I bought a Japanese Military Arisaka Rifle, Type 38 (1905) Design.
It’s in reasonable shape for its age. It just needs a bit of cleaning and should be ready to roll.
I get the thing home and pop off the dust cover. The Mum is of course missing. That was a 16 Petal Chrysanthemum stamped on rifle to identify it as belonging to the Japanese Army and symbolized the Emperor. Loads of Mums got chiseled off after WWII.
I also note that the Shiki calligraphy says that it’s a Type 38. I measure the bore and it’s a 6.5mm, the rifle is 50 ¼ inches long, with a 31 ½ in barrel. It’s been reasonably maintained but needs some cleaning.
The Serial Number is s a problem. 5,054,xxx, none of the Japanese Armories produced that volume before or during WWII, unless it was the Manchurian Armory. It was estimated that over 3,400,000 Type 38’s were produced.
The Arsenal Stamp is unknown in any of my research. The closest symbol is the Nagoya Armory but that would have to be an upside down stamp.
It also needs cleaning rod and a bayonet but that can wait.
Loads of interesting stuff at the gun show. But the prices were high.
I’m just curious if anyone recognizes the Arsenal Stamp.