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Type 38 in 7.62x39mm
Hello. I have had one of these converted rifles for a little over a year or so now and I am thinking about selling it(doesn't really fit my collection and there is something I want more :D ).
So I would like to know about these rifles before I toss it, just in case there is something special about them-
I have seen the word Chinese (which I was told when I purchased it) and Vietnamese conversions. Additionally, it looks like there is both a "Carbine" and long rifle version. Mine is a carbine configuration though it started life as a long rifle based on the sights. The conversion was pretty poor, as is expected of peasantry work. Many of the rifle's parts have been restamped with a crude "69" which is apparently the new serial number? There is also a heavily faded cartouche in the stock that looks of Chinese origin.
An interesting note- if one looks down the barrel, the actual bore seems to have one spiral loop in it; as in the rifling tool must have skipped or chattered when it was cutting the barrel for the conversion. Strange but the gun seems to shoot just fine- the Arisaka action IS one of the strongest actions out there; I only wonder about the barrel- accuracy is pretty poor with that chatter but I did not see any bulged primers or horribly mangled cases after firing, so it seems safe.
That being said, I have only put about 20 rounds through it and that was in one sitting....
So the big thing here is what is it? My guess is that it might have been for use with training? Or, knowing something of the thing encountered in combat in Vietnam, could it have been a service rifle?
Thanks for all your help.
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Its been my understanding that they were used by what ever country converted them as battle rifles. I have three or four and each one is a bit different. One has a stock and bayonet lug patterned after the German Mauser stock. Rest are just reworked Japanese stocks.
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Chinese police guns. Badly done. They have a pressed fit sleeve for the chanber and it will eventually back out. Do not fire it very much. I have only seen the carbines. Not common at all.
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There is a good article in the recent Surplus Firearms magazine that guns and ammo puts out. It is an article about arisakas in general but there is a good portion dedicated to the discussion of the chinese conversions that were originally supposed to be funded by the US and given to the south koreans during the korean war. The rifles were also remanufactured by other nations as well and ended up in north korean and NVA forces in vietnam. Maybe there website will have this article you could look at.
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As m4a3sherman started a PM after he saw my Bubba'ed 7,63x39 carbine:
"Bahahaha! I am sorry, but the picture made me smile. It reminds me of some of the guns you see on Squidbillies (if you have ever seen the show) and bares a striking resemblance to some of the things that have come into my shop and made me laugh. I think everyone should have that one rifle like that to make our inner hillbilly come out!...."
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff005-1.jpg
Here's why I Bubba'd it:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff073-1.jpg
The empty case of the only round I fired out of the "original" barrel!
I got his example after a few trials and much hand wringing as a sort of punishment for my evils done on the one given to me by a complete stranger many years ago.
Two barrels later, my old Bubba is still a wretched little "rifle". But it was amusing to note that both the "new" and "old" carbine are hideously inaccurate and balky in function! Good handling characteristics are about their only positive attributes. No camera today at the range, but the one hundred yard targets were pretty safe. M4a3sherman's rifle shot about 3 feet to the left even when the wiggle-y front sight was pushed to the left every shot. Neither would stay on a two foot square target! But the bullets were going pointy end first- no signs of tumbling. At fifty yards they would stay on "a" piece of paper, just not necessarily the "correct" piece! (Due to the left shooting of the one.)
Photos to follow- when the camera is found!
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Some more photos:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff005-2.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff007-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff009-3.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff010-3.jpg
Note the "build number" on the tang of my old rifle isn't but 55 off of m4a3sherman 's. But the handguard lengths and barrel band placements are quite different.
Contrary to the belief that the chambers were sleeved and the japanese barrels were then merely bored out and rerifled, both of these examples retain only the Arisaka barrel stub. The stub was bored out and a new or recycled barrel was press fit into place, then cross pinned- much like an AK:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff006-1.jpg
AK barrel above for example.
When I first Bubba'd the "Asian Bubba Rifle" I tried a spare (at the time...) M16 barrel, but that was just not working out well:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...uff00611-1.jpg
M16 barrel remnant above.
, so eventually an SMLE barrel was sacrificed. Shortened in the rear just enough that the old .303 chamber now serves as a 7,62x39 chamber with a too long neck area. Fired brass looks fine!
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don't know a hole lot about these but what i do know is that after ww2 china had many captured t99. They initially re chambered them for 8mm mauser. Then after the ak-47 began to gain speed they were starting to equip their army with the ak's so they coverted them to 7.62x39 so they didn't need to make as many different calibers and for ease of resupply
