Originally posted by NRAJOE
Fred, is the ammo easy to get, and what american round are the ballistics close to? I seen a really nice sporterized one on gunbroker.com and could get it really cheap. But I know nothing about Jap guns or their ammo.
Hi, NRA Joe!
Yup, ammo for the 7.7 Jap is no problem to find, and at least 2 U.S. ammo companies are making it. Reloading is even easier, as Graf & Sons is coming out with U.S.made "Starline Brass" cases for about half what you'd pay for the Swedish Norma brass, and you can also get U.S. Military .30-06 brass that has been formed and trimmed to 7.7 Arisaka, pretty cheap. I've used both, and they work well, am looking forward to when Graf comes out with theirs!
As to the Jap rifle, you can't go wrong with them as long as you get one of the earlier Model 99's, (NOT the "last ditch" models made just before the close of the war--) Matter of fact, they did a pressure test of the strengths of various WW II bolt action rifles, some years ago, and came up with a surprising conclusion! They tested the .303 British SMLE, the German Kar 98 Mauser, the U.S. Springfield 'O3-A3, and the Jap 7.7 Arisaka, the .303 SMLE blew up first, the Mauser blew up second, the Springfield blew up third, and the Jap Arisaka outlasted them all! They may be crude, by our standards, but strength-wise, they have no peer!
As to which American round to compare it to, I would say it's close to our .308/7.62 NATO, or 30-40 Krag, the fastest 7.7 Jap round loaded with a 150 Grain SP is rated at 2700 FPS at muzzle velocity, with the 174 Gr. RN, your fastest speed in FPS is 2400, at muzzle. With a lighter bullet you could get faster speeds, and it uses the same diameter bullet as the British .303 SMLE, so you could work up a careful load, I'm sure-- (The performance of the 7.7 Jap is most closely akin to the British .303, in performance--)
Just as an aside, I was stationed in Germany with the 3rd Armored Cav. Regt., HQ&HQ, back in 1961 and 1962, in Baumholder, don't know if you've been there, (I HOPE not LOL! In the little town of 5000 people, there were 65 bars!!!)
Hope I've been of some help!
Cheers,
Fred (Honcho)