Japanese Militaria at Castle-Thunder.com

[cve116]

Hi

Let me start by saying that I'm not a militaria collector; not really a gun guy. Not enough disposable income to be either But, after 30 yr in the city, and with limited budget, we are moving to the country relatively soon - deep forest in the appalaichan foothills. Guns are a necessary tool of forest life however, so our feelers are out for inexpensive quality.

So my wife one day walks in with a strange looking package - some sort of old padded brown paper, and bubblewrap, and lots of tape.... had been wrapped up for some years, by the look of it. She had been gifted with "an old rifle". We unwrapped it. It had at some point been partially disassembled, and was now held together with plastic zip ties. Some parts were missing (including ALL screws), some were zip tied to the trigger guard, some were loose in the package. It was definitely military, appeared to be WWII vintage, and had oriental chatacters on the top of the receiver.

The google gods smiled on me that day. My first two hits on "wwii japanese rifle" were SurplusRifle.com and Radix.net, and I could define what we had. In the past few weeks I've learned a lot more about it as a gun and as a historical item, and I think I may be ready to ask intelligent questions. I've been scouting the Arisaka forums, and this one seems the most knowledgable and helpful.... so I come seeking knowledge and help.

Now, if it checks out ok it will be a working gun, and I can't guarantee it won't spend time in sporting gear, but the old uniform will be kept hanging in the back of the closet. And if it's shooting days are over, it will make someone a nice wallhanger.

So ok, what is the new guy rambling about?

Type 99, 5th series Nagoya, serial 714XX, non-matching bolt. Mum struck. Chrome barrel still indexed, early bolt/safety (numbers all match there). AA sights complete and functioning. No monopod lug, no signs of wear on the bolt cover slots. Hole for round rod catch. I'm thinking this is an early transition to the substitute standard. I'm guessing a potential $200 value, unless you folks have a different opinion. I'll print out data sheets for Trey my next trip to the library.

Condition: Overall, very nice to this unpracticed eye. Blueing appears original and mostly complete except for the mum defacement, which looks to be 2 or 3 swipes with a med/fine file, taking the center 1/3 of the mark, and is just beginning to get some tinges of rust in the file scratches. Looks nicer than a lot of pics I've seen, for what it's worth. It still needs cleaned, but basically just crud buildup in the nooks and crannys and the stock is just beginning to get that tacky feel.

I've got a penlight that fit in the chamber, so i turned it on and looked down the muzzle. I was almost blinded by the glare, so I used a fold of kleenex to diffuse the light. The spiral is perfect and beautiful; no signs of wear.

The stock is nice, just some minor dings and one chip out at the muzzle extending no further back than the front band wing. The chip appears to be building up patina, so it maybe happened a few decades ago.

Like I said, a few pieces missing. I picked some up on ebay (before I found the less expensive online sources, but you get anxious, you know?, and they are all in good condition and decent patina match).... buttplate, upper tang, magazine box, action screws, recoil lug. Still need front band end cap, rod fitting (round), rod, and screws for both bands and the butt swivel.

There's circumstantial evidence that it's been shot post-war. It took a good mud bath at some point, as shown in the pics (though they don't show the mud inside the stock) - the cleaning rod hole was plugged with dried mud like plaster of paris. And there were 2 fired Norma brasses packed with it. Good omens, I think.

The pull is too short for me, but just right for my wife, so it will be "her" rifle. If it shoots as good as what I've been reading, I may see about picking up another to restock for myself (and only have to reload one size cartridge). Main live target will be whitetail, and with our topography, 100 yds will be a looong shot. A carbine would be perfect, but I know you guys would come hurt me if I even considered cutting one down.

so, my first (hopefully intelligent) questions:

The short cleaning rods seem way too short to do the job. How did they work? Did the squad get together when it was time to clean, and screw a half dozen rods together to make one long enough to fit the barrel?

The upper tang I bought fits the stock inlet nicely, and fits well against the reciever, but there is some binding when putting all together. It looks like it could be remedied by relieving either the back of the stock inlet, or the vertical "prongs" on the front of the tang. Which sounds best/is preferred? Or is there some variation in tangs and I should look for another?

Likewise, the buttplate I bought - early large metal, which is what the stock is rabbetted for, but it doesn't quite slip on. Do I trim down the wood? Grind the inside of the plate? Just wail on it with a mallet? Buy another and try it?

I've read that the chambers weren't made to SAMMI specs, so checking headspace with standard guages will almost always read no-good. But if it fires ok Mythbusters style (long string tied to trigger) it's good, and just let firing conform the brass to the particular chamber. Of course we will get a gunsmith's opinion on condition, but comments, please?

Sorry to ramble so long, thanks for taking the time to read it. Any comments/tips/observations/questions are greatly appreciated.

Here's pics. As you can see, we're down to just 3 zip ties from the original 9. Ack, the flash shows up alllll the dirt.
Bob

[gwsiii]

Welcome to the forum! You've got a good rifle to start with.
The short rods were more for stacking than anything else, they could be used as a weight with a string and patch to clean the bore as well.
Your recoil bolt is correctly installed, the slot should be on the left.
The other parts will come along if you keep looking. The butt plate should be a reasonably close fit, but there may be minor differences between the different arsenals. Nagoya was very good about inspection marks, so you should be able to find proper nagoya parts, the main inspection mark for parts on your rifle will be a stylized sort of ij looking mark. Will try and post more later. Thanks for sharing! Trey
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!

[gwsiii]

A 5th series should be fine to shoot. Grafs and Sons (www.grafs.com) has 7.7 ammo for about $20 a box. The recoil is likely to be a little sharp on the wife, but she'll better be the judge of that. Trey
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!

[cve116]

Her dad was a Civil War re-enactor, so she's got some experience with kick. I know of the Graf ammo and plan to start with it, then move into reloading. I haven't shot since I was a kid, and I'm getting excited about getting back to it. Looking forward to seeing if this one lives up to its pedigree.

[gwsiii]

It ought to do just fine, keep us posted! Trey
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Fill out a Japanese Rifle Datasheet.
I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!

[03man]

If I read your post correctly, the bolt matches the receiver numbers; if so you don't need to worry about headspace. A routine safety check for buggered or cracked surfaces and go ahead and test fire as you stated.

A fifth series is the beginning of the transition changes as you have noted.

If you still need parts, email me and I can send you my parts list.
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03man

[cve116]

no, the bolt does not match the reciever. but the bolt as an assembly matches within itself.

i'll pull up my list of what i need and get an email to you. thanks