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My new 68 year old Arisaka type 99

 
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hottarod



Joined: Apr 02 2009
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:12 pm    Post subject: My new 68 year old Arisaka type 99 Reply with quote

I've been having trouble trying to get registered on here. Something about cookies. I love cookies. Chocolate chip, peanut butter, macadamia, ginger snaps, graham crackers even. I don't know what that was about. I had cookies enabled. Anyway here are some shots, uh pic's of my gun.







The stock hasn't been restored. I cleaned and polished it up with my guitar gloss and then put a couple of coats of Rem oil on it. The camera flash makes it look brighter than it really is in natural light. It has a few scratches and dents on it but I can live with that. I guess its possible that it has been clear coated but if it was the scratches weren't cleared.

I found this thing propped up against the wall in my local gun shop. The gun shop manager bought it at somebody's - cleaning out their closets - garage sale. Her intention was to just use it as a gun shop decoration. I got it for $40. The gun shop had no clue what it even was. I ran a couple of solvent patches down the barrel and its so bright I can't look at a light through it. The spiral rifling is perfect and the chome face on the bolt is perfect. I mic'd the end of the barrel and it doesn't indicate any wear at all. The head space is also good. I couldn't tell that it has ever been shot before but surely it was at some point.

It needs to be re-blued obviously. The only down side is the bolt numbers don't match the receiver. The receiver is a 520 and the bolt is a numbers matching 720. Would they have ever made something like that? I don't know what happened to the original bolt. Its a McArthur surrender gun from Toyo Kogyo made around 1941.

I just shot it yesterday with some Hornaday soft tips. It was about 4 inches high at 100 yards and shot a nice group considering I've never shot a peep sight before. Maybe I was sighting high. The rear sight may be off a bit on the elevation too.The sight adjustment screw is bottomed out and looks like it has indented the stock. Thats not a big deal. The Hornaday box says +2.6 at 100 yards. These rounds are 2650 fps out the hole and the info I've read says the military rounds were 2400 fps. My ballistics program agrees with +4 at 100 and 0 moa at 250 yards. I haven't tried to find a target with this thing through the peep sight at 250 yards yet, LOL.

Ok, a couple of questions have come up. My cleaning rod unscrews from the end and it doesn't have a slot in it. There is just a small round hole in the rod. Is that all the cleaning rod there is? It measures at 4.96 inches long.

Also, when I take the gun down to clean it up and re-blue it how am I supposed to get the end cap off. Do I assume I can tap the front sight off the barrel or is there a set screw under the front tip or something? It doesn't look to be pinned on. If its just an interference fit that seems to be an aim problem waiting to happen especially on a military gun.

Anyway, love my relic and glad to be here finally.
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Bushido101



Joined: Feb 11 2006
Posts: 46

PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 7:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That is a nice looking Type 99. If the stock was coated with anything it does not look like the did any sanding which is good you still have the original color and the finger grooves still look sharp the best I can tell from the photos. By the way if the gun is matching leave everything as it is don't reblue anything . Chances are it has been shot before but the bore was taken care of properly I have seen a good many 99's that the stocks showed a lot of use but the bores were very nice. That is a nice rifle. Very Happy
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gwsiii



Joined: Aug 21 2003
Posts: 2228
Location: Hayden, AL

PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 7:23 am    Post subject: rifle Reply with quote

Hot..Welcome to the forum! Sorry about the cookies, to keep the spammers and such from posting at will I had to use double verification for registration and depending on how strict your internet settings are, cookies come in to play and they are not near as good as oatmeal raisin....Glad you got it figured out. Some points

1. If you reblue your rifle, it automatically goes to the bottom of the price chain...Its no longer in 'original codition'. If all you want is a 'pretty shooter' that's fine, but just to let you know.

2. If I remember right, the sights are in meters, so there is an extra 3.37 inches per meter vs yards.

3. The cleaning rod is more a stacking rod and a weight to tie a string to drop through the bore to pull a brush or patch through.

4. Your rifle would have had a matching numbered bolt and I'd think it was later, more like 1943 maybe even a little later production. The bore is probably chrome. Trey
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!
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Smokey



Joined: Sep 07 2006
Posts: 60

PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 4:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks like a 4th series Nagoya I have. Mine is a tack driver with handloads. Listen to these guys and don't re-blue it. Get some 0000 steel wool and use that to get any rust off on the outside. Take good care of and it'll last a lifetime.

I usually completely dissassemble a rifle when I first get it. I then go over every part, remove any rust and coat it with a film of rust-inhibiting grease. When the rifle is reassembled it's good for generations. (Still need to take proper care of the bore, and clean and lubricate it after any use.)
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arisakadogs



Joined: Oct 05 2003
Posts: 191

PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 12:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can't beat the price for what you got. The rod alone is worth that.
Be sure to use oil with the 0000 steel wool & go lightly especially on high points.
Any refinishing is the kiss of death to value. And if the screws are still peened in place, I'd leave them alone. Also the folded down sight is set to 200 meters (I believe), so it's not surprising that it shoots a bit high.
Looks like you're off to a nice start in the disease of Arisaka collecting!
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