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The age-old question of what did I just buy? applies here. I'm most interested in narrowing down a date of manufacture, and IDing the character on the underside of the stock. [ATTACH][ATTACH][ATTACH][ATTACH][ATTACH][ATTACH]Attachment 116887[/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]
SN: 136713
Hopefuly jangle or bobq will be along to help you. They were able to help me identify my Type 38 and approximate year of manufacture. Good looking rifle. Do the manufacturer numbers all match up?
---------- Post added at 01:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:32 PM ----------
Steyr Man 146 also shared these sites to help out with Type 38 information - http://www.castle-thunder.com/model.htm https://oldmilitarymarkings.com/japanese_markings.html
You have a Type 38 (I assume it’s a rifle, not a carbine since I can’t see the barrel) made by the Koishikawa Arsenal (Tokyo). They cranked out a little more than 2 million of these rifles so based on your serial number this one is fairly early. The character on the underside of the stock is an inspector/acceptance stamp.
Early rifles like yours should have an assembly number assigned under the wood line and most little parts. I’m not 100% sure if the bolt and dust cover matches the assembly number or the rifle serial number. If you tear the gun down and all the numbers either match themselves or the rifle serial number… You should be good when it comes to matching numbers. [emoji1303]
J-Rod is correct that the kanji on the stock is an inspector stamp... However according to my reference material, that is a Nagoya inspector stamp, whereas the barreled receiver is Tokyo or Kokura. That is odd.
I am expecting the assembly number on the stock & handguard not to match the other assembly numbers.
The number on the rear of the dust cover should match the serial number. The serial number should also be on the safety, the bolt, and the magazine floorplate.
The assembly number that J-rod spoke of should be on the bottom of the receiver, the upper tang, lower tang, trigger, trigger guard, on the extractor, and on the bolt release latch. The assembly number should also be stamped in the barrel channel of the stock and of the hand guard.
Finding a rifle that everything matches as it is supposed to is very rare! So do not be too upset when something is not quite right.
Looks like you have a nice rifle there from the photos.
Thanks guys!!!!! Looks like a lot of the parts aren't serialized so I'm guessing they're faked / made much later than initial manufacture date. Doesn't appear to be a number on the triggerguard / magazine floorplate. The bolt matches the receiver but that's about it.
I believe there are 15 numbered parts on a Type 38 and you have to hunt for them
The number on the floor plate is in the inside under the spring. Another is on the stem of the safety knob and another on the firing pin. I can dig up the rest later on.
In order to see the number on the trigger, trigger guard, and the tangs, you will need to carefully remove them. Any time you are removing parts by removing screws, I would recommend using a properly sized screwdriver with parallel sides. not the normal tapered ones that are sold for household or mechanic use.
Once you have the parts removed you should be able to see the numbers rather easily.
These are pics of my Type 38.
The magazine floorplate should have the last 3-digits of the serial number: in my case, 6 3 1
Attachment 117025
The trigger guard: assembly number - 6 8 3
Attachment 117026
The lower tang : the upper tang is in a similar location assembly number
Attachment 117027
You guys are awesome. Anyone know why they didn't make them more visible from the exterior of the gun? I feel like for the trigger guard and mag floorplate they could've put them on the outside like a k31 but I'm super excited to get in there and take a look at the numbers.
I, for one, would love to see a photo of the whole package.
There are a couple of things that are not making sense (Like the "S" proof mark and the serial number when the change was recorded to take place ) when I am making the assumption that this is a 'rifle'.
You very well may have gotten yourself a carbine or cavalry model.
Those have a whole different set of production numbers...