Type 99 Arisaka: What's it worth?

[Cheezle56]

So I went to an LGS and a saw a Type 99 Arisaka on the shelf. The metal seems to be in good condition with +95% bluing, no rust. The rifle itself has a chrome bore, decorated "cocking knob", metal buttplate, ground but visible mum, with dust cover, no monopod, no AA sights, no bayonet. The front part of the stock/handguard seems to be loose as in it can slide forward on the barrel. That's really all the info I have on it other than the rifling appears to be in excellent shape. The seller wants $250 OTD but I'm thinking $200 and I'll take it in right now. What would you guys say? Anybody know where I can try to track down the other pieces, particularly the AA sights and bayonet? Is there the handguard missing something/broken or is the handguard supposed to be loose on the barrel? It doesnt rotate until it slides forward off of the wood peg in the stock. Also, what's the kind of accuracy I can hope to get from an early Type 99? I'm thinking it's another rifle other than the M91/30, M44, SKS that I can use for CMP Vintage Military matches.

[89 Vision]

Look into a Mauser or K31 if you want something to shoot for competition. $250 sounds fair coming from an LGS. If you can talk him down to $200.....all the better. You should be able to find one for around $200 on the private market if you keep your eyes open. Personally, I wouldn't bother trying to hunt down all the missing parts, YMMV. If you plan and getting the Arisaka and shooting it, I sure hope you reload.

[knucklehead0202]

likely an early or mid-war 99 if it's chrome-lined. the stock and handguard may have been "duffel-cut" and re-assembled later. does it slide forward from about the rear barrel band? anyhow, if you get a good type99 they can be VERY accurate, but the triggers are pretty crappy. that said, i shoot my 99s better than some of my other old rifles with better sights and triggers. that's another thing, the rear peep sight is kinda big so it's hard to be consistent, but they are fun to shoot and reasonably accurate. reloading is pretty much a must, unless you can afford to buy expensive ammo, and if you can, send me your brass afterward. you can get Prvi Partizan brass to reload from Grafs, sometimes they have loaded ammo but it's in and out of stock quickly. the stuff grafs carries is P.C.I. which is loaded with Prvi brass. there's also hornady and norma which are more and more expensive. Mrnambu also sells ammo for it. i'd buy some ammo then keep the brass and reload it, unless you're pretty good at reloading but try a couple different bullet weights to find out what your rifle likes. best bet for parts is to watch ebay, gunboards, or gunbroker. Liberty Tree, Numrich and a couple of the other regulars have some parts, but the AA sights are hard to get and bayonets can be expensive unless you buy a repro. I believe Sarco sells a kit that they only have sometimes but it comes with a repro bayonet, dust cover, sling and has the option of a monopod as well. been thinking about it but never have the money to blow. they shoot fine without all that crap but it does look cool having it. i have 2 early Toyo Kogyo 99s in varying mismatch, one with mum and aa sights, one without, but they both shoot great. newest one bangs steel at 450yds+ with crappy handloads so i'd say it's accurate enough. if you can get it for 200, grab it, even 250 ain't that bad. good luck!

[MrTokarev]

I have a matching Toyo Kogyo 99 with mum, AA sights and dust cover and it's probably my best shooting rifle with irons.

Knucklehead is right that parts are hard to find and bayonets are common but very expensive unless you go repro. I reload for mine.

For the condition the one you are considering, I probably get it for $200. There are enough bubba'd or last ditch rifles out there that one in good shooting condition is worth getting if the price is reasonable.

[Sampachi]

For me it would depend on if the rifle was matching or not. If the bolt doesn't match the last 3 numbers of the serial, then I wouldn't touch and would wait for another to come down the line. Dust cover should match as well. Not all of them had AA sights or a monopod, but replacing those parts isn't a cheap endeavor. I'm a bit suspicious about the the loose handguard as well.

[Marcus von W.]

I have several original WW2 Japanese bayonets and a couple boxes of ammo listed for sale here on the Marketplace Trader.

[Marcus von W.]

Anyone need Japanese Arisaka bayonets or 7.7mm ammo?

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Anyone need Japanese bayonets or 7.7 ammo?

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Going through some stuff here and found the following:
1. Nice Tokyo Arsenal/Kokura marked, hooked crossguard, with scabbard and rare and desirable original rubberized canvas frog. $125 + shipping.

2. Nagoya marked. Very nice bayonet with scabbard, hooked crossguard. However, someone replaced the original wood grips with some heavy and thick black lexan/plexiglas or bakelite type plastic. If you could find a junk bayonet with good grips or make a set of grips from a piece of junk Japanese rifle stock, this would be a great bayonet and worth a lot more. $65 + shipping on this one.

