Arisaka sporter q&a

[mwells72774]

Snagged a type 38 pre-war in 6.5 today. barrels been cut. Sporter stock. Sadly... still has the mum. Its not too valuable now so Im wanting to continue the sporter job.

What weaver bases does it take?
Anyone ever reamed to 260; If so, got a reamer to loan/sell/rent?

[Huffmanite]

Have a couple of type 38 Arisaka sporters myself. Both were rechambered to 257 Roberts before I got them. Actually one of them was supposed to be chambered in 6.5x55 Swede....turned out to be a badly chambered 257R. Badly in that I assume whoever rechambered it, didn't go far enough in with the reamer.....I can chamber my 6.5x257R reloads if I shorten the neck of the brass about 3/32nds.

I've read somewhere, rechambering in 6.5x55 Swede, may lead to a feeding from magazine problem.

No intelligent comment I can make about doing a type 38 in .260, other than the 38 action should certainly be strong enough for the pressure of a .260.

[mwells72774]

Read somewhere that of all the actions PO Ackley checked the arisaka was the strongest.

[smarquez]

Huffmanite, I have 2, both in .257 R. Mine were family hand me downs from my wifes side. One is restocked in walnut and rebarreled. It also has the bolt handle replaced. The other is rebarreled and in a cut military stock with a bent bolt. Both have Lyman peeps and ramp front sights added. They both shoot pretty good for what they are.

[Clark]

Reading Ackley's test did not offset what I see when i pull an Arisaka barrel.
The brass and extractor potential shrapnel are pointed at the shooter like a 94 Mauser.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=554335

[James K]

Not quite the same. Unlike the older Mausers, the Arisaka has that huge safety cap to deflect or stop about anything that comes back through the locking lug raceways.

Jim

[wachtelhund1]

I have a T-38 Arisaka sporter purchased a few years ago for almost nothing. It had a great Bishop stock which I checkered, had been blued and had the original barrel; which shot fairly good with 100 grain bullets. Anything heavier though would not shoot good. I re-barreled it with a Midway 6.5 barrel and chambered it for 6.5X57 Mauser, a German sporting cartridge. Also added a Timmy trigger. I have the reamers and Go gauge. I used Tubb's lap firing bullets and it shoots sub MOA groups. Did a post on it somewhere in this forum. A friend borrowed it this last weekend for or opening deer season and dropped a twelve point buck in its tracks. His first buck.

Pictures before checkering the stock and re-barreling:





Checkered:

[hoghunting]

Nice job on the checkering, smart move using the Timney with a safety as you can't use the Arisaka's safety with the scope.

[tahunua001]

you most certainly can use the safety with a scope. you just need to work on building up your thumb a little bit.

[mwells72774]

The 6.5x57 sounds nice but dont you have feeding issues? Also could you PM me the 100gr load data if you still have it? I have a leftover box of 100gr hornadys.

Also what bases did you use for the scope?

[gedenke]

I used to have decent Type 38 sporter, needed a new barrel, so I traded it.

I would highly recommend the timney trigger for yours. I put one on mine (like wachtelhund) and with a little fitting, it was a HUGE improvement. And as a bonus, it had a tang style safety! I never used the original knob safety again. If you're scoping it, the knob is tough to use.

Sorry, I can't remember what scope bases I had...I think I wound up modifying the one it came with.

[mwells72774]

Thats gorgeous. Mines got an English Rigby look to it. Hooded front sight and ramp rear sight and a Walnut stock with black endcap

[Gunplummer]

The Arisaka is the only military rifle with a decent safety to use with a scope. You may need to do a little polishing to get it smooth, and practice your coordination. I still have 3 I use for hunting, one a T-38 I recut to 6.5x55. If you use longer bullets, you will have feed problems. I opened up the feed ramp and put a new location slot under the receiver ring for the magazine box. I used a 7.7 box and milled the trigger guard assembly out a little so it would fit. I have had Arisakas in .300 Savage and .308 and these guns do not feed well with cartridges that have a .308 style case. As far as strength of the receiver, no problem. It is not so much the design as the material used. I have blown primers with no problems, and most guns will handle that. The real test was under abnormal conditions that would have destroyed most receivers.

[gedenke]

As far as strength of the receiver, no problem.

