Un-screw this Arisaka!

[Jakobs Gunworks]

Hey y'all. I have this Arisaka Type 99 that REALLY needs to be fully cleaned(It would appear as if the previous owner put a few rounds though it without cleaning out all the cosmoline out first. oh well, no problem. Disassembled bolt first, all good. Began trying to remove stock next, first 2 screws on left side of fore-stock came out fine with a little Hoppes, Moved to right side and trigger group screws, and there's my issue. They wont turn! at all! took closer look, all screw-heads have two opposing round 'dents' half on the screw-head half on surrounding metal. I'm unfamiliar with this feature in screws, and unsure what to do or if I should even try taking them out at all.

Trying to post pictures. Computer not agreeable.

Thanks a bunch for any suggestions or comments you may have.

[guncrank]

Screws are staked in
You need to grind out the stakes with a motor tool

[tangolima]

I was in exactly the same situation a year ago. Friend at work has an old arisaka 99 that his late father brought back from the Philippines after the war. It hadn't been cleaned for some 60 years.

The action screws were staked. The metal on both sides of the rim of the screws, the screw head and the receiver, was bumped after the screws were tightened, so that the screws couldn't be loosened. I drilled out those little "dimples" with small drill bits. Normally it should have worked, but the luck wasn't with me this time.

The action screws, all three of them, simply refused to budge. I did all the usuals, kroil, heat, impact driver and what not, for a week, still not working. After getting permission from the owner, I proceed to drill out the action screws.

Once the screws were out, the action could be disassembled. The screws were found lightly rusted into the action. It shouldn't have that bad if the kroil I had applied could reach the threads. The stumps were easily removed from the receiver with a pair of vise grips.

I brought a new set of screws for $12. They worked fine. But in retrospect I should have spent more, more than double, to buy a set of old screws instead. The new stock's steel is sort of soft. The rifle is now in my collection. My friend is not quite into old rifles, and he is glad to find someone who appreciates the value of it. The rifle is a very good shooter after some work.

-TL

[Jakobs Gunworks]

Yikes! Whose idea was to "dimple" the screws in the first place?

Thank you very much though! Great to know. I'll see what I can do with that Arisaka, gunna be a project, I can tell.

Also, is this a practice specific to (all?)Arisakas? Or is it something I should watch for in other future guns I own or service?

[tangolima]

Apparently the Japanese did that, although they might not be the first. Probably they wanted to limit the extent of field striping their rifles. I haven't seen any other rifles with the same "feature", so definitely not a common practice.

The arisakas are fine rifles. I have 3 of them, one type 38 and two type 99. They shoot as good any other rifles of the period, if not better than. Please don't sporterize them, I beg of you.

-TL

[Unclenick]

That dimpling may simply be an expedient war time fix for a tendency of those particular screws to work loose, like with the stacking swivel on a Garand.

[Jakobs Gunworks]

Interesting stuff. Thanks for all the info. I'll be keeping an eye out for a spare set of screws at the next gun show, original if possible. They hard to find?

Not to worry about sporterizing, not much of fan of it at all myself. I find much greater joy in seeing/preserving historic guns, kept as they were, fully functional, clean, and the proper ammo nearby.

[tangolima]

The screws are not hard to find. They are on ebay. Just expensive.

The ammunition for the rifle could be hard to find though, and of course expensive too. I managed to handload for both type 38 and type 99. I actually made the brass for type 99, 7.7x58 jap, out of .30-06 brass.

-TL

[Clark]

I have only taken a few Arisakas apart, but they are like Mausers, that I have taken over 100 apart.

One Mauser was stuck, so I milled out the screw head. When it was apart I could get out the stud and buy a replacement screw.

[Gunplummer]

I collected Arisakas for about 30 years. The staking is an odd thing. Really did not see it much.

[101combatvet]

You'll ruin the value of that rifle if you start breaking it down like that. There really isn't a need to take off the stock to clean the bore. I would leave it.