"I am a bit thick...but now I get it...you are a snob....if it aint 'mercan or Nazi it is garbage"
Just the opposite, and if you had any idea of what I do for the Department of Defense to earn my living you would realize how laughable your comments are. But to take the High Road, here are some additional thoughts:
The OP's question was/is ambiguous.
Is it:
A: "No Love" for unissued Arisakas as collectable martial rifles,
or
B: "No love" for sporterized Arisakas as postwar sporting arms?
So let's break it out and discuss:
As UNALTERED martial arms, they are in the second-tier of collectability, meaning that they do not attract the interest, or obtain the value, of first-tier collectables. First-tier collectables of the WW-II era are US and German martial arms. That's not in dispute. Generations after generations have preferred these at point of purchase, and rewared them with monetary value far exceeding second and third-tier martial arms. I place into the second-tier of collectables those arms that served with other primary "respected" combatants in WW-II, such as Enfields and Arisakas. Individual second-tier examples may be more desirable and valuable that individual examples of the first-tier (IE: a rare Arisaka folding rifle or a No.4 Enfield Sniper is worth more than a garden variety DCM Garand), but IN GENERAL this is the case. "In General" collectors in the 1950's and 1960's collected Japanese stuff only if they could not afford German or US stuff. That's a historical fact. Those with foresight could build a very nice collection on a relative shoestring (think Mosin's now). One desirable thing about the Japanese arms is that with very rare exceptions none were rebuilt after the war. UNMOLESTED examples are right out of the war. You cannot say that about most Garands, M1 carbines, or Nagants. So in that way, they are interesting. Third-tier martial arms are things like Carcanos, Lebels, etc., that really... nobody...really...cares...about. Yeah someone someplace probably collects Carcanos, and "Yeah" they are stong, accurate, etc... but <yawn> and who cares? Arisakas are a step above those. Nagants... sort of second-tier minus status to me, but interesting as martial arms. If you cannot afford to collect Kar-98K varients at $1000+/each these days and want to scratch the collectors itch, enjoy collecting unaltered Mosins with your full enthusiasm. I "get it". I was lucky enough to collect Mausers when they were available, and with over 100 of them I've no room for a lot of Mosins. I'll be dead before they appreciate. I do, of course, have a representation of them in my general martial arms collection. I also have unaltered Lebels and Carcanos. When you want to tell a story you want to tell the entire story.
On to sporters:
The NICEST custom sporters are a subtle mix of aesthetics and function. Very few people can resist the beauty of any of the classic "Mauser Based" sporters, no matter if they are Mausers or not. Springfields, P-17 Enfields with the ears removed, Mausers (both commercial and military), commercial prewar Remingtons, Pre-64 Winchesters: These are all "Mauser Based" and they blend proportion, strength, beauty, and function into what we expect in a classic sporter. One thing they all share is a flush magazine and a solid bridge receiver. In general, any other designs fall short of that ethos: There are in general no "pretty" split bridge sporters with external magazines hanging out under them. There are no "pretty" Mosin sporters, Carcano sporters, or Enfield sporters. There are lots of bubba-sporters made from these, but there are no "beautiful" ones in the classic sense. Functional? Accurate? Durable? Sure. Pretty? Classic? Timeless? Uhh... don't make me laugh. And yes, I consider the Manlicher-Shoenauer to be beautiful. It's an exception to the split bridge rule.
Arisakas CAN be reworked at great labor to aproach the beauty and looks of any of the Mauser type sporters. But in value, they will always be lagging way behind. Griffin and Howe never bothered. Holland & Holland never bothered. And post WW-II custom gunsmiths never really bothered either when so many Mausers were available. Yes there are exceptions, but that's exactly what they are. And yes, there are curiousities like the above shown Korean custom rifle, but again they are curiousities.
The basic postwar Bubba-Arisaka "sporter" is valueless. Unaltered it would have very good value. VERY FEW Arisaka "Sporters" stand on their own legs as classic rifles no matter what was done, or who did it.
Taking a lesson from the above, don't ruin a martial classic like the Mosin by bubba-sporterizing it. Trust me, you're not improving it, or doing the next generation any favors. You're just making it worthless in the long run. In the immediate run you are making a rifle up that has less immediate value than the sum of it's parts. It's losing game both in the short and long term. "Restored" military rifles are just that, for folks like Jason. You will have more time and effort and money invested in a "restoration" that will never appreciate in value than you will in a good unmolested original example that will appreciate. The bottom line is that if you need to "explain" a rifle, it has no value to a martial arms collector. "Well, it's a good action that I bought, and then rebarreled with a take off, then I hand fitted a new stock...." All that speaks "Bubba" and "Valueless to a collector". Save up a few bucks, buy the best original one that you can afford, and it'll be both satisfying in the short term and appreciating in value in the long term. You can learn by watching history, or you can learn it the hard way. I absolutely "get it", having started out when I was pennyless making up rifles from parts. None of them had any long lasting value. Not a one.
"I wonder if they sold for the same price as a 1903 or 98k it would be different....yup sure would".
They don't though, do they?
And why is that?
Perfect demonstration of a free market economy: Folks pay what the supply and the demand balance out at. Things sell for their perceived value to the buyer. Buyers don't pay for Arisakas like they pay for first-tier collectables. They are second-tier. That's just the way it is. Bottom line: If there was a barrel and I put a Garand, Springfield, Enfield, Mauser, Nagant, MAS, Carcano, and Arisaka into it, grabbed 8 guys from a gunshow and told them that they had won a prize, had them draw straws for first pick, second pick, third pick, etc., what do you think would be first pick? What would be last pick? That's a pretty goood model of how surplus was bought up after WW-II and how folks value these arms today. Nobody who does not already have his belly full of Mausers would pick an Arisaka instead at the same price.
And that, folks, is more or less the Arisaka (and Mosin, and other military surplus rifle) world as it is, not as you might want it to be.
Willie
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