That Arisaka certainly is missing the safety device and spring.
Normally, a complete bolt on an Arisaka is removed by opening the bolt and simply pulling that lever on the left side of the rifle. After which, the bolt should slide out easily.
If pulling out the bolt-catch lever on the left side of the gun does not allow the bolt to come free, then the firing pin may still inside of the bolt, in which case the release notch for the firing pin assembly is likely protruding against the bolt catch. The firing pin is part of a large assembly. If you can't look through the bolt and see light through the hole for the firing pin on the other end, it's probably still in there.
A friend of mine had had an Arisaka in similar condition, and the firing pin was the culprit. The safety mechanism on the back-side of an Arisaka bolt also keeps the release notch for the firing pin in place. When the safety and bolt spring are removed, the firing pin assembly will rotate with the bolt and the firing pin release notch will rotate with it and protrude against the bolt-release lever. This of course prevents the bolt from being removed.
I was able to remove the bolt by unscrewing the flat-headed screw on the top of the bolt catch. This screw is visible in your top-down picture of the receiver. After removing the screw, I was able to free up enough clearance to slide the bolt out.
Later, I discovered a trick to rotate the firing pin assembly inside of the bolt that allowed it to clear the bolt catch.
Now before attempting any gunsmithing with you gun, please remember to be gentle with it. My friend in question played a little too roughly with his and managed to break its stock before I even had a chance to look at it.
If you’re thinking about restoring this rifle, I would check the top of the receiver first. The picture you provided of the top of the receiver on this gun ends just short of the money-making part. Factory-original Arisakas were typically stamped with a chrysanthemum flower on top of the receiver. Most imported Arisakas had this symbol ground-off by the US government, as it was an imperialist Japanese symbol. Imported German weapons with Nazi symbols were treated in the same fashion.
If your gun still has it's prized flower, then buying a new bolt is a no-brainer. If it has been "deflowered", it will still make a nice shooter, but remember that ammo isn't cheap for these guns anymore.
Any ideas?
