Naval Special Rifle

[Arisaka99]

Bought this late SN (118xx) Type 99 Naval Special rifle for $175 a few years back. It is my best find to date. It had an incorrect bolt in it when purchased, but how many "carbine" length Naval Specials do you see? It has been in my safe ever since, complete with the drips of white paint from the veteran having it out in the hallway at some point when he painted his walls (this is common on closet guns!).

A couple weeks ago, a poster on another board was frustrated that he purchased a Tokyo Juki Kogyo series 27 that had an ugly bolt in it. It turns out to be a late war Naval Special bolt (thanks to the other collectors out there who verified for me). I email the poster and inquired if he would like to trade plus some cash from me. He agrees "IF" I have a late Tokyo Juki Kogyo bolt to trade in return. I go and pull the incorrect bolt from the Naval Special... smooth turned safety, plumb bolt handle... could it be? YUP! Not a Nagoya variation bolt, but marked with Nagoya supervision proofs... a quick look at my reference books to verify. This is a correct bolt for his rifle! (While the bolt was all matching, the SN didn't match his rifle... that would be too much!). We trade with some cash from me and I receive the Naval Special bolt.

Naval Special rifles were mostly hand fitted. There is little swapping of parts without problems. I have an early SN (300) with a matching bolt, and the safety barely works. Sometimes it flies off the back!. So, I slide the new bolt in... it fits! Function check... it fires and the safety works. Then, I notice white paint on the end of the bolt handle... matching the age of the white paint in the rifle. Longshot to beat the band, but this might actually be the original bolt to this rifle! Regardless, it is there now and correct.

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