99 Arisaka Front Sight Question

[JohnCeglarek]

I'm looking at a rifle that has the antiaircraft rear sight and the monopod; the owner says all serial numbers match, and from what I can see without taking it apart they do. But the front sight has no "ears" on it...it looks like the sight used on "last ditch" rifles. Does anyone know of earlier rifles that used that same earless front sight...or is it likely that someone ground the ears off this sight?

Information

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[jmoore]

Rear sight ought to have numbers on the bottom (Sight down) or the front (sight up). Usually. Series number of the rifle will help determine the features as issued. Get a photo of the receiver side that clearly shows the markings.

Books are your friends, here. Esp. if you need a ready reference. Military Rifles of Japan by Huneycutt is one. I don't keep all this stuff memorized by a long shot!

[JohnCeglarek]

From what I can gather, the rifle is a Tokyo Juki Kogyo series 37 (serial # 53403). I don't have ready access to the book you mentioned; any way you can tell me what front sight this rifle should have?

Thanks again,

John

[diss0lutus]

That's at the very end of of the series 37 production and when Tokyo Juki Kogyo started production of series 27 (I have one and you can go to that thread and compare) they started with the 'last ditch' substitute standard models. So the front sight might have been that way from the factory while they were at the transitional phase. Although, I wouldn't expect them to have AA wings and a monopod.
Pics would be very helpful.

[JohnCeglarek]

Best I can do for pics is the gunbroker number...285473621. I asked for more, but didnt get them.

Thanks, John

[diss0lutus]

Best I can do for pics is the gunbroker number...285473621. I asked for more, but didnt get them.

Thanks, John

He says the bayonet lug doesn't match, so it's a safebet to assume the rear barrel band and monopod is from another rifle.
It seems to be a mix-matcher that someone made from parts off of other guns in my honest opinion.

And the way it's roughly machined means it wouldn't have a monopod and AA sights originally most likely.

[JohnCeglarek]

I wondered if that might be the case...thanks for your help. But I'm curious a to what your referring to when you mentioned the rough finish. Are you looking at the rough finish around the serial number?

John

[Aragorn243]

Look at the barrel just in front of the receiver. It hasn't been smoothed after they lathed it. You can still see the cut grooves. Seems to be semi-standard for a lot of war time production rifles. Mosin Nagants are pretty well known for it. It doesn't hurt the function of the rifle, just the looks and when you need rifles fast, they only need to work, not look good.