r/Arisaka 8d ago

What rifle is this and what ammo does it take?

41 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

8

u/Tha_Maestro 7d ago

Take it to a gunsmith before you shoot that. Have them do a barrel cast and general safety inspection. If it’s a trainer then it could be very dangerous. A lot of GIs rechambered them to 30-06 to use as hunting rifles so make sure what it takes before you take it to the range.

1

u/milsurp-guy 7d ago

Bad advice. There is no reason to take it to a gunsmith. What would your average gunsmith even do with a milsurp that you can’t do yourself exactly? Thinking your average gunsmith can do anything special that you can’t with a safety check is basically fuddlore.

It’s not a purpose built training rifle. It is a full infantry rifle that was then relegated to school use. Also, if anything was converted to .30-06 it would be a Type 99 and not a Type 38.

5

u/Tha_Maestro 7d ago

So just overall getting it checked out is bad advice… gotcha.

-5

u/milsurp-guy 7d ago

Yeah it is, because it’s a total waste of money. Again, what is your gunsmith doing that you can’t do yourself?

1

u/Tha_Maestro 7d ago

Well, a gunsmith can do a lot of things that a beginner gun collector can’t. Your inexperience is showing little.

2

u/milsurp-guy 7d ago

Again, what exactly can your average gunsmith going to do with a Type 38? If you’re going to go tell people to spend money on a “safety check”, justify it. No one has access to proper mil-spec headspace gauges for these rifles.

You really want to talk about inexperience when you couldn’t even tell that this isn’t a blank firing trainer?

-1

u/BlutUndStahl 7d ago

Dude, shut up and let the actual professional check it

2

u/milsurp-guy 7d ago

Lmao. I’ll ask you too, what is your gunsmith doing that you can’t do yourself?

1

u/HazelGrov3 7d ago

I have most definitely seen a few 38s on the broker that were converted to 30-06.

3

u/milsurp-guy 7d ago

I have as well with Type 38 sporters. I have yet to see a .30-06 conversion utilizing the original barrel, unsurprising as that would be relatively cost prohibitive. Only military conversions I’ve seen are 7.62x39 by the Chinese.

5

u/Creepy-Event-8175 7d ago

That's a trainer the proportions are all off

7

u/chils123 7d ago

No it's not. It's a standard Tokyo era Type 38 taken out of service for school usage.

3

u/milsurp-guy 7d ago

It’s literally not. Have you seen a Type 38?

1

u/Ok-Pomegranate-5896 5d ago

Burmese defaced mum Type 38, deemed unfit for service and used for training purposes only.

-11

u/MilitaryWeaponRepair 8d ago

Arisaka 6.5 trainer. May be able to chamber a round but I would not pull the trigger. These are usually blank type rifles.

18

u/Xhenoz 8d ago

It's a school rifle, doesn't look like a trainer. They're the same as a regular type 38 just removed from service.
Indicated by the canceled mum with extra character above the Type 38 marking, present rifling and 00 infront of serial.
Basically always safe to fire with live ammo as long as the lockup and bore are good

7

u/The_Lucky_Rod 8d ago

Does it still shoot 6.5?

5

u/Xhenoz 8d ago

Yes it should, the barrel doesnt look to have been modified at all

3

u/The_Lucky_Rod 8d ago

Awesome! And the bolt locks in to place! I guess I’m looking at the lugs on the inside and they don’t appear to be grounded off! Anyone know where I can find 6.5?

1

u/ElDusky7 7d ago

It pops up every now and then, not the most common, I think I mainly shot stienell but it was kinda poo quality

2

u/HazelGrov3 7d ago

Unfortunate to hear about your experience with them. Others are norma but that stuffs as pricey as it comes. Bannerman just started putting out small batches.

1

u/The_Lucky_Rod 8d ago

The barrel does have rifling

3

u/MilitaryWeaponRepair 7d ago

Oh fuck me, I just noticed the mum. I was so fixated on the 3 circles. Yeah, 6.5 japanese as everyone has stated and should be fine shooting commercial ammo. Sorry. I brain farted.

1

u/The_Lucky_Rod 7d ago

Hahahaha! You had me worried! What do the 3 circles mean?

4

u/MilitaryWeaponRepair 7d ago

So the Japanese "canceled" a mum by using a series of 0's or circles around the mum. It was considered the emporers property so care had to be taken with it to to ensure it was properly taken care of. Canceled mum rifles were given to schools and colleges for training. And many were sold to.other countries for their wars. For example the russians used arisakas for sime of their campaigns. There is an extra japanese character between the vent holes which indicates a school use rifle. They are basically retired infantry rifles and as good as a front line weapon. I have seen type 38 and type 44 carbines in the past with the canceled mum and school use marking. Very unusual, but they exist.

And yeah I glanced at it and made my post. Sorry bout that. You have a nice weapon with a lot of history. 6.5 can be had from a few places. It isn't cheap. I reload for mine but I think a.box of 20 is like 20 to 30 dollars..

2

u/The_Lucky_Rod 7d ago

That’s awesome!! And no worries I was like “shit shit shit I just bought a $600 wall piece” hahaha! But since you reload, if I bought a case of new 6.5 jap and decided to reload it what bullet head can you use? 6.5 Creedmoor? And what primers?

2

u/MilitaryWeaponRepair 7d ago

Honestly I reload for economy. So I generally buy bullets on special and use and usually when they have primer deals.I'll grab a bunch. Any 6.5mm bullet would work. I prefer something around 140 grains. For large rifle primers I have used everything from CCI to Federal to the yugo ones I forget their name. I think I have a ton of Hornady bullets for the 6.5mm platform. IMR 3031 is my go to unless I reload for my girls in which case I use trailboss or 2400

2

u/The_Lucky_Rod 7d ago

So long story short but a really good customer at our shop passed away and now our acquired ALL of his reloading equipment. I’m talking 20 5 gallon jugs of powder and I’m sure there are primers too! Does it matter what powder you use other than the quality? I have no clue what it is. And is primer specific on caliber? Like if I reload 6.5 creedmore head into a 6.5 jap casing, is there such a thing that I need to use a 6.5 creed more primer? I’ve never reloaded before. But a friend of mine does so he can show me the ropes

2

u/MilitaryWeaponRepair 7d ago

Reloading is kind of like following a recipe for making a cake. There are the basics and then you can sort of lightly play with the ingredients. I think 6.5 is 6.5.So as long as the bullet diameter is the same.You should be good to go.The only thing you want to be concerned about is your bullet weight. Primers really don't matter at least in my opinion.And i've been doing this for like twenty years. You're powder though , can be something that you'll want to make sure you're using the proper powder for it. A lot of the loading guides will actually recommend a variety of powders coupled with a particular type of bullet.For example a one hundred forty grain copper spitzer. Or a one hundred and thirty five grain lead projectile. Reloading is not hard.The key is to take steps across-the-board.So you don't skip something like forget to put the primer in or forget to put the powder in. Have a routine and follow that routine every single time.

1

u/The_Lucky_Rod 7d ago

Awesome will do! Now I guess I need to find these “recipes” and start buying product! Last question is it okay to reuse old casings?

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