3. Tokyo Arsenal/Kokura, hooked crossguard. No scabbard. good condition $40 + shipping.



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I also have several boxes of Japanese4 7.7mm ammo - going through the piles of boxes full of various stuff in my different storage areas, so far I have found these 2:

20 round box of custom made and loaded target/range/hunting ammo. These are 150 gr lead round-nose gas-check bullets, cases are made from U.S. WW2 .30-06 ammo that had the bullets pulled, was shortened and properly neck-sized, and loaded with the correct diameter bullets. Price is $20

20 round box of original WW2 Japanese ammo. This is original WW2 Japanese 7.7mm semi-rimmed machine gun ammo that had the rim turned down and an extractor groove milled in the case so it will fit and function in the Arisaka Type 99 rifle. If you want to see how your Arisaka performs with real WW2 Japanese ammo or just want some to display with the rifle, this is what you want. $30.

[NorcalGSG]

The best thing to do is buy a book first and learn about all the different arsenals and series #'s these things have. As said, not all 99's had all the features, and these things had lots of parts numbered so just adding the parts will still make just a put together. However, it sounds like a decent first one to get started with and see if you like it. At that price, you can always get most of your money back later if you want to sell it.

[Cheezle56]

Yea, the stock is definitely been duffel cut. It already has a wood dowel joiner in it and I guess it had been previously repaired then? Since that's an easy woodworking repair, I think I only need to try and talk them down to 200, and it appears it has everything there for it to be in good shooting condition. Just a stock repair and everything else, I can take my time to track down the missing items but not all of them have to be WWII originals, since replacing missing parts with the correct repro shouldn't hurt the value right? I heard the Arisaka rifles with the bayonet on were often longer than the Japanese were tall right? Plus a repro bayonet flag should make for an impressive sight at the range.

[MrTokarev]

The best thing to do is buy a book first and learn about all the different arsenals and series #'s these things have. As said, not all 99's had all the features, and these things had lots of parts numbered so just adding the parts will still make just a put together. However, it sounds like a decent first one to get started with and see if you like it. At that price, you can always get most of your money back later if you want to sell it.

This page has a lot of info on Japanese rifle markings.

[Geologyjohn]

The duffle cut is indicative of a GI putting the rifle in his duffle bag and bringing it home form the War. For that reason (cool WW2 history) I wouldn't "repair" the stock. I'll buy honest GI "bring-back" war souvenirs all day long before I'll buy one that has been ...improved by a recent owner. Having said that, I think that the first thing to do is determine what series your rifle is. Post a photo of the series mark (its that tiny mark in a circle) just in front of the serial number on the receiver, and we will determine what series you have, which is to say, we'll be able to tell you what is "correct" and what is "missing" from your rifle. But I'll warn you, the more you learn, the more you may think you need more of them, and before you know it, your an Arisaka collector, and your better half will be pissed at you and be informing you that you'll be sleeping on the couch for awhile. Join the club.

[WnP]

I wouldn't pay 250 bucks. The mono-pod repro is about $30 and real are $125-140. AA sights are about $60 to $100. You can find parts but they are getting very hard to find.

I have a 99 Arisaka with original AA sights, original monopod, matching numbers and made in 1941/1942 with mum ground off.

[Tekkno]

Early production type 99 with mum, matching number and aa sight should worth 400+ today

[knucklehead0202]

i don't really care about value because i don't buy these rifles as an investment, except in my entertainment. my latest 99 had a cut stock and the front sight protectors were ground off, as well as missing the firing pin/spring and safety knob. i acquired a decent stock that's close to being right but obviously wasn't on a rifle that had AA sights like this one does. the mum is also intact but the bolt is now a major mismatch, and i don't care. it shoots great, i've had a new front sight/base that i'm not even sure i want to put on because it shoots straight. both my 99s are missing cleaning rods and that bothers me more than them being mismatched or one having a ground mum. i just want them to look like they're supposed to and shoot well. what anybody else thinks it's worth doesn't mean sh*t to me because i'm not selling it. if you feel the same way, buy repro parts, they're cheaper and they work. if you already have a mismatch, it's never gonna be worth what a matching gun is anyway so who cares, do what moves you.

[Cheezle56]

I looked at the arisaka again today at the LGS, it also has a nonmatching bolt, which I understand is common. It also appears the previous owner has used it, since purchase includes half a box of ammo. Since the bolt is nonmatching, I would guess it's a good idea to find a set of headspace gauges for it? Also, about the duffel cut, I said that the previous owner has attempted to repair it since it looked sanded down with a wood peg installed. The finish on the stock is intact and appears to be in very good condition too. The alternative to attempting repairs would probably be to go online and find an intact stock for it and keep the original stock. about the AA sights, did the attach with a screw on the bottom of the sight? I heard the ones without the AA sights didn't have the slot cut for them in the sight ladder.