World War II Rifle questions

[Guest Soldier1031]

I own an old Japanese rifle that my grandfather brought back from overseas during the war. I am getting it looked at so i can shoot it, however, i dont know what caliber it is and the most i can find about it is that its a Tanaka Arisaka type 99 or 38. Everything i found is on airsoft look alikes so if anyone knows where i can find the specs on this rifle i would appreciate it.

Thanks everyone and be safe.

[Guest Verbal Kint]

Plenty of info / history at the following link...

http://www.wwiiguns.com/display_articles.php?id=14

Background

The rather traditional looking Arisaka Type 99 was in-fact relative late-comer having been first issued in the eve of second world war, 1939. For it was indeed more advanced than its more famous counterparts such as the Mauser Kar 98k and Springfield M1903. Under its traditional exterior it hid interesting designs such as chromed bore that would keep it clean even in extremely humid conditions that were encountered in Asian battlefields.

Type 99 was used by IJA both in Philippines and in Iwo Jima The Arisaka Type 38 6.5mm bolt-action rifle had been the primary small arm of Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) units during the campaigns in China and Manchuria in late 1930s. However it had been chambered to rather underpowered 6.5x50mm cartridge that dated back to Meiji period (1868-1912). The main benefit of 6.5mm cartridge was its limited recoil that suited small statured Japanese soldiers well and in comparison to more powerful cartridges the Japanese 6.5mm cartridge had less visible muzzle flash. For further concealment of firer special reduced charge cartridge was also manufactured for Type 96 light machine gun and Type 97 sniper rifle.

However IJA combat experiences in China lead to change in Japanese thinking concerning the Type 38 rifle adequacy and subsequently development of Type 99 rifle was started with first models being issued in 1939. The 6.5x50mm cartridge was seen as underpowered and therefore more powerful 7.7x58mm cartridge was adopted for the Type 99 rifle. The 7.7mm cartridge for Type 99 did indeed produce more power than the British .303 cartridge and was equal to Springfield .30-06 ammunition (7.62x63mm). (Arisaka rifle development work was led by Colonel Nariaka Arisaka, superintendent of the Tokyo Arsenal. The lead designer was Captain Kijiro Nambu, who also designed the famous Nambu automatic pistol.)

Design features

Other development features of Type 99 rifle were shortened length of 1,120mm in comparison to Type 38’s 1,280mm. Type 99 length was equal to German Mauser Kar 98k and thus made the Type 99 much more handy than the Type 38. However because of the shortened length and powerful cartridge the recoil of Type 99 became inconvenient for average Japanese soldier. Muzzle blast was also noticeably more visible than in Type 38 so some Japanese soldiers still preferred Type 38 over the Type 99. The other two distinctive new features in Type 99 were the monobipod (not included in all models) and anti-aircraft sight.

Summary

The Arisaka rifles are interesting models to collect and their history indicates that they were quite possibly one of the better infantry weapons of WWII. The Tanaka Arisaka Type 99 rifle does give excellent and practical look into Imperial Japanese Army infantry weaponry, which is certainly eye-opener for the common WWII enthusiast.

Real Arisaka Type 99 rifle statistics

Barrel length: 31.4 in

Overall length: 50 in

Weight: 9.1 lbs

Action: Bolt-action

Caliber: 7.7x58mm Arisaka

Magazine capacity: 5 rds

Other variants of Arisaka Type 99 that we carry:

Arisaka Type 99 non-firing model gun

Arisaka Type 02 paratroop rifle non-firing model gun

Hope that helps.

Edited October 14, 2008 by Verbal Kint

[Guest Abominable_Hillbilly]

I own an old Japanese rifle that my grandfather brought back from overseas during the war. I am getting it looked at so i can shoot it, however, i dont know what caliber it is and the most i can find about it is that its a Tanaka Arisaka type 99 or 38. Everything i found is on airsoft look alikes so if anyone knows where i can find the specs on this rifle i would appreciate it.

Thanks everyone and be safe.

Could be a "6.5 Jap". 6.5x50mm. Could be 7.7x58mm. Take a look over here:

http://www.surplusrifle.com/arisaka/specifications.asp

[Daniel]

post pics.

[GLOCKMEISTER]

yea, dude without seeing it ... its going to be really hard to tell what it really is.

[Guest 07vwgti]

I am kinda in the same boat my grandfather broght back the Jap Arisaka not sure which version it is and the 8mm nambu and he also broght back the katana sword off of a soldier

[Guest Spuds]

Here is a superb site to assist you in determining what type of rifle you have, dealing exclusively with Japanese rifles:

http://www.castle-thunder.com/faq.htm

[Guest 07vwgti]

cool thanks for the link