new toy (Arisaka). Good buy?

M

MadScientist

New member
Once, when an older gentleman was showing my his collection of tobacco paraphonalia (e.g. cigarettes packs going back the the 1800's), I mentioned to him that I had started collecting WWII rifles. Turns out, he had a Japanese rifle that he took in collatoral off of someone who needed cash a long time ago and he was now eager to get his money back. Well, I finally saved up the $200 he wanted and here's some pictures of it.

http://www.people.virginia.edu/~dtm8p/arisaka.html

I think I got a bargain but am not sure.
 
That sounds about right.....

the price I mean. You know about the airplane sight that's good and it looks good. The mono pod is attached, haven't seen one of those on this type of rifle. I'm not sure but I think that it could be a war trophy. The mum is still on it usually they took them off so not to discrace the royal family at the time we one the war. Do you have the dust cover for the bolt? If you do great if not that is okay. Most of the Japanese took them off and tossed them becaused they rattled in the bush so much. The caliber I THINK (don't quote me untill you check yourself) is 7.7 jap you Must buy this round for it. Ammoman has it on mg feed trays from wwII yet. The ammo can be a bit hard to find and surplus is almost nonexistant. Brass could be formed with dies and other type of brass but it escapes me right now. There is a web page out there but I can't remember it right now. You can find out the year made and which arsenal and such, do a search. The bayonet is typical of the time period (sword bayonet). I think that you did good. Ammo is the biggest problem it ain't cheep IF you can find it. DAROGUE1
 
For $200 on a paperless rifle that looks in good condition, I would say you did well.
 
The Rifle in question still has the aircraft sights on it and that is kind of rare, these days. Those are the wings that stick out on each side of the rear sight. They used those to lead attacking aircraft when shooting at them from the ground. Does the Mum look like it was intentionally scratched with the X marking. What they usually did was to take a grinder and grind them off, could this have been the case or is it just a light superficial scratch. I bought one with the Mun completely unmolested at a local pawn shop for 40 bucks a couple of years a go, but the aircraft sights were missing and the guy at the hock shop didn't really know what he had and just wanted to unload it. These are very strong rifles incidentally and they are chambered for the 7.7 mm Jap round. You got a good deal on a very nice rifle, congratulations are definitely in order on this deal.

7th
 
Avoid any 7.7 jap on Hotchkiss trays as this is MG ammo only!
It is loaded hotter especially for MG. It may or may not blow up your rifle, but it will kick the (expletive deleted) out of you!
Try Midway. They may have some Norma 7.7 for your rifle.
 
Yanus,
Whatever else may happen, that rifle is not very likely to blow up.
It is considered by many to be the strongest bolt rifle ever built.

Regards
 
I recall a story from many years ago about a 6.5 Jap rifle that someone rechambered to .30-06. They complained that the recoil was horrible. Upon inspection by a gunsmith, it was discovered that the barrel was still 6.5mm. So, the .30 cal bullets were being swaged down to 6.5! Now that's a strong action! I saw another 6.5 Jap rifle in Alaska that the owner had reloaded for using Bullseye powder and a teaspoon for a powder measure. He filled the cases full. The many pieces of the rifle were mounted to a display board as proof that there are idiots in the world.
 
The early guns made before '42 are very well made. The Arisaka's made during the war are suspect. Due to wartime pressure on Japanese industry, many of the later guns were unsafe to shoot even then. Be careful and be safe.
 
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