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I've recently gotten a Type 38 rifle missing its bolt. I was wondering what type of bolt and safety would be correct for a Tokyo/Koishikawa Type 38 with serial number in the 1.5 million range. Also, some of the bolt handles I've seen are much darker than the bolt body (image of one such bolt attached). Did some Type 38s have blued handles, or is this just a patina from age/use?
Thanks
Answer may be Honeycutt's book on Military Rifles of Japan. The bolt would be unblued and with a large protruding safety knob.
I've heard there are two types of Type 38 bolts so they may not be interchangable. The darker handle may simply be because of being exposed to the elements while the interior of the bolt was protected by grease.
Ordling, I agree with Aragorn regarding the dark handle being patina. I have not seen any that were blued. I think all the type 38 bolt bodies are all the same. However I have seen two variations on the safety knobs, One has straight knurling on the sides and some late ones were smooth on the sides like a T99. Beware: A T99 bolt (without the extractor or with a ground down extractor) will fit into a T38 receiver but the locking lugs will not be in contact with the receiver abutment. (not good). The T38 bolt will not close in the T99 receiver because the lugs are too long.
This is what the bolt lugs measure (fore to aft) on a couple of my bolts:
Type 99 =.400
Type 38 =.503
Salt Flat
I just looked through McCollum's and nothing about the bolt bodies being different. There are three types of safety knobs however but none would affect the function of the bolt in the rifle.
As for finish, they were either all bright finish early or blued late. All or nothing as far as the bolts go So a bright bolt with a dark handle is just patina. Dark bolt and blued bolt is a blued bolt with a darker patina.
Thanks for the information. I had seen someone ask the bolt handle color question on another website, and no one there was able to provide a definite answer.