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Japanese M38

3K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  Earl Easter 
#1 ·
I was given this M38 Ariska and told the rifle was captured during World War II and brought home.
It was in poor shape. Colonel Nariakira Ariska designed this in the 38th year of the reign of emperor Meiji 1905 and was produced at the Nagoya Aresnal. It has the Chrysanthemum with 16 petals and represents the Japanese Emperor. It is in a 6.5 X 50 which the Japanese really didn't like that well,it wasn't enough to satisfy it's use and it was under powered. The Japanese reconstructed it after a few years and there we have the others. I am not 100% sure of all the small details but it was the best I could come up with. I stripped the wood off the iron and redone the wood to my stisfaction and power wired wheeled the iron to eliminate the rust. I sent the steel out and a fella that is close did the dip or bluing. I think it's missing the bayonet and the dust cover but I will not add anything else to it. I am into it for $154.00 a leather strap for $40.00 and lot of labor and it's really not worth any more money. I just want to shoot the thing and see how she does. I had a little trouble finding ammo, no one has any as you may know but found a few boxes from Federal..It set my back $139.00 dollar for just two boxes of 20and shipping. Here are some Before and After pictures



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#3 ·
Just another catch up to remind you all that I have not forgotten any of you but I stay busy as much as an old man can. Some pictures of me putting in a birdie on a par 3 and yep thats my wife with her last Saturday catch of Life time it was over 20 inches but the photo looks smaller than it was. She caught it on a worm, the Rooster Tail spinner didn't work but the palomino chased it around for a good hour. I was determined to have her keep it but you folks know her, she let it go in good health and mentioned that the picture is far better than the life. So I will naturally stick to her wishes and get a canvas print 11x16 for the wall instead of a mount.

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#4 ·
good job on the rifle.
and what a pretty fish! what is it? I know its some kind of trout but I've never seen one that color.
I hope your Type 38 shoots good. mine has headspace problems and won't fire 100% of the time. it definitely is a Vet bring back because the chrysanthemum is intact. I have one that my father brought back. he was in the Navy but when the War ended, his ship was one of the first into Tokyo harbor. he got on the detail to dump all the surrendered weapons in the ocean. he and his mates could keep all they wanted and he brought a bunch of rifles & bayonets home. he gave them all away to friends & family. the rifle I have is the one he gave to his father. I also have 2 bayonets that my father kept for himself.
 
#6 ·
And last my catch that kept and ate..........lol

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good job on the rifle.
and what a pretty fish! what is it? I know its some kind of trout but I've never seen one that color.
I hope your Type 38 shoots good. mine has headspace problems and won't fire 100% of the time. it definitely is a Vet bring back because the chrysanthemum is intact. I have one that my father brought back. he was in the Navy but when the War ended, his ship was one of the first into Tokyo harbor. he got on the detail to dump all the surrendered weapons in the ocean. he and his mates could keep all they wanted and he brought a bunch of rifles & bayonets home. he gave them all away to friends & family. the rifle I have is the one he gave to his father. I also have 2 bayonets that my father kept for himself.
good job on the rifle.
and what a pretty fish! what is it? I know its some kind of trout but I've never seen one that color.
I hope your Type 38 shoots good. mine has headspace problems and won't fire 100% of the time. it definitely is a Vet bring back because the chrysanthemum is intact. I have one that my father brought back. he was in the Navy but when the War ended, his ship was one of the first into Tokyo harbor. he got on the detail to dump all the surrendered weapons in the ocean. he and his mates could keep all they wanted and he brought a bunch of rifles & bayonets home. he gave them all away to friends & family. the rifle I have is the one he gave to his father. I also have 2 bayonets that my father kept for himself.

Spot on Blaster the rifles as many had serial numbered scratched off as well as most of the factory markings and such. I will update ya'll when ever my ammo gets in and I shoot it. I don't expect much out of it and the fun was to get it where it is now without being a wall hanger. I still like hearing the booms and if it shoots decent that will be a bonus.....lol..


The fish is what they call a cross breed result of a rainbow trout cross breeding with a West Virginia Golden Trout not to be confused with a California native Golden Trout..
We call em swimming bananas..lol .......
 
#12 ·
Good job with the Arisaka Earl.
Also great catch by your wife.
That other mess of fish look great too.
Way back when I was a kid in the mid 1950's a Type 38 Arisaka was the 1st center fire rifle that I ever got to shoot. One of our neighbors about a 1/4 mile up the road had one that was his WWII bring back. That was all pretty impressive to a 8 or 9 year old kid. Me and my brother Jim were walking by his little farm on our way to grandpa's farm and he was out by his barn shooting it and asked if we wanted to shoot it also. That was pretty heady stuff for two young boys...
 
#18 ·
after my Grandfather gave me the Type 38 my Father gave to him, my Father took me to one of the big gun stores in Miami to find ammo. I was about 12 -13 and my Father wasn't a gun guy so he didn't know anything about the rifles he brought back from the War. we walked into the store carrying the rifle. the guy behind the counter saw it and commented about another piece of junk made in Japan. (during the '50s &'60s "Made in Japan" had worse connotations than "made in China" does today) after a lot of discussion with my dad about how unsafe Jap rifles were, and trying to sell us other guns, we finally got out of there with a couple boxes of Norma ammo. (the only company who made 6.5x20 ammo at the time.) that was my first encounter with a gun store employee that didn't know what he was talking about. (many more to follow!) we shot that rifle quite a bit. (it was my only gun at the time) because of what I now know as a headspace problem, it would occasionally fail to fire but was accurate and fun to shoot. I still have that rifle and some ammo but needless to say, I don't shoot it anymore.
 
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