Japanese Militaria at Castle-Thunder.com

[DJForresta]

I have a type 44 that will not shoot at all. It fires but the bullets go everywhere. Barrel looks ok but the cases are pretty bulged when they come out of the chamber. I really have to pull hard on my press to get them to resize. Chamber looks clean and not pitted or rusty. Was it common for them to cut the chamber a little big? Whats the best bullet to try. This would be a great little shooter if I could find the issue. Would anyone have a good shooter carbine barrel they'd like to part with?

[DEFUC]

If they are evenly expanded to fit the chamber and extract easily, Id just keep that brass and neck size it for reloading,as its already fire formed to the over sized chamber..checking your barrel bore and maybe doing a chamber casting to make absolutely sure there hasnt been some sort of modification might be a good idea.Personally Id try loading a flat based .268 bullet into the fire formed brass and shooting that thru the rifle,but thats just me (the correct move would be mic-ing the bore and chamber ) and if it didnt improve then Id mic the bore and find what did fit..if it had been rechambered to 6.5x57 or 270 the cases come out looking like shotgun shells (shoulders blown out etc) so its probably just a little oversized,tho without seeing it ,its all a guess (Ive had a few that were and shot .268 better than .264's)..if your the trial and error sort (like me) just play with it..if your a more serious minded guy,then do/have done a casting (its not hard or expensive) and get exact results right away..Somebody smart,like ShannonZ or MAG here or at gunboards.com would likely know exactly what you should do and how,so maybe one of those guys will turn up,all I can do is say what Id do ( that should pass for a disclaimer,as I have reckless tendancies sometimes)

[gwsiii]

Thanks Dave. The bores are a little oversize and norma brass tends to be a bit small. Frank mentioned a while back a document had turned up stating that there were extraction problems and some chambers were reamed a little oversize. I don't remember the exact details. Maybe Frank will drop by and fill in the blanks. If I've quoted in error, I'll remove the post, but I'm pretty sure I remember reading that somewhere, on the net or in his book.
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!

[DJForresta]

It extracts fine and fires fine just a little bulgy. I already have a 6.5x257 so that would work but I also have 200 rounds of brass for 6.5x50. I'll find a bore guage and check that as I have a carcano as well so .268 bullets are available.

[Smokey]

Something I do which prevents the thinning and stretching just above the head is:
- Load with light bullets and about 10gr of Unique or other slower shotgun powder.
- Wrap the head with a narrow strip of masking tape (to keep the case centered in the chamber)
- Put a thin film of lube (I use grease) on the assembled cartridge (refer back to the mild load)

The case is kept centered in the chamber while it expands. The lube allows it to slide back in the chamber against the bolt (instead of grabbing the chamber and stretching back). The result is a nicely custom formed case for the particular rifle with no thinning or incipient head separation.

BTW, I've had good results using Hornady 0.268 160gr bullets in Arisakas with oversize bores.

[Francis C. Allan]

The Japanese did ream out the chambers of many Type 38-based weapons including the T-44. This action was mentioned in a U.S. Army wartime publication. Unfortunately I do not have a copy but I beleive it. This accounts for the variations in measured bore sizes that is otherwise perplexing. Add to that the modern ammo makers sloppy toplerances and you will have expanding cases. I have experienced this repeatedly with many T-38 weapons using Norma brass. Not sure about the new Yugo cases.

Frank
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Francis C. Allan
20Courtney Place
Palm Coast, FL 32137

(386) 445-4225

[03man]

Unique is a pistol powder, I would not use it in a rifle load.
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03man

[DEFUC]

he is just using a very light load to fire form the brass,makes the best possible fit in your one specific gun as the ammo is perfectly mated to the chamber...the yugo brass seems closer to the japanese chamber than the norma stuff ,the norma stuff is considerably heavier and will last longer,and once its resized its all good..so its what you prefer to use...I like the yugo better,simply cause norma is ridiculously expensive and not any higher quality ammo ( it does have a better case for reloading)..so I just start with the cyrillic stuff and it works just fine.