New Rifle! (well, almost)

[Ian]

Ain't she purty?

I was rooting through my Dad's reloading gear this evening looking for some things, and I came across a box of assorted old Arisaka parts. Lo and behold, among the dust covers and old Chinese slings was a lonely looking receiver. When I asked him about it, he said that it had belonged to an pretty beat up mismatched old Arisaka, and he'd sold most of the parts from it to a guy years ago. The receiver was still in his bound book, and he'd never figured out how to get rid of it.

Well, being a nice guy and all, I offered to take it off his hands - so he logged it out to me. It's from a Type 38 (6.5mm) made at the Tokyo (later Kokura) Arsenal probably in the mid to late 1920s.

My though is that now I have a rock-solid*, if beat up, receiver that could be built (as time and money allow) into some neat custom rifle. Does anyone know what would be involved in doing so? Are commercial bolts and barrels available that would fit it? It's basically a Mauser design, but I'm not sure how much it varies from a standard Mauser action.

* I have it on good authority that the US Army at one point strength-tested 6.5mm Arisakas by firing .30 caliber bullets in them, and they didn't kaboom.

 

[Ivy Mike]

I believe that you can get Arisaka bolts from suppliers on the internet.

After that, you just have to find someone to work up a barrel. You could do a 6.5mm rifle or something like a .250 or .260. You could also go with an oddball like the 6.8mm SPC. Could make one heck of a medium varmint gun.
You could also go with the 6.5 Grendel. With the 6.5mm grendel, you might get near 7.62 NATO performance out of a 6.5mm rifle.

Interesting options there.

 

[only1asterisk]

You're either going to have to spend lots of money to make that reciever back into a rifle. More $ than buying a new factory rifle for sure. Think $575-625 for a rifle that isn't worth $175. A learning experience to be certain, but one that could be duplicated with a czech mauser for half the cash.

You'll need a bolt and floorplate ($100 right there), magazine box, spring follower, trigger, trigger pin, barrel, and various small parts (another $100 or more). Someone will have to fit the barrel. and rechamber to whatever you want and put some sort of finish on the whole thing ($200). Then you need some wood ($100 for DIY) and sights.

It makes a cool paperweight.


David

 

[Ivy Mike]

or find a beat up Arisaka and scavenge parts.

I like the Grendel idea myself.

 

[only1asterisk]

Or you could get a decent one for $200 and just use it instead, but that kinda defeats the purpose.


David

 

[Ian]

only1asterisk - Yeah, buying a working Arisaka would definitely defeat the purpose. I don't mind spending the extra money to have a neat one-of-a-kind rifle and the experience of building it myself.

Clean97GTI - I was thinking about 6.5 Swede, but that Grendel idea is pretty intriguing. I might also look into some of the potent wildcats - I'd like to take advantage of the receiver strength if I can.

 

[only1asterisk]

Ian,

You're a certified rifle nut.

Welcome to the club! The 6.5x55 would fill the bill, as it will clean up the Arisaka chamber completely. I would go this way. One of the wildcats based on the swede would add even more to the uniqueness of your project.
You may want to consider that the original barrels run from good to lousy, with some being utter crap. From what I understand they run undersized too, but I have never slugged one myself. The service environment for these rifles was tough and it shows. You may be able to find a good one, but if you are going to make this rifle a keeper you may want to think about a new barrel. This would open up your options. 6mm Remington, 250 Savage, 257 Roberts, 6.5x57, 7x57, 8x57, 9.3x57, (notice a trend?).

Keep us informed whatever you decide to do.

David

 

[jefnvk]

I remember reading about a guy that rechambered an Arisaka for .30-06, but forgot to rebarrel it. he shot once, didn't damage the action, NRA shot three more times, with no damage to the action. Quite impressive.