WWII Japanese 7.7 Arisaka

[Ohio Gun Guy]

Lionking, That is a very nice rifle!

Between the 3 or 4 of us, lets not make a run on 7.7 and drive the prices up

 

[lionking]

unfortunately the run others did on more popular calibers had a effect on less common calibers also.Guess companies decided to focus on making popular ammo and not worry about more exotic calibers right now.

I'm wondering what the hold up is on foreign made ammo is like S&B and Prvi Partisan ammo.Alot of their milsurp caliber ammo is hard to find right now.It is a good time to own a 30-06, 270win or 7mm Mag rifle,Walmart always has those calibers in stock.Everything else is hit&miss.Does that give me a reason to go get me a 270?I mean as much as I like milsurps I still like all guns....

 

[Ky Larry]

IIRC, the 'mum is the symbol of the Emporer. Japanese soldiers considerer the rifle to be the personal property of the emperor and the soldier had been entrusted with his "personal" weapon. That's why the 'mun was ground off, so the soldier wouldn't be surrendering his ruler's personal weapon.

 

[BCCL]

"BCCL - what is the status of the mum on your vet bringback?"

Ground off as was required at the time.

 

[zoom6zoom]

Here's mine, also a $170 find. No mum, but has the matching bolt cover and AA sights.

 

[Capotuttidecapo]

I bought an Ariska type 99 a few weeks ago at a gun show in Ventura, CA. I found one with an intact "Mon", the mum. This rifle, along with 133,000 others, had been converted to fire 30.06 ammo by the US or South Korean Army at the start of the Korean war. It has US 30 CAL stamped on the left side of the reciever. You can see the Chrome barrel lining easly when you look at the end of the muzzle. Later type 99's do not have this and the sights become cast, don't have the antiaircraft "wings" and only a single dentent spring on the right side of the sight. The 30.06 conversions have a notch at the top of the reciever to accomodate the longer 30.06 cartridge. The bullet is slightly smaller in diameter, 7.62 vs 7.7 but reportedly works fine. Solves the ammo problem. Post war testing showed the Ariska type 39 and 99 as having the strongest recievers of all rifles used in WWII. This applies only to early rifles and not the crude last ditch models. I am impressed with the quality workmanship of this rifle. The seller had another type 99 converted for the Thai army. The barrel had been shortened and it had US 30.06 stamped on the side. The "Mon" was ground off and I let that one go. Mike