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Old November 4, 2015, 10:59 AM   #1
snowman748
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Japanese Arisaka Type 38 Carbine questions

I'm new to the page and this is my second post so please be patient with me.

Ok, I recently picked up a heavily bubba'd Japaneses Arisaka...after some research I found that it is a Type 38 Series 5 carbine manufactured in the Nagoya Arsenal between 1933-1940 (I could be wrong but this is my best guess based on the markings).

Ok I purchased it at a gun show for $80, I might have over paid a bit but last time I did something like this with a Turkish 8mm mauser it worked out for me. The guy I bought it from said it was chambered in "6.5 Jap", I was assuming 6.5x50...after I bought it and walked a few tables down another guy asked me what it was and said he had some 6.5 Jap ammo for it, as I was looking at the ammo to buy it his buddy chimmed in and said NOT to buy the ammo because he had "looked at the rifle earlier and it was chambered in 6.5x57 NOT 6.5 Jap". He then told me about how i could load 257 Roberts with 6.5 bullets after a little work necking up the cartridge but he didn't even try to sell me anything. At first I was a little bummed out because I tend to believe the second guy over the first since he didn't gain anything but instead lost his buddy a sell by telling me. I plan to do a chamber cast before I do anything else, then check the head spacing (if possible) but after some research it seems 6.5x57 is a pretty capable cartridge and not to far off of 7mm-08 which I've been wanting for a while.
I figure with all the work that's been already done to the rifle and the fact that it's been rechambered it's probably not worth the money to restore but instead make a sporter out of it. Does that look like the thing to do this the bolt handle and stock have been utterly destroyed? also I don't believe it's matching numbers but I honestly can't tell...

Ok, hear come the questions...

Would it be worth trying to restore the rifle even with the Mum defaced?

Is there any other knowledge I should know about this rifle?

\/\/\/ Now the Pictures \/\/\/

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps2shcbmba.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psqwqwffhm.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psghlr6rlc.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pspdtlaop4.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psk0orleyl.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psbfosobbi.jpg
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Old November 4, 2015, 12:00 PM   #2
TimSr
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I have one in its original 6.5 jap chambering. many of these are oversize which is why so many modify them. Mine is all original, but they aren't worth a whole lot. it is fun to shoot.

All good ideas about getting it checked out, but a simple caliper in the end of the barrel can at the least tell whether 6.5, 7mm, or both can be excluded as possibilities.
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Old November 4, 2015, 12:27 PM   #3
snowman748
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it definitely has the original barrel so it's a 6.5, I'm just curious if it's been reamed out from 6.5x50 to 6.5x57...and if it's been reamed out I wonder what the shoulder angle is.
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Old November 4, 2015, 01:04 PM   #4
James K
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Since 6.5x50 or 6.5 Japanese was not available in this country for some time after WWII, many owners of souvenir Type 38 rifles had them reamed for wildcats like the 6.5-.257 Roberts, aka the 6.5x57, easily made from .257 Roberts or 7x57 cases. The cartridge may or may not be compatible with the European 6.5x57 cartridge, and the various 6.5-257 Roberts chamberings, being a wildcat are not always compatible with each other.

Jim
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Old November 4, 2015, 07:29 PM   #5
emcon5
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Your photo links don't work.
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Old November 4, 2015, 08:06 PM   #6
F. Guffey
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http://thefiringline.com/forums/show...75927&posted=1

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Old November 4, 2015, 11:25 PM   #7
James K
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As bad a shape as that rifle is in, the price was not unreasonable. It has potential, but IHMO it makes a good study piece as is. The Arisaka was long derided by American armchair generals, but it is a well designed rifle and early Type 38's are as well made as any Mauser or Springfield. Some features, like the action cover, were overkill and not needed, but they showed the designers were trying to think ahead of problems.

The safety is very clever and easy to use. The bolt itself has the fewest parts of any rifle bolt in the world that includes a safety.

Jim
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Old November 5, 2015, 05:45 AM   #8
Mike Irwin
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Welcome, Snowman.

Since you've already got a thread going in the Smithy, it's more of a Smithy kind of question, and we don't encourage cross posting the same thread across forums because it dilutes the conversation, I'm going to close this one.

The pictures in the thread in the Smithy work.
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