US Arisaka’s

[Terry G]

A recent thread about which Military bolt action was the best stirred my memory. Didn’t the US Army use captured Arisakas during our involvement in the 1919 Russian revolution? I swear I read somewhere, for some reason they had use captured Arisakas much to their disgust. Maybe it was the Marines.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

We issued some Westinghouse and Remington-produced M91 Mosins that had been ordered by the Czar and never delivered or paid for when the Communists took over.
Never heard of any Arisakas used in Europe.....Mexico ordered a small number of them pre WW2 chambered in 7mm Mauser, but AFAIK they werent used in combat, certainly not overseas.
The Russians probably captured a few Muratas and Type 38 rifles in the Russo- Japanese wars, but I dont think they made much use of them besides perhaps passing them to the Red Chinese.

 

[tark]

Don't think that is true, where and how would we have captured them?

We did use some Mosin-Nagant rifles at that time. We originally sent troops to to northern Russia late in the war to Murmansk and Vladivostok to guard supplies from falling into German hands. They became ensnared in the beginnings of the Russian Revolution. Troops from the Army's 339th Infantry Regiment (85th Div.) were dispatched to the area. Marines and a contingents from a number of warships were also sent. The troops from the 339th were ordered to exchange their 1917 Enfields for Mosin-Nagants. They were told that 7.62X54 ammo would be easier to get than our .30 caliber in that part of the world. Some of our troops kept their Springfields.

 

[Random 8]

T30 and T38 rifles were acquired and used heavily by the Czech legion who fought on the "white " side. These were new and surplus arms purchased from Japan. Some of these rifles ended up in Finland and can be rarely encountered with an SA marking. There was also a "Japanese Carcano" which makes for an interesting read

 

[Rlafever]

the USA converted captured arisakas to 30- 06 and issued them to R.O.K. troops for the Korean war circa 1950

 

[12Bravo20]

We would not of had any captured Japanese weapons during WWI since Japan fought on the side of the Allies.

 

[theotherwaldo]

A number of 7mm Arisakas were used by Mexican insurgents during the Plan de San Diego uprising along the Texas border in 1915.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Never heard of any Arisakas used in Europe.

Depends on what counts as Europe. The Royal Navy bought a bunch of Type 38s to free up Lee Enfields for land use, and the Czar's army bought another much larger bunch (hundreds of thousands) of older Type 30 hook safety models to add to the leftovers from the Russo-Japanese fracas.

Go to about the 37 minute mark on this video:

 

[caribou]

Next to Mosin Nagants, Arisaka's were numerous and very popular in Finnland, after they broke from Russia in 1919. They took the Tzar's old inventory.

As noted, the British purchased and used them as well. They later sold them to the newly formed Baltic countrys.

The US Army used US made Mosins during that time, as training rifles for recruits to carry, and during our incursion into Russia. We didnt use the Arisaka untill the Model of 99, as noted above, to issue to Korean troops in reamed out chambers for the common 30-06 caliber.

 

[Bcwitt]

We issued some Westinghouse and Remington-produced M91 Mosins that had been ordered by the Czar and never delivered or paid for when the Communists took over.
Never heard of any Arisakas used in Europe.....Mexico ordered a small number of them pre WW2 chambered in 7mm Mauser, but AFAIK they werent used in combat, certainly not overseas.
The Russians probably captured a few Muratas and Type 38 rifles in the Russo- Japanese wars, but I dont think they made much use of them besides perhaps passing them to the Red Chinese.

The Russians used 6.5 jap quite a lot. The Federov rifle was chambered for it.

 

[Bcwitt]

T30 and T38 rifles were acquired and used heavily by the Czech legion who fought on the "white " side. These were new and surplus arms purchased from Japan. Some of these rifles ended up in Finland and can be rarely encountered with an SA marking. There was also a "Japanese Carcano" which makes for an interesting read

 

[Bcwitt]

Im pretty sure it was the Czech legion that chased the Whites into Siberia.

 

[Bcwitt]

Don't think that is true, where and how would we have captured them?

We did use some Mosin-Nagant rifles at that time. We originally sent troops to to northern Russia late in the war to Murmansk and Vladivostok to guard supplies from falling into German hands. They became ensnared in the beginnings of the Russian Revolution. Troops from the Army's 339th Infantry Regiment (85th Div.) were dispatched to the area. Marines and a contingents from a number of warships were also sent. The troops from the 339th were ordered to exchange their 1917 Enfields for Mosin-Nagants. They were told that 7.62X54 ammo would be easier to get than our .30 caliber in that part of the world. Some of our troops kept their Springfields.

The Germans in Vladivostok??

 

[theotherwaldo]

The Czar also bought about 4,500 7mm Mauser Arisakas after Mexico refused delivery.