Rechambering Jap 38 Carbine?

[Patrick Chadwick]

Yes, at least I can tell you what it OUGHT to be according to the markings. That is, of course, not guarantee that it has not been altered SINCE it was marked!!!

Try me! Post a picture. or describe (pics are usuall better) as many of the markings as you can find. Anf then I will consult my 440-page reference work (I didn't make this stuff up myself).

Patrick

PS: of course, the trouble with the Gew88 Commission Rifle was that it was NOT designed by Mauser! An old quip about a camel being a racehorse designed by a committee comes to mind, although that is unfair to camels).

[gew8805]

The Gew88? Don't worry about them, the VAST majority have a .321 diameter bore as originally manufactured. The legendary .318 bullet is only necessary on the Czech barreled rifles out of South America, as a matter of fact, some of those are .316. The problem lies with the Czech replacement barrels used by Ecuador, not with the German barrels. If there is a question about the bore in anyone's 88, check the firing proof on the barrel, if German you are fine with a .321 bullet or a .323 with driving band as in the Geman "S" bullet. If the firing proof on the barrel is the Czech Lion, be sure to slug the barrel and load an appropriate bullet.

[Al Diehl]

It's your gun, do what you want with it. How's that for American freedom?

I re-chambered one years ago for a 6.5x257 Roberts with an Ackley improved case. Wow! After I got bored with that I re-barreled the same gun into a .22-250. I quit shooting my 788 Remington .22-250.

Currently I have a Type 38 re-barreled with a Shilen blank chambered in a standard .257 Roberts.

I think that the next one I would do if using the stock 6.5 barrel would be a
.260 Remington. Simply re-chamber and go. Then you could buy ammo at almost any place that sells ammo.

It would be nice if you marked it so somewhere down the road someone will know what the proper ammo is.

Be well, my brothers.
Al

p.s. Type 38 6.5mm barrels love 140 grain bullets.

[jmoore]

In the case of previously modified rifles, sure! I have a type 38 action with a 220 Swift Winchester model 70 barrel stuck in it. Don't know how or when it was done, but the barrel date is from the 1940's. Bishop stock. Turned down low profile bolt handle (the receiver was cut down some at the bolt cutout for extra clearance, but there's plenty of "safety lug" left).

It had no scope when it was given to me, so I put a Griffin and Howe setup on it to preserve the intact mum! Shoots as well as any other 220 Swift I've run across, and its a "Winchester" to boot.

[edlmann]

As a warning to type 38 owners, quite a few were bubba'ed into sort of 257 Roberts . . . None of which shoot worth a ****!

This specific conversion is one of the few that makes sense, sort of, in a late '40s context.

Most shooters wouldn't have known that the .257 Roberts is made from the 7x57. By running a .257 Roberts reamer with a 6.5 pilot into a Type 38, they recreated the 6.5x57, a fine hunting cartridge.

[jmoore]

The 6.5x57 IS nice, but that's NOT what most folk tried to shoot out of them. Most just had a regular old 257 Roberts reamer run in, and that's it.
Never mind that the pilot is too small, they were by and large quicky hack jobs, often left stock appearing on the outside, or crudely "sporterized".

Those that were done well ARE very nice, but are unfortunately quite uncommon. Most are hammered dog ^%$.

[riceone]

Backin the 60's I sporterized a T38 carbine using a Bishop Stock, had a gunsmith install a new low scope bolt handle, drill and tap the receiver and blue it. I put a Weaver 4x steel scope on it and it was or I should say is a nice sporter. The problem with it was the oversize chamber that swelled the base of the cartridge so bad that reloading it was a porblem. I ordered a 6.5x57 chambering reamer and fitted the 6.5x57 cartridge with correct headspace to the rifle. This conversion needs no modification to the reed rails or ramp and will hold 5 cartridges in the magazine. As someone said this is an old European hunting cartridge that is adequate for most anything we have in the south. riceone.

[huffmanite]

This thread is interesting to me since a few months ago I acquired a type 38 Arisaka sporter that was rechambered to 257Roberts. Bought the rifle over the internet and seller neglected to mention the barrel was still 6.5 Japanese, which I quickly realized soon after receiving the rifle. Nicely done sporter in a Bishop stock from probably the late 50s or early 60s and was fascinated by the 6.5X257R cartridge so I decided to keep it. I reload my own ammo and have 257R, 7mm mauser and 6.5 Swede dies, so making the ammo for it was no problem. You can use either 7mm mauser or 257R brass, since the 257R is nothing more than a 7X57 mauser necked down to 25 cal. I use my 6.5 Swede die to neck size my 257 or 7mm mauser brass.

I've enjoyed shooting the rifle at my local range, but the condition of the bore on the rifle leaves something to be desired and as for accuracy of my rifle, well, I have other surplus rifles with similliar bores that seem to shoot better. At 100 yards, my 6.5X257R arisaka may shoot a 1.5 to 2" group on a good day. I'm still experimenting with various loads/powders and etc. to see if I can improve the rifle's accuracy.

[jmoore]

That accuracy's not too bad, considering! So you have a "6.5 Roberts", sort of, I guess.