newer 7.7 Jap

R

romansixx

Inactive
my grandfather gave me this 7.7 jap rifle not to long ago. The thing with it is, its not WWII era. It has a much more modern stock to it, does not have the flowers or anything like that on it. It does however have some japanes writing below the scope mounts, and what looks like an 8 in a circle after the serial numbers. Im wondering if there where any company's after WWII that continued to make the 7.7 because i dont believe its an arista. Its bolt action with a 5 magazine clip, flip up sights and scope mounts. Its also a tad shorter than you see most modern rifles at.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/6381/p0508111046.jpg
http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/9150/image0001gv.jpg
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/5791/p050811104602.jpg
 
well i took off the front scope mount and there was the flower plain as day, un scratched. im now thinking its a type aristka type 99 7.7 Now im wondering what do these usually run for? because this is obviously a modified version of one. Fires perfectly.
 
Try retaking your pictures in some better light so they won't be so blurry.

As it is, right now we can only tell you definitively that you have something. We're not sure what the something is, but it's something.
 
It's an Arisaka Type 99 that has been sporterized. IIRC the "8" is the Tokyo arsenal mark.

Good guns and if the conversion was done well they still work well in the woods.
 
If properly converted they're goo shooters but not worth much. I bought a nicer on that yours a while back for 50 bucks.

Tony
 
If that rifle still has the mum intact it's a good collector piece if you can restore the stock and any altered hardware on it. It's not worth much but is hard to come by.
 
They can be great shooters, my brother's Type 99 (sporterized) is quite accurate, with fairly mild recoil.

You can still get factory ammo from Hornady if you don't reload, last time I bought some it was actually cheaper than '06 or .270 Win.
 
Sporterized Arisaka

And fairly nicely done. Lots of these rifles were sporterized between the late 40s and the 1970s. Ballistically, its the same as the .303 British, but the case is rimless.

Your rifle has had the stock changed, and the bolt handle replaced. Also drilled and tapped for scope mounts. Possibly the barrel has been shortened? It has no (zero) collector value.

No Arisaka rifles were produced after the Japanese surrender in 1945.

What you have is a decent hunting rifle, nicely sporterized in the style popular during the 1950-70s. Forget about "restoration", the extensive work done to the bolt and the mounting of scope bases means it can never be returned to "as issued" configuration. And that is what collectors want, rifles in original military trim, only.

Your rifle, with a decent scope might sell for as much as $300, but usually less, due to a lack of interest these days. And most of that value would be in the scope.

The are good guns, can be accurate, but the Japanese caliber, and non-military condition means nobody wants them today. I have one fully sporterized, rebarreled to .308 winchester, with an absolutely gorgeous stock, and 3x9x50mm scope on it, and paid $300. I also have a couple "as issued" rifles, ugly, clunky things that they are, but their value on the market is higher than a pretty sporter like yours, simply because they are original condition, and "true" to the history, as a collector would see it.

7.7mm Jap (7.7x58mm) is loaded by Norma (expensive) and Hornady (a little cheaper) but its a niche round, and not commonly found on store shelves.

I handload for mine, and commercial cases are currently available, or, can be formed from .30-06 if you care to do to work.
 
And it may have been rechambered in the sporterizing process. A gunsmith can cast the chamber with cerrosafe to verify if it is still 7.7x58.
 
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