Identify this rifle

[pullnshoot25]

OK, so I need some help identifying this rifle. I believe it is an Arisaka

Background: My uncle's dad brought this rifle back after WW2. He purchased it with a pack of cigarettes. It is fairly rusty (though it still looks shootable) and I want to save it from the throes of oxidation and place it into my collection.

Let's ID this puppy!

https://pullnshoot25.sugarsync.com/albums/thumb/332033_478327

[mosinnagantm9130]

Are there any markings on the left side of the receiver?

It looks like a type 38 but the marking where the crysanthemum would be is throwing me off.

[Spiggy]

training rifle, methinks. T99 action

[Once A Marine]

It might have been exported at one time, or manufactured for export, but never shipped.

http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/japanese_markings.html

[Once A Marine]

training rifle, methinks. T99 action

looks like this is correct - found another reference to this mark and training rifles:

http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php?4984-Arisaka-type-38

[locktime]

Nippon Special Steel Trainer

[jamesob]

http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/japanese_markings.html

i dont see that marking on this list.

[pullnshoot25]

training rifle, methinks. T99 action

Nippon Special Steel Trainer

Yep, that looks to be right.

Thanks for helping me out guys! It's a bit hard to figure out a rifle when it is all the way in Virginia.

Looks like I will have to pass on it

[Spiggy]

I'd take it. Those things work like crap but it's really cool to have.

Also, technically(mechanically, dunno about legally) it's not a firearm. If you put a round through it, you'll eject a bolt knob into your skull.

[Interloper]

Why don't people wear shoes when they photograph their ugly feet??
I really only accumulate shooters, not wall hangers. Still, pretty much any Arisaka is a collectors item. What's the price??

[Spiggy]

My protip, my gift to you. If that muzzle cover and sling is real, those two are worth as much, if not more than the rifle.


between 150 and 200, 240-300 for a prime or odd example. Those are common variation of school rifles.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

The muzzle protector, if real, can go for $75-300 depending on the type. The sling can also go for quite a bit if real. The rest of it is just a wallhanger. Some people will pay several hundred dollars for them, but realistically you are looking at $75-200. Mostly on the low end of that scale. Those things are dangerous because the unknowing out there will try to load them up and shoot them, potentially taking themselves and bystanders out when it goes Kaboom.

[FS00008]

So why aren't they shootable? And Nate, try an electrolysis tank for the rust that is on there.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

So why aren't they shootable? And Nate, try an electrolysis tank for the rust that is on there.

For several reasons, depending on what kind it is. They can be made of cast iron or pot metal. They may or may not have locking lugs on the bolt. The barrel may be a screw-in affair that isn't secured to the barrel strongly enough to contain anything more than a sneeze. The list goes on and on. They are the training equivilent of an airsoft gun. They have the heft and feel of a real rifle, but just aren't the same. There are a few that can take blank cartridges. And a few that even shoot something like a gallery round. But none of them should be trusted today. The specialized ammo is not available, and the workmanship on these was "spotty" at best. "Crude" or "freakin pathetic" in most cases later in the war.

[Milsurp Collector]

Japanese high school students during rifle training, 1940. Photograph: Pix Inc./Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Before and during World War II Japanese schools had military training as part of the curriculum. Students learned military drill and manual of arms using training rifles that were either designed for the purpose (trainers), or were older military rifles that were transferred to schools for drill purposes (school rifles). School rifles usually had the Imperial chrysanthemum canceled with circles, a school character was added, and two or three zeroes were added in front of the serial number.



While school rifles were originally made as regular rifles, trainers were never designed to fire live ammo. They often have smooth bores and one-piece buttstocks (instead of the usual two-piece buttstocks) with large characters branded into the buttstock.



If you are shopping for an Arisaka to add to your collection, learn to spot trainers and school rifles so you don't end up with a wall-hanger when you really want a shooter. Some Japanese arms collectors include trainers and school rifles in their collections, but they aren't a good choice for a non-Japanese-specialized collector.