New Type 99

[Dalebert]

Purchased Type 99 recently.

Principal attraction of this particular gun is its completeness and relatively good condition.

As far as I can tell it's a series 1 Nagoya. So early production Type 99. Is that a correct assessment based on markings.

Metal has quite a bit of lite surface rust as though it spent a fair amount of time in the elements.

Complete with AA sites, monopod, cleaning rod, dustcover, sling and unground mum & bayonet. All matching except bolt.

Most screws are staked. Was this typical? Many screws I'm unable to remove. I think this is more a function of rust than staking. Any tricks on removing stubborn screws beyond penetrating oil?

The sling is rubberized canvas and stiff as a board except one spot that is thin and flexible. Is it possible to restore flexibility. Would anyone consider cutting off or is that sacrilege?

Information

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[WarPig1976]

Most screws are staked.

If they are don't take that rifle apart!!! Mine is staked so have never seen under the wood but I suspect I looks like every other T99 out there. They are only staked once.

Would anyone consider cutting off or is that sacrilege?

Don't do that Dale,,don't do that. That's an original sling. Come to think of it, put the rifle down Dale and go think things over a little longer.

[Aragorn243]

Original, unmolested Type 99's are extremely rare so what you have is almost like a unicorn. You even have the frog for the bayonet. The bolt might be a slight problem, I'm thinking all 99's had serial numbers on them not assembly numbers but I could be wrong. Only thing I might consider doing is very, very carefully, getting the light rust off of it.

[Dalebert]

Fear not, I will not molest it. The rust was a thing in the past. Gun has a fairly even dark patina where there was rust or else it is the original blue.

Arisaka day at the range. Shot it today with some loads made from 06 brass. Worked fine. Gun is right on at 50 yards with the sight standing up.

Without correction, I see two pasters at 50 yards, so I think the gun most likely shoots better than my target indicates. I'll have my son in law shoot it to see how well it does. Also not sure how great my handloads are (40 grains of H4895 with 180 .311 Speer soft point).

Didn't mention in original post, but as is fairly common, the bore is bright and sharp.

Paid $500 for this Type 99, so figuring that given completeness and bayonet, it may not be a great price, but is at least a decent one.

The bolt safety nob has the same 3 digit number as the bolt body, so I'm thinking there was a bolt swap as some point. It seems odd to me for some reason that the dust cover matches the receiver, but not bolt itself. Oh well. Is what it is.

[Aragorn243]

The bayonet with the frog is probably worth $150 to start all by itself. The sling is probably worth over $100 all by itself. The mum adds $100 to it. The matching dust cover adds $100, the monopod adds $100. You did just fine. If you wanted to improve it further, keep your eyes open for a matching bolt. Not as hard as it might sound since you only need three numbers. Not saying it will be easy but it's doable. While I'm not a huge fan of safe queens, I suspect if I had this one, I wouldn't be taking it to the range, mainly due to the sling.

[Dalebert]

I shot the rifle again yesterday. Used a larger paster so I could see it better. That's four shots at 50 yards. I used stretch wrap around a couple of places on the stock to stabilize the sling so I don't damage it.

Really happy with the performance of the gun, my reload and having figured out a way to minimize the chance of damaging the sling the few times I'll shoot it.

Now I just need to find a matching patina #561 bolt body and safety knob and I'm set. I found #562 in the little looking I've done.

[WarPig1976]

She's a shooter.

[Marines55]

value estimates are way off. the bayonet and frog aren't worth that much for several reasons. first, its the most common maker (Toyota Automatic Loom Works) and in the most common variation too. The leather keeper on the frog was replaced and that kills the value of it all together. at most, given the condition and maker id be surprised if its worth more than $100. The sling is a typical rubber coated canvas type and doesnt add a ton of value, but it should stay with the rifle! A matching number dust cover is much harder to find than a full mum and it would be extremely hard to place a value on either one of those items. On the other hand, a matching number bolt will be near impossible to find because while the numbers are easier to find, the correct proof marks make your chances near impossible. i have seen it done only once and on a type 2 paratrooper. all of that being said, its still a mismatched rifle though, very odd it has a matching dustcover with a mismatched bolt. its in rough condition but it is a survivor. id say you have a $475 to $500 rig to the right person who wants a place holder until a better one comes along.

[burb1989]

I think the values are pretty close IMO. True the Toyoda Loom Works bayonet is fairly common but it isn't as common as say a Kokura marked bayonet which from what I've seen is far more easy to come by. Also the original sling does have some value by itself since original slings can go for $100 and up depending on the condition. Shame about the mismatched bolt but finding one isn't entirely impossible, just very very difficult. I've only matched two rifles to their bolts so far, one on a type 99 I recently traded off since I got a more complete example and another on a type 38 carbine I got from a Navy vet's estate. Given everything I've seen in the pictures $500 would be tops like everyone else has said though it looks like a great shooter.