What would you choose? Type 38 or 99?

[Army GI]

I eventually plan to buy one of these Japanese rifles for my collection. But I can't decide if I want to go with the 6.5mm or the 7.7mm version of the rifle. For those of you that have owned and shot both, which one do you like better? The 6.5 or the 7.7? But besides caliber, which rifle is better made and in your opinion more aesthetically pleasing? Note: This rifle will NOT be used for hunting.

[KenG]

Both are excellently made rifles with the exception of "last ditch" type 99s. The 6.5 is a very low recoil round out of the type 38 rifle and more than acceptable from the carbine version.
7.7 can be made out of 30-06 brass which is why I would lean toward the 99.
Plus the early 99s had chrome bores.
Ken

[forgiven]

I too, like the 99 mostly because of its looks.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

The type 38. Hands down. I LOVE 6.5 mm, and the 6.5 jap is one of the best, most useful of the lot. If you can get your hands on a carbine, even better. Talk about a handy little rifle...

[Spiggy]

Everything

Don't stop, the T-38 and T-99 aren't the only Japanese arms out there. That's only 2 names in 6-7 configurations.


The woodcraft process of making arisaka stocks are very special in that the choice of hardwood is processed from soft grainy trees along the coastline. The wood is soaked, hardened, and lacquered with a special mix of urushii and iron, making that reddish tint. Urushii is the same stuff you see on traditional lacquer wood furnishings, it's also the same stuff that makes poison oak toxic. If you find one in good condition, I promise you that it'll be aesthetically pleasing.

For the shoot, the 6.5 is an excellent flat shooting round with minimal recoil and report in a long barreled rifle.

The 7.7 on the other hand is a kick, easy to reload, and quite frankly, T99 sights are tons friendlier than it's predecessors.

[5hundo]

Type 99...

I personally like the longer guns better. I like 91/30s over m44s too...

[TregoMark]

it's also the same stuff that makes poison oak toxic

Is that why I itch every time I fondle my Arisakas?

[Crusader]

The Type 99 is a much better rifle, in my opinion. The action is smooth, the sights are easy to use, and it's very well balanced and handles easily.

If I were to take a bolt action rifle into battle in WW2, it would have been a very close toss up between the Type 99 and a Kar98k

[Khram]

FWIW most type 99's have a chrome lined bore if you care about that. I need a type 38 of some sort eventually, I have a 99.

[gotgunz]

I prefer my type 44 carbine because:

It seems that everybody has a 99 or 38
I like the 6.5 round better
My grandfather brought the one I have back from the war.

[Sampachi]

Most of my friends like my Type 38 carbine, as do I, but sometimes I love shooting one of my Type 99s. Both are enjoyable and have their own advantages. Type 30s are fun too!
T44s are rare; I have yet to shoot mine.

[knucklehead0202]

got my 99 first, love it, but i recently acquired a 38 carbine and it's a real sweetheart. 6.5 is a fantastic round and type 38s never really saw the quality-control issues that 99s did. i lucked out and got an early 99 with a beautiful chrome bore, although the stock is a little rough. they both shoot wonderfully so you can't lose either way. both now have brass available through Grafs made by Prvi so reloading isn't a big deal. 99s you can use 303 brit bullets, 6.5 is 6.5 so that's easy. i'm just beginning to work on loading data for them so if you're curious shoot me a PM. happy hunting, either way you can't lose, arisakas are cool. i'd also like to get a type 1 carcano arisaka, that'd be neat.

[Sampachi]

Something to consider; the Type 99 has peep sights where as the Type 38 primarily has leaf style sights. Some of the late models have the peep sight but they just aren't as common.

[knucklehead0202]

personally not a fan of the peep sight, i'm an oddball i'm told, but it takes me forever to get lined up.

[Army GI]

Thanks for the input guys, I knew I could count on you all.

I was really leaning towards the Type 38 because I was intrigued about the 6.5mm round. Most of the other surplus rifles I own are in the larger 30 caliber range and I just wanted to try something different. But now I don't know because it seems like the early T99 is also a good rifle. I was always under the impression they were inferior due to wartime demands. The 6.5mm sounds like a honey of a round...I can't decide which is more important to me.