Cal Expo arisaka...woo hoo

[Guest]

all i did was swing in there to buy some 54r and i end up not getting any and come home with an arisaka. the Mrs was not pleased but as they say, its easier to apologize than ask for permission.

[Jarhead]

nice, how about some more info on her

[Haggar85]

kokura 23rd series. made some where between 41 and 42 manufacture. ground mum. bolt mismatched, everything else is original. bore is chrome and spotless. the stock has a burn mark on it but it adds character. the stock is 3 pieces and is pretty good and not dry and flaky. the stock is blond under the finish, might be birch or some thing like. i am keep it original though. the guy that had it's name was Mr.Chisaikawa (Mr.creek or little river?) the guy i bought it off of said it came of the Japanese main islands and did not see combat on other islands. still had some type of packing grease in the corners and some small eras.

[knucklehead0202]

nice catch, much nicer looking than my type99, but then again, i didn't pay much and it shoots well. pretty sure the japs used a weird asian kind of birch, can't think of it offhand. the surplusrifleforum guys would know. haven't visited there in a long time, or gunboards for that matter. good info and good people on both, just got tired of hearing about all these non-californians getting good deals with no hassles, lol.

[Milsurp Collector]

kokura 23rd series. made some where between 41 and 42 manufacture.

If it is 23rd series it was made between July 1943 and March 1944.

The finish on Type 99 stocks is urushi which is unique to Japanese rifles and essentially impossible to duplicate. Many Japanese rifle collectors won't touch a rifle with a sanded or refinished stock, so it is good that you are keeping it original. You can get replacement upper band screws from Numrich http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/...spx?catid=1206

[Haggar85]

yeah i hate hearing of the 49.99 if you buy 5 mosin nagant deals. makes me want to fling a camp frying pan at some one. well i got a deal on this one. i was 5 arisaka's there ranging from 1000 to 570...just when i gave up, i found and older man in a corner with his for 200...come what may from the Mrs. i needed this one.
the guy selling the $1000 type 99 had a bent to **** mono pod what looked jet black (suspicious that is was krylon) and a authentic letter from the marine on Iwo jima that gave the exact place, time of day and a physical description of the Japanese marine he took it off of, and in the letter he gives the serial number of the arisaka...this man assured me that it was authentic and his arisaka (HA mines better!!) would fetch 500 at least....and the irony is i found this one about 6 feet away.
all in all for a California buy i think i got a good deal.

[Haggar85]

milsurplus can you see the series stamp on the receiver? the one that closely matches what i have is the 23 series character, but my character has a line through it and looks slightly different. the character on mine does not match any on the charts on radix.net that i can find.

[Milsurp Collector]

milsurplus can you see the series stamp on the receiver? the one that closely matches what i have is the 23 series character, but my character has a line through it and looks slightly different. the character on mine does not match any on the charts on radix.net that i can find.

It is a Kokura so it has to be Series 20 through 25. I agree that 23 is the only character that your mark could be. It could be that it picked up an extra scratch along the way.

[InFamous20]

Nice find there, where's this Cal Expo?

[Haggar85]

Sacramento. off business 80 loop (not Hwy 80) exit Exposition Bvld off ramp. its the big fair ground on the right just off the freeway

[Haggar85]

the machining is smooth as glass on most parts. some parts i see its a little less refined, mostly on the trigger guard, but its not the simplified trigger guard i have seen on some mid to late war. the tang is also not the finest quality machining but way better than a 42 mosin. other than that every thing else is tip top.
i find different info on when simplifications were made, it does not appear that corners were cut, but yet again when they started cutting corners is unclear.
milsurplus if you were to put a year to it what would you say? 42 or 43?

[Geologyjohn]

I'd go with an estimated production date of Fall of 1943, based on the serial number of 20k range. Geologyjohn

[Haggar85]

metallurgy is still reasonable at that point right?

[Milsurp Collector]

1943

Arisakas in general are strong and well-made. Any concern about the safety of so-called "last ditch" rifles is overblown. The shortcuts taken near the end of the war were mostly cosmetic or to speed and simplify production and conserve raw materials in non-critical areas, but the basic strength of the rifle was maintained. Arisakas had the strongest actions of all World War II bolt action rifles http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_114283920/

[negolien]

I didn't realize a gun expo was going on at cal expo :<(..