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Re: Certificate

 
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awwtw



Joined: Apr 06 2008
Posts: 7
Location: Alaska
PostPosted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:47 pm    Post subject: Re: Certificate Reply with quote
Thanks for the fast reply, guys.
As is the Army way, this form was done in triplicate. I have two signed and stamped copies, and I'm sure the Army kept the third.
I'm attaching some photos I've taken of my rifle.
My dad said that at the end of the war, some of the older soldiers on Okinawa were selling these rifles to new arrivals for $100 each. So he and a buddy broke into a munitions dump where there were thousands of Japanese rifles, grabbed ten rifles each, and gave all but this one to newbies for free. This didn't make him popular with the older guys, but the new arrivals loved it.
I wonder what happened to all those rifles in the dump...
Trey, I've been filling out your data sheet on this rifle, but I have a few questions. What is the difference between a wide metal buttplate and a thin metal buttplate other than the obvious? Mine is just over a quarter inch wide at the top and one-half inch at the bottom. The inspection mark just to the right of the Nagoya mark on the receiver appears to be either a partial strike or a mark not shown on your form.
Anyway, thanks for the forum.




















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gwsiii



Joined: Aug 21 2003
Posts: 2240
Location: Hayden, AL
PostPosted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:28 am    Post subject: rifle Reply with quote
Very nice rifle, and great history on it!
Your rifle is a 4th series, so it has the type 'A' wide butt plate. The
'B' thin butt plate is found on 7th and 9th series rifles. The mark to the right of the Nagoya Arsenal mark is the 'Na' mark, if it were fully stamped you'd recognize it as inspection mark N1 on the old datasheet, inspection mark A on the 2006 dated revision. I'll try and post some pictures of the two butt plates in the morning. Trey
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Fill out a Japanese Rifle Datasheet.
I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!
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seinen



Joined: Aug 24 2003
Posts: 115
PostPosted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
awwtw,

Can you ask your dad about when (where) the mum was ground?

C/
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awwtw



Joined: Apr 06 2008
Posts: 7
Location: Alaska
PostPosted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
He said that all of the rifles at the dump had their mums ground. He arrived on the island after the surrender and most of the weapons were already gathered up.
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seinen



Joined: Aug 24 2003
Posts: 115
PostPosted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
awwtw wrote:
He said that all of the rifles at the dump had their mums ground. He arrived on the island after the surrender and most of the weapons were already gathered up.


Interesting. Leads one to believe that perhaps the Americans did the grinding, as opposed to captured Japanese troops.

C/
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awwtw



Joined: Apr 06 2008
Posts: 7
Location: Alaska
PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Seinen,

I asked my dad about that, and he doesn't know for sure, but he had always presumed that US soldiers had ground the mums. He admitted though, that it would have been possible that Japanese POW's had done it, as there were a number of them in custody.
These POW's he says, were greatly surprised at being treated so well by the Americans; they had been told that we were going to kill and eat them!

Bob
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seinen



Joined: Aug 24 2003
Posts: 115
PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 9:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
awwtw wrote:
I asked my dad about that, and he doesn't know for sure, but he had always presumed that US soldiers had ground the mums. He admitted though, that it would have been possible that Japanese POW's had done it, as there were a number of them in custody.


I based my conjecture on the fact that there were likely a lot more US soldiers present than Japanese POWs. Guess it's another mystery. Please extend my thanks to your for answering our questions.

C/
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