Asian milsurp?
- Thread starter Appalachiannative
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entropy
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From the limited view in the 3 pics, I'm guessing Siamese Mauser. These were often converted to .45-70.
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Appalachiannative
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I'm not the one taking the pics or they would look a lot better lol. That sounds neat. Never heard of one. What where they originally chambered in pre conversion?
Type 38 - Model of 1905 Found in Long, Short Rifle, and Carbine Configurations | 
Type 38 - Model of 1905 Double Circle Rifle or Concentric Circle Rifle | 
Type 38 - Model of 1905 'Love of Country' marks either side of Chrysanthemum | 
Mexican Type 38 - 1913 Rifle/Carbine configuration No Type/Arsenal markings |
BreechFace
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That’s an Arisaka. Japanese sporterized rifle from WWII.
Also, one can note the knurled back cocking piece, another dead giveaway of Arisaka’s.
The chrysanthemum has been ground off.
Also, one can note the knurled back cocking piece, another dead giveaway of Arisaka’s.
The chrysanthemum has been ground off.
I believe you are correct
OP
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Appalachiannative
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I've read about that. Our government demanded GI's ground it off. I've also heard it told that some times the Japanese ground it off to avoid surrendering something that had the symbol of the emperor on it. I've seen one on person markings in tact. I had no idea what it was but I did tell him straight out of the gate it was sporterized
BreechFace
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It’s the latter of the above. It was disgraceful to surrender the mum a symbol of the emperor.
An intact mum carries more value due to rarity and completeness. But your metal looks in good shape, there are a lot of Arisakas in poor shape due to the nature of their environment.
entropy
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I thought the writing looked Japanese, but I guess I didn't realize the barrel shank on Arisakas were that short & stubby.
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Appalachiannative
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Are you certain it was always the latter? I've read that swastikas, war eagles, and wermacht crosses were required by our military to be removed. I've also seen arisakas with the flower crudely crossed out
BreechFace
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The symbol closest to the bolt stands for “Type”.
The two “)(“ stands for “8”.
Above the “)(“ there is 3 lines of different lengths, the latter two have been scrubbed along with the mum stands for “3”
So you have an Arisaka Type 38 in your hands.
I guess technically since Japanese read right to left you have a “38 Type” Arisaka.
The two “)(“ stands for “8”.
Above the “)(“ there is 3 lines of different lengths, the latter two have been scrubbed along with the mum stands for “3”
So you have an Arisaka Type 38 in your hands.
I guess technically since Japanese read right to left you have a “38 Type” Arisaka.
BreechFace
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I guess anything’s possible, but if one studies Japanese culture and their thoughts on honor/dishonor, and I know for a fact they did remove mums ahead of capture/surrender/defeat if at all possible. With this in mind I would assume most were removed at the orders of superiors within the Japanese army.
But I guess a GI who had a horrific encounter on one of those bloody island conflicts sure could have desired to deface the mum. I just don’t see this as being the main culprit.
BreechFace
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The Type’s numbers correspond with the year of the Emporers reign. So a Type 38 was established in the 38th year reign of the current emporer (forgot his name).
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Appalachiannative
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Definitely in the case of the rifle in question it was removed by the Japanese as it has been done neatly. If that's what we are looking at. I'm 90% sure.its not in my hands it down in GA it's my BILs. Although I'm now plotting to convince him to sell it since ammo is about $2.50 a round and he has 6 kids but I have none so I can afford to shoot it
BreechFace
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The mum would have been between the chamber over pressure ports and the barrel shank.
BreechFace
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If you can get him to get a picture of the serial number area along side the receiver I can tell you what Japanese Arsenal it was manufactured in.
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Appalachiannative
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He insists the markings shown are the only ones on it
entropy
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It was adopted in the 38th year of the Meiji period, (1905) Meiji being the posthumous honorary name of Mutsushito, who acended the throne in 1867.
BreechFace
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BreechFace
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They may be below the top of the stock as it wraps the left side of the receiver. The red on the edited picture is where one finds the serial number and Arsenal marks.
the should be just in front of the Mauser style bolt release on the left side of the receiver.
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Roverguy
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It’s already been sporterized, so rechambering/rebarreling shouldn’t be off the table. The Type 38s were well built and the Arisaka is a very strong action (see Ackley), so a good candidate. 6.5x 257 Toberts was a popular post War conversion for the 6.5x50 Arisaka. The chamber should clean up to 6.5x55 SE, which are hot CIP loads. I don’t know whether 6.5CM would - might need to rebarrel, in which case, lots of options.
CapnMac
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To muddy the water a bit, the newly formed PLA in China had a many hundred thousand Arisaka left/abandoned/surrendered in China, and many were repurosed to PRC use.
Some of those filtered out into various wars PRC was involved in.
In addition Arisaka, pre war, was sold to places like Thailand, and which would have had the royal crest of Siam on them.
Probably a chamber cast is wanted to see just how it's presently fitted up. Many 7.7s were "bubba" rebored to 30-06 using electric drills. Some of the 6.5s were rebored to various calibers, too.
And, there's more than a ton of fuddlore on whether or not an intact "mum" was legal or not. And all manner of tools, like bench grinders and the like were pressed into use, "back in the day."
Some of those filtered out into various wars PRC was involved in.
In addition Arisaka, pre war, was sold to places like Thailand, and which would have had the royal crest of Siam on them.
Probably a chamber cast is wanted to see just how it's presently fitted up. Many 7.7s were "bubba" rebored to 30-06 using electric drills. Some of the 6.5s were rebored to various calibers, too.
And, there's more than a ton of fuddlore on whether or not an intact "mum" was legal or not. And all manner of tools, like bench grinders and the like were pressed into use, "back in the day."
Steel Horse Rider
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Everything Arisaka here: http://oldmilitarymarkings.com/japanese_markings.html
