Japanese Militaria at Castle-Thunder.com

[gwsiii]

Here are some pictures of the receiver of a 99 Long Style Naval Training rifle, I forgot to take full sized pics of the gun, may add those later.
We call them 99 Long style as they only have 1 gas port in the receiver, like the 99s, and the stock and front band style is more like a Type 99 Long Rifle. There are generally only marked with a serial number, and the Cherry Blossom over the Anchor on the top of the receiver, where a Chrysanthemum would normally be. The Stocks are usually 1 piece design, with 1 or more branded sets Kanji found on the right and left sides of the stock. The Kanji is usually 'Blank Ammunition Only' and a School/Prefecture name on the other. Sometimes they are found with painted rack numbers as well. They usually have un-numbered bolts, and a short, pointed cleaning rod that attaches into the stock, like a nail, and on the two that I have the stocks are proofed in the same area as a normal 'production' rifle.
Here's the receiver:


Here's the bayonet, on the back of the opening for the muzzle above the tang/backstrap:

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

[Jareth]

Those cross guard marked navy training bayonets are quite uncommon. Mostly because that stamping can be easily overlooked & are at time very faint stamps. Nice finds.

[gwsiii]

Jareth, thanks for the compliment! They were Christmas presents from my Dad this year. I was with him when he got both rifle and bayonet. Just thought he'd lost his mind. Never considered he was buying both for me. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer sometimes. Trey
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!

[Guest]

What is the story on training rifle barrels? I understand they are smooth bore usually, but why are they unsafe to shoot? On the rifles that had been in service then had the original barrels bored out smooth, wouldnt these be OK to shoot with regular ammo (albeit very unaccurate)? Are the actual made-as-training-rifle barrels made out of soft steel or metal? What about the receivers of trainers, are they soft steel too? I dont have a training rifle and if I did I wouldnt shoot it, but I just want to know more about them. You would think that they would build trainers that would not chamber standard ammo if all they were meant for is blanks.

I guess the Nippons had a better idea here, I just dont know what that idea was.

[gwsiii]

Its hard to say. Training rifles in general, some were intended for blank ammo, some for gallery rounds, and some for just 'snapping'. Some were original service rifles that were pulled and sometimes bored smooth, sometimes remarked for blank ammunition only, and some marked as non-firing (not totally sure about this). Some were fabricated specifically as trainers. The inferior quality of the metal is obvious (cast receivers and parts) in some, and not so much in others. I've seen several that the only thing holding the barrel in snugly was the screw on the rear sight . While the barrel is threaded, if you tighten it up in the action, the front sight is at an acute angle, only thing to do is back it off and tighten up the rear sight screw and let the tension from the stock and hand guard hold the rear sight and barrel 'true'. I feel like firing normally charged ammo in trainers and the resulting mishaps are where Arisakas got branded with the 'dangerous/unsafe to shoot' label. Trey
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I didn't pay to much for that old Arisaka, I just bought it a little bit too soon!