Japanese Militaria at Castle-Thunder.com

[tomp]

Hello,

I am new to the Type 38 and was wondering if there is anything I should be aware of concerning "fatal flaws" if you will on the rifle itself. Is there anything that could drop the price of the rifle significantly? From what I can think of, a nice rifle would have full mum, dust cover, matching bolt and I would think a cleaning rod that is present, possibly a sling as well? Am I off base on this? Is there something/many things that I am missing?
Thanks in advance for any help. It is very much appreciated.

Tom

[gwsiii]

Welcome to the forum, and a tough question for starters.

A 'good' rifle varies in interpretation.

I consider a 'good' rifle to be in all original condition and available for a reasonable price. It gets 'better' depending on a combination of rarity, matching numbers, accessories (rod, dc, mc, sling, capture papers/history), and mum treatment. All of the above add value to a 'good' rifle. A good rifle can have a few missing parts, but should also be priced accordingly. You can't go wrong with a pretty Type 38 in all original condition. I prefer my series guns to be all matching, Tokyo guns not so, as long as they look nice. I bought a good Tokyo rifle from Don at the shootout, it was a reasonably pretty, used but not abused, Type 38 non-matching, no goodies, but very nice looking and interesting mum treatment for $175. That might be a little high to some for no goodies, but I was happy, that's all that matters. I bought a nice series gun on the internet over the summer, bad pictures, but could tell it was a pretty rifle with rod, it came in, it was a minty, matching, ground type 38 with dried cosmoline not rust as described online $275. I'm still tickled!

You need to be familiar with what you're looking for and what you're willing to pay and go for it. I never pay too much, but I do buy them way too soon sometimes.

You can ask 10 different collectors the same question, and get 10 answers that are exactly the same, just different. Buy what makes you happy, because you're the one that has to live with it. Good Luck! Trey
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!

[tomp]

Hello Trey,

Thank you very much for the info. Looks like I have some studying to do! Thanks again.

Tom