Wachtelhund
Member
I am posting after reading various posts, mostly old on this forum and others. There seems to be a few of these sporterized Arisaka out there. People who buy them seem to have problems finding dies and brass to reload them. So hopfully this might help others who purchased these rifles.
I recently purchased a very nice sportized 6.5 Arisaka T38 on Gunbroker.com. Barrel and action had been turned down, shortened and polished, and bluing was very good-95%. Stock was a walnut Bishop MonteCalo, also very nice. Weaver bases with a nice Bushnell Scopechief 4 X scope, clear and useable. Trigger reworked removing the two stage pull. With sling.
It was listed as a 6.5 Jap and I was the only one to bid on and won it for $150.00. Later, after winning the bid the seller, a pawn shop, told me it was a 6.5X257 Roberts conversion. All the better I though, until I start looking for reloading dies. Couldn't find any, RCBS and Redding will supply them as custom dies for $150.00 to $170.00. Kind of expensive.
When my gunsmith received it, we did a casting of the chamber, just to be sure. It looked like a .257 Roberts, but the shoulder was a little short, could have been a .257 Kimber or 6.5X 54mm. The bore cleaned up and looked good.
What to do for Dies? For me the solution was easy, rechamber to 6.5x57 Mauser. The 6.5X57 Mauser case is the same lenght as the .257 Roberts, but the shoulder is longer by .00243" and .0016" wider. This is easily a hand rechambering job. I already have a European combination gun 12ga over 6.5X57R that I reload for. There are two 6.5X57 calibers - rimless for bolt actions and Rimmed for combination guns. The dies are the same for the rimmed and rimless version, just different shell holders. The 6.5X57 is a very good German sporting cartridge, not popular here in the States because it was never chambered in a military rifle. It is balistically better than the 6.5X.257 Roberts and balistically equal to the popular 6.5 Swede, using a few grains less of powder.
On the plus side, 6.5X57 Mauser dies sell for $68.00 from RCBS, Hornady, or Redding. Also, 6.5X57mm and 6.5X257 Roberts brass is easily formed from 30-06 or 270 Win cases. I had plenty of .30-06 brass, but no longer had a .30-06 rifle. For the cases, I first cut about about 3/16s off the .30-06 cases on my band saw. Then squared them up on a case trimmer, chambered the neck inside and outside, ran them through a 8X57 Mauser die to push the shoulder back, then through my 6.5X57 Mauser sizing die, and trimmed to lenght. 6.5X57 brass!
I could have rented the reamer and Go Gauge, but instead I ordered the 6.5X57 Mauser reamer this last weekend from Midway for $116.00 minus 10% for the 4th July promotion sale. A Go Gauge from PTG for $27.00. I could sell these later to reduce my cost, but I'll keep them. I always wanted to build a 6.5X57 on a small ring Mauser action. I know someone who has a 7X57 mexican Mauser rusting away in his garage that I have been trying to get for some time.
I hope to be shooting this rifle next week.
I recently purchased a very nice sportized 6.5 Arisaka T38 on Gunbroker.com. Barrel and action had been turned down, shortened and polished, and bluing was very good-95%. Stock was a walnut Bishop MonteCalo, also very nice. Weaver bases with a nice Bushnell Scopechief 4 X scope, clear and useable. Trigger reworked removing the two stage pull. With sling.
It was listed as a 6.5 Jap and I was the only one to bid on and won it for $150.00. Later, after winning the bid the seller, a pawn shop, told me it was a 6.5X257 Roberts conversion. All the better I though, until I start looking for reloading dies. Couldn't find any, RCBS and Redding will supply them as custom dies for $150.00 to $170.00. Kind of expensive.
When my gunsmith received it, we did a casting of the chamber, just to be sure. It looked like a .257 Roberts, but the shoulder was a little short, could have been a .257 Kimber or 6.5X 54mm. The bore cleaned up and looked good.
What to do for Dies? For me the solution was easy, rechamber to 6.5x57 Mauser. The 6.5X57 Mauser case is the same lenght as the .257 Roberts, but the shoulder is longer by .00243" and .0016" wider. This is easily a hand rechambering job. I already have a European combination gun 12ga over 6.5X57R that I reload for. There are two 6.5X57 calibers - rimless for bolt actions and Rimmed for combination guns. The dies are the same for the rimmed and rimless version, just different shell holders. The 6.5X57 is a very good German sporting cartridge, not popular here in the States because it was never chambered in a military rifle. It is balistically better than the 6.5X.257 Roberts and balistically equal to the popular 6.5 Swede, using a few grains less of powder.
On the plus side, 6.5X57 Mauser dies sell for $68.00 from RCBS, Hornady, or Redding. Also, 6.5X57mm and 6.5X257 Roberts brass is easily formed from 30-06 or 270 Win cases. I had plenty of .30-06 brass, but no longer had a .30-06 rifle. For the cases, I first cut about about 3/16s off the .30-06 cases on my band saw. Then squared them up on a case trimmer, chambered the neck inside and outside, ran them through a 8X57 Mauser die to push the shoulder back, then through my 6.5X57 Mauser sizing die, and trimmed to lenght. 6.5X57 brass!
I could have rented the reamer and Go Gauge, but instead I ordered the 6.5X57 Mauser reamer this last weekend from Midway for $116.00 minus 10% for the 4th July promotion sale. A Go Gauge from PTG for $27.00. I could sell these later to reduce my cost, but I'll keep them. I always wanted to build a 6.5X57 on a small ring Mauser action. I know someone who has a 7X57 mexican Mauser rusting away in his garage that I have been trying to get for some time.
I hope to be shooting this rifle next week.
