Type 30 Arisaka rifle

I added a new one to the collection and am trying to learn about the Type 30's now. I've done some researching and I think I have a feel, but I know there's a wealth of knowledge in here that might be able to give me even more info.

What I'm seeing so far with this one is that it was taken out of service with the overstamp of hte mum. It does have a number on the butt stock which I would figure to be a rack number, but would I'm not sure if it'd be for a school or maybe even one that was sent to Russia in WWI? A few inches behind the number there's a couple of tacks with a piece of what appears to be a thicker paper still partially attached.

It also looks to have the original style cleaning rod with the brass tip, as well as the original style rear sight that was upgraded for the longer distances with the notch on top.

Overall I'm fairly happy with it. This was a fluke thing that I won it on an auction. It has a line of pitting just above the wood on the stock and was pretty grimed up when I got it. A good cleaning has it looking a lot better, though. The majority of the assembly numbers match, with only a couple of parts that don't. One is even stamped with two different numbers.

I've also found that the spring for the slider on the rear sight is MIA and the spring for the magazine cover release is broken. If anyone has any ideas where to source or how to replace even with something not original, it'd be greatly appreciated.

Very cool rifle! I don't have a ton of knowledge on these but I would lean towards school myself simply because the ones I have seen that made it to Finland (through Russia) all had the mum completely intact.

Can you post a better photo of the mum? I would tend to lean toward a school rifle also but could possibly be a Chinese capture or something else. School rifles generally have to 0's added in front of the serial and concentric circles on the mum.

CONGRATS!

The floorplate catch spring can be found at Classic Firearms and Parts ( NOT to be confused with Classic Firearms).

Right now, they have 3 original springs for $2.25 each. Part number is : 500028-T30AR
I would throw you a link, but I am not sure if they are allowed.

I have bought from this company twice now. The owner (Scott) also works out in the warehouse at times, and he went through his stock (Only 8 parts at the time) looking at serial numbers for me.
Nothing but good experiences with this company for me.


I do not have a T30, but I believe the construction between the T30 and T38 are very similar.
To replace the floorplate catch spring, you need to knock out the pin in front of the trigger. This can be very tight. Having a very good support or an arbor press with the correct size pin punch may be very helpful.

Once the pin is removed, you only have four parts to worry about. The pin, the spring, the floorplate catch, and the floorplate catch lever. The lever has a single post that goes into the catch itself. the spring goes inside the catch and into the bore in the trigger guard. Reassembly is straightforward, but please be very meticulous with the alignment of the hole in the catch lever and the hole in the trigger guard. It should not be hugely difficult, but can be slow to get everything perfect. i used the pin punch to help align things, then tap the pin through the catch lever, pushing the pin punch out as I went.

Further review of the photos :
You have the correct hook style safety.
Also, it appears that your bolt handle is of the correct style as well. Hemi-spherical shape instead of the plum shape on the 38s
The rear sight is a factory retrofit to the late style ladder sight.
This was made in the Tokyo arsenal (obviously before 1923). It looks like the years of production were from 1898-1906 (includes trials)

The concentrical circles over-stamp has me a intrigued at the moment. There were a small number of T30s that were stamped with the 2 concentric circles INSTEAD of the chrysanthemum. These were for government use, and not for distribution to the military. yours is unquestionable an over-stamp. I am trying to look up what that significance is.

The school kanji was something looking very different (in the 38s), and were used on rifles that had fallen out of specification for military use.

Catch22 - If you do go to cfnparts.com, check for the rear sight spring as well. I believe that that have one (original) for your rifle on sale right now. (about $4.50?) I don't see you finding anything better than that.

A friend of mine found the overstamp answer for us!

I did find that from 1905-1921 there were about 10,000 rifles that were re-assigned to schools for training. These rifles had the mum ground, not overstamped.

Woops! I missed the part in your original post that the slider spring was missing. Sorry about that.
Finding just that little spring might be a little tough. You might find you have to get the whole slide assembly.

I have ordered Type 99 parts off of here with success. The owner seems to have the parts you need for the type 30.

https://japanesemilitaryfirearmspart...e-Parts_c8.htm

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Can you post a better photo of the mum? I would tend to lean toward a school rifle also but could possibly be a Chinese capture or something else. School rifles generally have to 0's added in front of the serial and concentric circles on the mum.

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See how this works for ya.

Attachment 116647

Appreciate the info and parts sources, guys!! I'll do some looking around.

I'm afraid you're right on the rear sight release spring, Gaijin. I'm going to keep an eye out for a bit and see what pops up for rear sights and see what all dad has in the spring collection in his shop.

Definitely looks like the concentric circle over stamp for non-military usage. As the note states, could be prison guards, police or school usage. I have two of these rifles. The first is complete and has a full, unmolested mum. The second is incomplete, missing the stock and associated metal. This one has ground smooth mum and inscription and new inscription stating "for blanks only" stamped along with the bore being drilled out smooth. I've been trying to find a stock for years with no luck.