Japanese Militaria at Castle-Thunder.com

car99 · Joined: Jun 11 2004 Posts: 24 Location: Dutch Harbor, AK

What kind of wood were the arisaka stocks made of? Was it local or imported? I know about the urushi varnish but nothing of the wood.

gwsiii · Joined: Aug 21 2003 Posts: 2240 Location: Hayden, AL

I'm still researching, will try and have you some sort of definitive answer by the weekend. Sorry for the delay. Trey
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car99 · Joined: Jun 11 2004 Posts: 24 Location: Dutch Harbor, AK

I saw an old posting by Vulch from downunder where they talked about almost every kind of wood: maple, ash, birch, teak and others, but nobody seemed to know for sure. My computer has really been on strike and won't let me register on Gunboards either.

szeigler · Guest

Car99,

I am shooting from the hip on this. I can't find the article on line that address this. I think I have it at home, and will look this weekend. So here it goes....

Caveat: This only applies to rifles I am smart on, Type 30's and on. So anything pre 1897, it beyond my depth, Stan Zeilinski is the expert on all of this. He's been a woodworker for over 40 years.

I don't think the Japanese ever relied on domestic hardwoods as their primary source of stock blanks. Pre-World War Two guns, say before 1930 give or take 5 years, used imported U.S. American Black Walnut as well as other Asian hardwoods. After the embargo against the Japanese (so that would make it 1937, I think) was established they no longer used U.S. woods. They also used a walnut from China, but it was not as hard a Black walnut. As the war progressed and they become more deperate they then used any hardwood they could aquire. I've been told it come from the Phillipines, Korea etc.... I also think (I have no proof) that they used locally procured woods closest to the given Arsenal. For example, Jinsen used Korean hardwoods, Hoten (Mukden) used Chinese woods. Of interest, Nagoya 4th Series has a run of about 20,000-30,000 (10K to 40K serial number range) guns that exhibited a light colored, wide-grained wood. It is very noticable if you compare next to an earlier Nagoya. That a long answer to say, I really don't know for sure. I will look for the article this weekend and if I find it fill in the blanks and correct my mistakes.

I trust this helps. So little is documented, but is sure a fun mystery to unravel.

Regards, Shannon

j hawk · Joined: Aug 22 2003 Posts: 7 Location: Rising Sun

Folks,

In the manual book of T-30 rifle, it is being described that walnut tree, fir tree, and Japanese Judas tree were used as a material of the stock.
However,I do not have the documents of reliable evidence about the stock of other rifles.

I do not have the documents of reliable evidence though the cherry blossoms tree etc. were used for the stock of T-38. Crying or Very sad

Regards,

gwsiii · Joined: Aug 21 2003 Posts: 2240 Location: Hayden, AL

J Hawk, Thank you! Trey
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!

car99 · Joined: Jun 11 2004 Posts: 24 Location: Dutch Harbor, AK

Thanks all for the info. People have told me they would use whatever they could get easiest. But you have to think there was some care given to selecting a quality wood.

gwsiii · Joined: Aug 21 2003 Posts: 2240 Location: Hayden, AL

Here is a link to J Hawk's translation of the stock wood used in the Type 38 rifles as described in the Type 38 Manual.
Stock Wood
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car99 · Joined: Jun 11 2004 Posts: 24 Location: Dutch Harbor, AK

Trey, thanks for the GB page, I missed half of the postings. Is it just my imagination or does the 99 show up with more dings than the 38 or 44? It seems like the wood is less dense and the softer Judas tree stuff......Jim

gwsiii · Joined: Aug 21 2003 Posts: 2240 Location: Hayden, AL

I have no documented facts, just observations. I think the wood in 99s was a softer wood, than on 38s and 44s. It seems to me that the later Toyo Kogyo finish is a harder more protective finish than that used at Kokura and Nagoya. You'll see lots of ding and bruises on those, but usually the later Toyos (33rd, 34th, and 35th series) have good stocks with many less dings and bruises than those from other arsenals. Trey
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!