Japanese Militaria at Castle-Thunder.com

[Hoplophile]

It has a crack in the stock on the left side between the upper tang and along the mag well. Quite repairable into a very functional shooter. It was 150 bucks and still has the original blueing fairly intact. Rear sight is complete with the little "wings". Monopod and dust cover are gone, but there's a small, square metal piece near the front band where the pod rested. Bolt is non-matching but other numbers on the stock match the lat 3 numerals of the ser#. Mum's been filed-on but you still see the outlines of it. Bore's nice. I'm guessing somebody may have added a coat of varnish to the wood, because it looks somewhat smoother than I remember seeing on Arisaka's.

Serial # is in the early 38XXX range with a circle around a triangle-like thing preceding the #. At the end of the ser# is a circle with three 1/2-circles connected, like a 3-leaf clover of sorts. There's also a small marking after that last character that looks like a short line at an upward-angle above a straight, longer line and then another short, downward-angled line under those.

It's been a while since I looked at some of the data on this site that might tell me when and where this rifle was made, but I can't find it. If one of you very knowlegeable guys could clue me in on this info it would be appreciated.

[Bushido101]

Sounds lik it miht be made by Kokura Arsenal can you post photos ?

[Hoplophile]

I'm thinking the same, after reading some older posts and threads in this forum. I don't have the kind of gear needed to do a pick. I might manage an overall-length type of shot, but that wouldn't help any.

It seems from the features on the rifle that it's not a late-war unit though. The little square metal thing turns out to be a spring-loaded release for the cleaning rod. Since the aircraft sights are intact, the pod mount has two holes and the receiver has slots for the dust cover, I assume it was made before the "simplified" versions came out, and definitely before the substitute type.

[UBE Mechanic]

Congrats on the Japanese rifle. If you want to learn about your rifle, down load and fill out a data sheet. At first, it is a little confusing. Keep at it and you will learn about your rifle. There are several good books on Japanese rifles out there that will assist you in finding a real treasure. http://www.castle-thunder.com/datas.htm
John

[Hoplophile]

Thanks for the info. I'll look into those.

[Hoplophile]

OK, here's what I can tell from the info on those sheets:

Kokura series 23

Inspection K1 (I have to hold the rifle with muzzle upright to read the mark, otherwise it doesn't match any on the list).

I can't print the sheets to fill out and mail-in, but I've identified all parts but the extractor type from the categories shown. (I don't understand what those diagrams represent with regard to the extractor, since it's basically a flat, machined piece of steel and doesn't have protrusions the way they're shown).

[DEFUC]

long or short extractor ,if you mean item 12 the early guns had a long extractor the later guns had one that didnt reach as far along the bolt body.Its not really just a flat piece of metal ,it actually L shaped with a curved "blade" on the one edge of the L (where it goes into the rim of the case) but anyway question 12 deals with lenth/pattern of the extractor .if you hold your complete bolt similar to the diagram you can see right away which veiw is like yours.

[Hoplophile]

Yeah, I know it's not "flat" exactly, but it's just that the pictographs seem to refer to something different..........like maybe a cylinder or something.

I'll take another close look and see if I can figure it out.

Thanks again.

(Update)..........OK, I now realize it does indeed represent a cylinder (a portion of the whole bolt assembly) with the two types of extractor lengths as you mentioned. Looks like mine's the earlier (long) style.

Great info.........much appreciated!