Help with Arisaka Training Rifle

[John737]

Last Sunday I was at a local flea market when I passed by a military vendor. As an avid collector of U.S. WWII gear, I decided to stop by to have a quick look. Turns out he didn't have anything interesting; a lot of the gear was Vietnam-era aside from a few patches.

As I was turning to leave, I suddenly saw an old rifle leaning against a nearby fence. I inquired about the item to the vendor, who told me it was a Japanese training rifle that didn't fire. He wanted $100, I ended up paying $75.

Despite its rough condition, the rifle appears to have most of its parts intact. It's missing a screw near the bayonet band, the cleaning rod, the safety knob, the firing pin, and one of the sling attachments, but the rest appears to be there. The barrel is real, but its a smooth-bore like the rest of the training rifles. The receiver appears to be functional with an operating bolt and a real magazine.

The only problem is I don't know what model it is. According to the overall design, it should be a 38. On the other hand, all the 38s I've seen online have two gas vent holes on the receiver while this one only has one. In addition, the bolt handles appears to be matching those on the late Type 99s. So I'm split between whether it was modeled after the Arisaka 38 or 99.

Can someone who is familiar with Japanese militaria help me on this one?

Thanks ahead!

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