As long as it's not a type 99.


...just realized we've completely derailed the thread. My apologies to the OP.

[mwells72774]

Basically, I've got a 6.5x50 type 38 and im wanting to go to a common caliber.

Edit: I just went out and ran a couple rounds of handloads. 100gr hornady, norma case, WLR primer, and 3031. Super comfy to shoot and accurate as all get out free handed

[Blindstitch]

I understand the common caliber issue since you cant go to any store and expect to see it on the shelf.

But if you reload or are willing to reload it's not that hard to do. I run Privi brass, Imr 3031, and hornady SST 140's and it performs great. I keep 300 rounds on hand and don't have a problem reloading in my spare time.

This last weekend I had high hopes of bagging a big buck with my 6.5 unfortunately the day before season opened I found tracks walking under my stand ending 200 yards away. 50 yards further laid a 9 point stripped by coyotes.

[Blindstitch]

By the way that timney trigger looks great. I don't mind the safety but it does make a click and it a hair awkward. The timney would be a great solution.

[mwells72774]

I load for it. Have old lyman 310 neck sizers and seater. Also have semi-rimmed norma brass.

Blindstitch, do you have any brass to sell or trade?

[Blindstitch]

Graff and other places sell the brass for around 100 pieces for $55. Christmas is coming up so I might buy a few hundred more for good luck. Privi isnt as good as norma but I'm sure you can get at least 5 reloads plus out of the privi. I have a few that I have loaded just fine more than 5 times. And that's using Imr 3031 31.2 grains of powder out of the lyman book for 140 grain projectiles. Your results may vary but I like mine.

http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/...roductId/12642

[wachtelhund1]

mwells72774, The 6.5x57 sounds nice but dont you have feeding issues? Also could you PM me the 100gr load data if you still have it? I have a leftover box of 100gr hornadys.
Also what bases did you use for the scope?

Mwells, I load 120 and 129 grain Hornady's and have no feeding problems. I think you could load up to 140 gn bullets and not have feeding problems, as tat was the original jap load. I use 7mm Mauser brass and neck them down and then fire form them blowing out the shoulder. The 6.5x57mm has a shoulder more forward than the 7X57mm Mauser case. My cases must be thicker than normal. I worked up some loads using published Hornady 6.5X57mm load data with the 129 gn bullet. The best load was over 3,100 fps. Published load data had that load was 2,800 fps. The Airsaka actiion handled it fine, but I backed the load to about 2,900+ fps.

I will check on the load data for 100 gn bullets if I still have it. That was before the current Adams & Bennett barrel and re-chambering.

Bases were on the receiver when I purchased it. I would have to remove the scope to be sure, but Weaver #57 seems to come to mind.

Many T-38's were re-chambered to 6.5X257 Roberts in the 50's and 60's. That was the caliber of my rifle when purchased. The Roberts copied the 6.5X 57mm Mauser in creating the 2.57 Roberts and just necked it down to 2.57 as the metric bullets were not popular at the time.

[mwells72774]

Very informative thank you. I tried 3031 at mid low 30's and it was pleasant.

I just wish i could find some rimless brass. Nit this semi rimmed norma

[wachtelhund1]

mwells72774, The 6.5x57 sounds nice but dont you have feeding issues?

Mwells,

A little more info. When I purchased my Arisaka, my rifle was fitted with a T-99 trigger guard and floor plate plus magazine box, hence no feeding issues. The floor plate pistol grip tang was cut off just behind the rear trigger guard screw. It was polished and blued quite nicely.

My 6.5X57mm Mauser loads are:
100 gr Nos BTP, IMR 4350 47 gr, COL: 2.811"
120 gr A-Max, IMR 4350 44 gr, COL: 2.857"
129 gr SP, H4831 45gr, COL: 2,853"

The 129 gr load shoots half MOA groups.

[mwells72774]

Whats the difference in a t38 and t99 trigger guard and mag box?

[wachtelhund1]

The T-99 was 7.7mm Jap, 2.274" case which was a longer than the 6.5X50mm jap, 1,984" case. Most T-38's converted to 6.5X257 Roberts had T-99 floor plates to accommodate the longer cartridge. I believe there is a T-99 floor plate & trigger guard on flea bay now.

[mwells72774]

And the action screw holes match?