bore was smooth, no lans and grooves whatsoever. I began to suspect this may have been one of those rifles that had been reported to have been issued to "schools". Today I asked a Japanese friend of mine what the writing was on the stock. It read "Nakashima", then "school", but he couldn't make out the last figure. On the opposite side of the stock was another blaze, the number "8" in Japanese. Sooooo, I'm gonna have to conclude that this is one of those school rifles manufactured in the Jinsen armory in Korea between 1931 and 1940, not a last ditch weapon at all, even though the star doesn't appear to have the extra do-dads within the marking. The book says that armory made 1300 of'em with serial numbers from 0-1300. I still can't explain the "D" in the serial number, but at least the numbers all match throughout the rifle. If anybody out there ever sees another one, I'd sure like to compare it with mine. As far as I'm concerned, case closed. Thanks for the various inputs.

Believe it or not, this may make it more valuable, as the school weapons are considerably more rare. Not many were made, and they were almost exclusively kept on the home islands. Yours also appears to be in very good condition. Aside from the surface rust, which will clean up with a wipedown with Breakfree while leaving the patina behind, the rifle is in as good condition as pretty much any training rifle I can find pictures of.

 

[Joep0331]

Wardenwolf, It never occurred to me that it might be more valuable, but you're right.
Because it was never built to be a real rifle I don't necessarily want it among my Arisakas, all shootable. (Most of'em with reduced loads of course.) Maybe I can trade it to somebody? It sure was neat to track it down though.

 

[Joep0331]

CZguy,
Did you notice the stock? I think it's made out of mahogany or something like it. Nothing like the junk woods the Japanese used for their service rifles. Your pictures appear to show the same type of stock that mine is. Anybody out there know what kind of wood it is...for certain?

 

[hiawatha]

Joep0331, I think it's been established that your rifle is a training rifle. I don't know who made it or when, but it's not based on a T99. It's based on a T38. It has the T38 floorplate release button and two gas vent holes in the receiver ring rather than one as a T99 would have. It's certainly an interesting specimen!

 

[WardenWolf]

Joep0331, unless your Arisakas are last ditch, there is no reason at all to use reduced loads with them. Original-spec Arisakas (both 38 and 99) can be loaded to nuclear levels, so normal loads won't phase them. Destructive testing done post-war showed that the Arisaka 38 was the strongest rifle of the war, with the Type 99 right behind it. Keep in mind that the original Arisaka 99 round was equivalent to the British .303, and substantially weaker than the German 8mm Mauser round. These rifles are capable of taking MORE pressure than the K98, despite the K98 being built for a more powerful round to begin with. They're seriously overbuilt.

 

[Joep0331]

Except for one 6.5 I have, all my Arisakas are "last ditch" examples of varying quality of construction. The 6.5 is a VERY good shooter.