Japanese Militaria at Castle-Thunder.com

[Buckeye]

I recently acquired a Type 38 rifle at a gun show. I also purchased a box of 6.5 Arisaka (Hornady) ammo, cleaned the weapon, and took it to the range. I immediately noticed, that while my first shot was at center bull at 50 yards, the bullet was sideways. After a few choice words, I finally managed to extract the case. The primer was pushed back about a 1/32” beyond the case rim. The case was slightly scared, but otherwise in good shape. I fired a total of four rounds, all with the same results. Is this a case of a worn barrel, or has the rifle been re-chambered? I know that several Type 38’s were re-bored to 7mm Mauser for Mexico, could this be one of them? The marking are all Japanese, and the serial number is 888,XXX. The sights, along with the safety, are early style. The barrel is 6-grove, with sharp rifling, but dark bore.

[DEFUC]

the mexican arisakas were purpose built for 7mm,differnt animal than you carbine and had the mexican crest on the receiver,also if you fired a 6.5x50 case in a chamber long enough for the 7x57 it opens up like a shot gun shell with no shoulders,major case deformation (Ive fired a few 6.5x50's in 6.5x57 chambers)..most of the calibres they rechambered or rebored arisaka into have longer chambers so you deform the case a noticable amount you may just have a worn or very loose tolerance barrel,or even on with a bad cown at the throat, which would account for the loss of stability making your rounds keyhole.the bore on the 6.5's and even some 7.7 was radiacally varient so if you have a loose bore and small projectile that may be your problem,try it with some ammo that has a flat based projectile as the spitzer used in most commercial loading doesnt 'open" enough to fully engage at the rear so you loose even pressure ,which will cause the lost stability /tumble effect. I have only saw a couple that were bad enough to require special ammo (.268 bullets),most respond favorably to the flat based ones...good luck with it,you may need to try several laods to find one that works effectively.

[Buckeye]

The bullets fired did have flat bases. I'll try to slug the barrel to determine the exact dia. What would cause the primers to back out? Perhaps lead bullets will work better?

[DEFUC]

primers backing out usually is a sign of excess chamber pressure ,as is the stuck cases ,from expanding under a load so far as to be contained by the walls of the chamber tightly...odd with factory hornady loads, if they were handloads,Id guess they might have been a little too light..You might try posting your problem on gunboards rising sun forum.Higher traffic there means your more likely to catch an expert of loads and pressure quickly than here..more places you put out feelers the more good answers you'll get.

[drpoulos]

If you were using commercially produced ammunition; I would call or e-mail Hornady and send as much information as you can. Pictures of the receiver and the fired cases would be crucial.

Steve

[gwsiii]

If the brass is Norma, the 6.5 cases are a little undersized so I'm told. Trey
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!

[riceone]

1/32" primer back out is not cause for alarm. Neither is the bulge that most all 6.5 cases have after being fire. Japanese were more lenient on headspace and chamber size and it stood them in good stead considering all the dirt and mud they had to fight in. Just the oposite is the German Luger that fit so close the least amount of dirt jamed them. In about 1983 I joined a shooting club to qualify to buy an M1 through the DCM. There were about 105 of us shooting that day, some of the semi autos actually came apart. Tolerances were too close. Nearly all commercial auto rifles quit fireing long before they finished. I carried an 03 and finished 5th. Boy were there some bad shots for me to come in 5th. riceone.
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