Is This Arisaka 1943 or earlier?

[SRiverrat11]

Patrick, since you feel so strongly, and have general all around agreement. I will start learning how it should be done. Then I must find the time to do it. I'm oilfield trash and work a lot. I'm at a drilling rig right now. Thank you .

It looks like a "22" with a well-rubbed second horizontal stroke.:!

I get the impression that the Type 99 was in fact a long succession of intermediate types, or rather mixes making total nonsense of the collector's passion for "all-correct" models. By the time this rifle was made, the factories would have been putting together anything that more-or-less fitted, regardless of "correctness".

And I still say that the duffle cut is a piece of vandalism that destroys the proper functioning of the rifle and should be repaired!