Arisaka Questions

[DRH]

xyz

[mike100]

the type 99's also have a monopod wire loop that folds under the front of the stock when not in use. They suck and many troops ditched theirs in the field making them semi-rare. the bolt dust cover was dumb and is often removed as well.

[Rogerbutthead]

They come in 6.5mm and 7.7mm. Ammo is not cheap.

Look through this site for more info: http://www.gunboards.com/forums/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=42

[Sal]

the type 99 fires 7.7 japanese, and the 38 shoots 6.5 japanese.

i just sold one i had, they are great shooters with a VERY strong action, the type 38 is said to have the strongest action of WWII and the 99 second. if you are in socal ammobros in cerritos has hornady softpoint FMJ ammo that shoots good, and blows up melons really well, however at $1.25 a round its not a very good "plinker" gun. however the 8mm mauser round is almost identical in size and shape, and will even chamber and extract with no problems, hell the actions are so strong i bet it would fire fine(not reccommended at all) there was an article about a guy who re chambered a 6.5 japanese type 38 to 30-06 but for some reason didnt bore out the barrel, went out to shoot it and just complained that the gun was very loud and kicked too hard, to which the NRA did some testing on the rifle and the action never failed pushing a round far too large down the barrel. So to get it to be a nice cheap plinker you could have a 8mm mauser barrel made for it, they are threaded and removable, im not sure of the thread pitch though.

the buttplate and trigger guard area's are not marked to the rifle, only marks i could find on mine were all of the bolt pieces, the receiver, barrel and the front band.

here is a link to a history, and the story and testing of the actions

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_5_50/ai_114283920

[Noonanda]

reloading aint bad for it, you can buy the bulk remington 180gr RNSP bullets and brass from midway. Thats the only way I shoot mine, with handloads

[prebans]

Thanks for the info guys. It did have the dustcover over the bolt and the funky rear AA site. I am glad to read that they had chrome lined bores because the bore was so dirty, I bought it with the bore condition, sight unseen. I figured for $180 bucks with the bayonet it was an OK deal. I can't wait to get it and check out all the markings. Dang these 10 day waits.

You did great! It's probably worth double that amount.

Ammo, as mentioned, isn't the cheapest out there. Get into reloading and make sure to buy from GRAFS and not Norma. (If you've got more money than you know what to do with, buy Norma. )

"BANZAI" is the Japanese firearm collector's group. I can't recommend them enough. GunBoards.Com (shown earlier) is also a wonderful place.

Please let me know how she shoots!

Mike

[riceone]

A quick way to tell the caliber is if there is one vent hole on top of the receiver it is cal. 7.7x58. If there are two vent holes it is cal. 6.5x50. If it has the AA wings it also has a chrome bore. If you are a reloader you can load 7.7x58 using 8x57 Mauser brass, just run the 8x57 through a 7.7 die and load. 6.5 brass can be made from 35 Rem brass just by running it through a 6.5x50 sizing die and loading. There are many other ways but those two are the easiest. If you are interested in seeing just how storng a 7.7 is go to this site. riceone.

http://www.gunboards.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=108768

If you would like to see how stong a 6.5 is then check this site:

http://www.gunboards.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=167455

[Noonanda]

you can also use .30-06 brass for the 7.7, you just have to trim a bunch. I really like the arisaka, its a no frills weapon that does the job