Rifle ID

jar84203 · June 1, 2009, 08:41 PM

Does any one know what rifle this is? I got it from my grandfather who got it from someone who said it was German. Any info would help. Thanks. http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...d.php?t=360602

Jim Watson · June 1, 2009, 08:53 PM

Probably Japanese, but you are going to have to provide more photo coverage to identify which of two basic models and several variants it is.

From your other thread with more pictures, it is definitely a Japanese Arisaka, probaby Type 99 7.7mm, roughly made late in WW II. I don't know if it quite qualifies as a "last ditch" per Leif, but if not it isn't much better.

smoakingun · June 2, 2009, 04:51 PM

it's an arisaka all right, but not a 7.7mm but a 6.5mm type 38

James K · June 2, 2009, 11:45 PM

Hi, Smoakin,

No, those late rifles do not have the usual Type marking, but the single gas escape hole clearly marks it as a Type 99. Plus the Type 38 was out of production by the time that rifle was made.

Jim

smoakingun · June 3, 2009, 05:12 PM

did they change the bolt and safety and floor plate on last ditch rifles? My 99 looks radically different. The only thing they have in common is the gas escape, but you're right, the 38 doesn't have one.

James K · June 3, 2009, 09:44 PM

The Type 38 has two gas escape holes.

Those Type 99 rifles were not really the "last ditch"*; in spite of the shortcuts and crudity, they were still made of steel forgings and are accurate and serviceable. Yes, the floorplates, sights, bolts, front band and other areas were different from the early war Type 99. The most noticeable areas of change are the bolt handle, which was made a plain cylinder instead of the "plum" shape of the earlier Type 99 and Type 38 rifles; the floor plate and latch; the single aperture sight instead of the adjustable sight; the safety - missing on that gun; and the stock, which was roughly finished.

* The term is more correctly given to very crude rifles chambered for the 8mm pistol cartridge. Thousands were to be issued to civilians to help fight off the expected invasion. Had it not been for the atomic bomb, I am sure tens of thousands of Japanese and Americans would have died in that fighting and it could have lasted years.

Jim

June 2, 2009, 04:51 PM	#3
smoakingun Senior Member Join Date: April 12, 2009 Location: melrose, fl Posts: 634	it's an arisaka all right, but not a 7.7mm but a 6.5mm type 38 __________________ Hundreds of years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove... But the world may be different because I did something so bafflingly crazy that my ruins become a tourist attraction.

June 3, 2009, 05:12 PM	#5
smoakingun Senior Member Join Date: April 12, 2009 Location: melrose, fl Posts: 634	did they change the bolt and safety and floor plate on last ditch rifles? My 99 looks radically different. The only thing they have in common is the gas escape, but you're right, the 38 doesn't have one. __________________ Hundreds of years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove... But the world may be different because I did something so bafflingly crazy that my ruins become a tourist attraction.

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June 1, 2009, 08:53 PM	#2
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 18,534	Probably Japanese, but you are going to have to provide more photo coverage to identify which of two basic models and several variants it is. From your other thread with more pictures, it is definitely a Japanese Arisaka, probaby Type 99 7.7mm, roughly made late in WW II. I don't know if it quite qualifies as a "last ditch" per Leif, but if not it isn't much better.

June 2, 2009, 11:45 PM	#4
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	Hi, Smoakin, No, those late rifles do not have the usual Type marking, but the single gas escape hole clearly marks it as a Type 99. Plus the Type 38 was out of production by the time that rifle was made. Jim

June 3, 2009, 09:44 PM	#6
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	The Type 38 has two gas escape holes. Those Type 99 rifles were not really the "last ditch"; in spite of the shortcuts and crudity, they were still made of steel forgings and are accurate and serviceable. Yes, the floorplates, sights, bolts, front band and other areas were different from the early war Type 99. The most noticeable areas of change are the bolt handle, which was made a plain cylinder instead of the "plum" shape of the earlier Type 99 and Type 38 rifles; the floor plate and latch; the single aperture sight instead of the adjustable sight; the safety - missing on that gun; and the stock, which was roughly finished. The term is more correctly given to very crude rifles chambered for the 8mm pistol cartridge. Thousands were to be issued to civilians to help fight off the expected invasion. Had it not been for the atomic bomb, I am sure tens of thousands of Japanese and Americans would have died in that fighting and it could have lasted years. Jim