Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: 1pLUs44 on March 18, 2010, 12:08:31 AM
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We just got 3 new rifles from my sister (shes selling her house, and said she didn't want them.) and one is a '41 Lithgow Lee Enfield, with a bolt that takes less to use than my 1917 Lee Enfield. Did they make a different kind of bolt and stock on the later Mk III models?
We also got a sportarized Mauser, no biggie, but we did get one thing very peculiar. We got what I believe is an Arisaka type 38 rifle. It's in EXCELLENT condition (emphasis on excellent, it looks like it was made yesterday.) and it has something written on it (in Japanese) and what I believe to be I guess a seal that was taken off (so, it could have been made in WWII?) Would this gun be safe to shoot? Or not?
I'll post some pictures of the Japanese Arisaka in a bit, but could anyone tell me more about it? Anything I should look for to see if it's authentic, or anything to watch out for (certain serial number...etc) to see if it's not safe to shoot.
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I would be interested in buying the Enfield if the price is right... But I'd rather let you research it and set an "offer",... Comtact me via PMs if you would like to talk turkey... :salute
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I would have a qualified gunsmith look at the Ariska before shooting it. Japanese weapons of WW2 era are generally poorly made specially towards the end of the war.
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We just got 3 new rifles from my sister (shes selling her house, and said she didn't want them.) and one is a '41 Lithgow Lee Enfield, with a bolt that takes less to use than my 1917 Lee Enfield. Did they make a different kind of bolt and stock on the later Mk III models?
We also got a sportarized Mauser, no biggie, but we did get one thing very peculiar. We got what I believe is an Arisaka type 38 rifle. It's in EXCELLENT condition (emphasis on excellent, it looks like it was made yesterday.) and it has something written on it (in Japanese) and what I believe to be I guess a seal that was taken off (so, it could have been made in WWII?) Would this gun be safe to shoot? Or not?
I'll post some pictures of the Japanese Arisaka in a bit, but could anyone tell me more about it? Anything I should look for to see if it's authentic, or anything to watch out for (certain serial number...etc) to see if it's not safe to shoot.
I have an Arisaka Type 38 too! My Grandpa gave it to me, and it too has something in Japanese written on it. My Grandpa said it says "Death to Americans" (Was used in WWII), but I'm not sure if he was telling one of his lies again (like how he got it off a Japanese soldier after a bayonet charge. My grandpa was in the Navy and the war ended before his ship got into combat)
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I have an Arisaka Type 38 too! My Grandpa gave it to me, and it too has something in Japanese written on it. My Grandpa said it says "Death to Americans" (Was used in WWII), but I'm not sure if he was telling one of his lies again (like how he got it off a Japanese soldier after a bayonet charge. My grandpa was in the Navy and the war ended before his ship got into combat)
Ah, I see. Well, we got it from my sister's dad (who passed away about a year ago, which is how we acquired these guns) and he was a gunsmith. Any clue as to how well it shoots?
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Ah, I see. Well, we got it from my sister's dad (who passed away about a year ago, which is how we acquired these guns) and he was a gunsmith. Any clue as to how well it shoots?
You really should have it checked out by a gunsmith before you even try to put a round in the chamber.
First, if it is original it isn't made as well as the WWII European weapons...and finding appropriate ammo for it is difficult
Second, it may be a collectible and the fewer times it is fired the more value it will hold.
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Plus it would really suck to have it blow up in your face. :confused:
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Ah, I see. Well, we got it from my sister's dad (who passed away about a year ago, which is how we acquired these guns) and he was a gunsmith. Any clue as to how well it shoots?
Do it for precautionary measures. No offense to your sister's pop. Especially that Ariska.
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Have Chumly shoot it, that dude shoots every gun
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We got what I believe is an Arisaka type 38 rifle. It's in EXCELLENT condition (emphasis on excellent, it looks like it was made yesterday.) and it has something written on it (in Japanese) and what I believe to be I guess a seal that was taken off (so, it could have been made in WWII?) Would this gun be safe to shoot? Or not?
If it is authentic then the seal you mentioned looked like this: (http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/mum.gif)
The chrysanthemum was either stamped on the receiver or the rifle themselves to indicate the rifle belonged to the Emporer since the chrysanthemum was the symbol for the Emporer. Rifles that were surrendered often had the chrysanthemum ground off by the Japanese soldier as a face saving gesture before surrendering. The type was often stamped on the receiver using the Japanese character (http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/type.gif) (shiki = Type) followed by Japanese numerals.
There were also a small number of Type 38 rifles that had two concentric circles (http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/circles.gif) instead of a chrysanthemum and in some cases, normal Type 38 rifles had the chrysanthemum removed and replaced with the concentric circles. Not sure what the circles represented but historians believe they were issued to special units like the Kempei Tai (secret police), military police, prison guards, and embassy guards.
There were also markings from the arsenal that either produced the rifle or supervised the subcontractor. You'll see these markings on the left side of the receiver at the end of the serial numbers. One symbol means the rifle came from the arsenal that produced it, two symbols meant that the rifle came from a subcontractor. In this case, the first symbol identifies the arsenal and the second symbol identifies the subcontractor.
(http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/manufacturers/koishikawa.gif) Koishikawa Arsenal (until 1935)
(http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/manufacturers/kokura.gif) Kokura Arsenal (after 1935 when name changed)
(http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/manufacturers/nagoya.gif) Nagoya Arsenal
(http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/manufacturers/jinsen.gif) Jinsen Arsenal
(http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/manufacturers/mukden.gif) Mukden Arsenal
(http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/manufacturers/toyo_kogyo.gif) Toyo Kogyo
(http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/manufacturers/tokyo_juki_kogyo.gif) Tokyo Juki Kogyo
(http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/manufacturers/tokyo_juki_kogyo_1.gif) Tokyo Juki Kogyo
(http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/manufacturers/howa_jyuko.gif) Howa Jyuko
(http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/manufacturers/izawa_jyuko.gif) Izawa Jyuko
Rifles that were removed from military service and given to other countries or to schools would have the chrysanthemum overstamped with the symbol for the Koishikawa or Kokura Arsenal in addition to having this symbol (http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/pictures/japanese/school.gif) on top of the receiver between the chrysanthemum and the type designation characters.
I have an Arisaka Type 38 too! My Grandpa gave it to me, and it too has something in Japanese written on it. My Grandpa said it says "Death to Americans" (Was used in WWII), but I'm not sure if he was telling one of his lies again (like how he got it off a Japanese soldier after a bayonet charge. My grandpa was in the Navy and the war ended before his ship got into combat)
Most likely your granddad was having some fun with you. Most likely Japanese symbols he saw were just the symbols used to denote Type and model along with the arsenal that manufactured it. If you still have it and check for the chrysanthemum symbol to see if it still has it on the rifle. If it does, then that's more than likely a captured rifle as opposed to one surrendered by the Japanese soldier.
Source (http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/japanese_markings.html)
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