Arisaka Type 99 30-06 Conversion questions/concerns

[deerefanatic]

Ok, I'm just starting to get back into the gun hobby.. I was raised around guns, my dad, grandpa, uncles, cousins all had rifles and shotguns and shot them quite a bit.. I was 12 when my grandpa passed away and inherited his guns... Mostly some nice shotguns, a Remington 7400 30-06 Semi auto, and a variety of flavors of 22's.. I regret not being older when he was alive and into them as I'm sure he died with more info than I'll ever know. (He was a Marine in the Korean war)

So I bought my first gun of my own this winter... picked up a fairly nice looking sporterized Arisaka Type 99 at a gun show. Clean gun, has a Lyman peep site on it. It was stamped on top of the receiver "30-06" and sold as an -06 gun... Brought it home that day and fired a few shots through it at the burn barrel to quell my excitement, then cleaned it and put it in the cabinet.

Fast forward to tax time, I blew the bank on a Lee reloading setup. Breech lock press, scale, powder measure, and dies for all my gun calibers. I'm really wanting to get serious about this and start to hone my skills. I bought a copy of Modern Reloading which was a very informative read, that I keep handy.

But, back to the topic at hand.. The Arisaka

From what I gather, this was not a US 30-06 conversion as those are always stamped "US .30 Cal" and not simply "30-06" as mine is. I shot some rounds through it last Sunday (beautiful weather.. Nearly 80!) and to say it kicks is an understatement. I shot two magazines (4 round) of ammo through my 7400 and barely felt it. After 4 rounds in the Arisaka I had marks on my shoulder and couldn't shoot any more. I know I'm out of form/shape and that's probably alot of it.. But I seem to be getting fairly severe case bulging. I've attached a picture of cases. The top was fired out of the Arisaka. The middle was fired out of my Remington. The bottom is an (obviously) unfired shell.

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Here are the specs as measured by my General Digital Caliper:

Neck Diameter OD: .3430
Neck Length: .3875
OAL: 2.4900
Case diameter at shoulder: .441
Case diameter at extractor rim: .4660
Case diameter .300 from base: .4760
Case length from base to shoulder: 1.9740

Compared to a casing fired from my Remington 7400:

Neck Length: .3585
Neck OD: .340
OAL: 2.495
Case Diameter at shoulder: .4425
Case Diameter at Extractor rim: .4685
Case diameter .300 from base: .4655
Case length from base to shoulder: 1.9395

What do you guys think? I'm thinking maybe it would be prudent to have the gun checked over by a Gunsmith. I found a guy that does work at his home after his day job. He didn't seem to be to familiar with the Arisaka's when I was talking to him. But he did seem to be open minded....

Or, the other question is, should I attempt to do the setback and rechamber myself? I have some experience with machine tools. I have my own mill and have access to a large Lodge & Shipley lathe that a friend of mine owns (which is tight).. But, the lathe does not have metric threading capability..... I wonder about cutting the extra barrel threads with a die?

Or, would I be better off getting a good used barrel in original caliber off of eBay and having it installed? I can find good chromed barrels on ebay for less than $100 extremely easily...

I guess I'm just looking for input here.. Trying to weigh all my options. Or am I overthinking this and the case swelling isn't such a big deal?

Information

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[browningautorifle]

I think asking a bunch of no gunsmiths how to sort this out is like asking the layman how to perform surgery...Why not ask one of our resident gunsmiths, Chuckindenver and see. I think I already know what he'll say...but...why not PM him? Save the conjecture.

[deerefanatic]

OK, sounds like a good idea. I'm new here, so didn't know about Chuck. I'll send him a PM.. Thanks.

[WNO1958]

Was the rifle rebarreled or was the original barrel chamber reamed to use 30.06 ammunition?

I suspect it was simply reamed to 30.06 dimensions. Arisaka rifles generally had generous chambers. This is not uncommon for a lot of miltary guns as it is important that the gun can chamber and fire dirty or corroded ammo when the chips are down. Reloading and case life were not considered. Also, the 7.7 Japanese cartridge case is slightly wider that the 30.06 case and this is why you see the case expansion when shooting 30.06. You do not see it so much on your Remington 7400 because that barrel was made specificaly for 30.06 ammunition.

Walter

[browningautorifle]

That's sort of where I was with this one Walter. I don't see it as much of a shooter.

[deerefanatic]

Yes, I am fairly sure it was simply reamed to 30-06.

What I had suggested to me by a person on reloadersnest.com was to take 30-06 brass, expand the neck to 338, then size back down to 303 brit, but not full lenght of the neck. This creats a 2nd shoulder for the casing to seat properly. Then, when fired, it will blow the shoulder forward and out and make a casing for the gun. He figures I should get at least 4 reloadings out of such a case if I only neck size from there on.

Lot of hassle, but cheaper than having the gun redone.. I think. LOL

[Salt Flat]

OK, I have been down this tangled and pot holed road before. What you are asking is similar to the dreaded " I came across this National Ordnance 1903a3 and was wondering----" So my experience was, I bought a T99 with a nice mum that I thought was still a 7.7. I was curious about the headspace so I put a blob of clay on the end of a empty 7.7 case and chambered it without the extractor on the bolt. When I knocked out the case, the clay was barely compressed. It was apparent that it was probably rechambered to 30-06 although it was not marked as such. I checked the headspace with some 30-06 gauges and at least it passed the headspace check for 30-06. After researching the subject I decided it wasn't worth reloading for or spending much time messing with. The case swelling business and bore diameter issues turn me off. Yea I guess if I were in a survival situation I would shoot it with ferver but I have many other weapons that are so much better. Just my opinion but 7.7 Arisaka barrels and receivers are fairly easy to come by. I would find another barrel in 7.7 and and reload for that. Salt Flat

[riceone]

If you are making 7.7 brass out of 06 brass just don't tighten your sizing die down - let it leave the case a bit long. O6 brass will awlays bulge at the base as it is smaller than 7.7 brass. Fire you brass till you see a faint white line just above the base. If you stop there you are alrigh but the next loading most likely the head will seperate. As someone has already said the chamberrs on most military weapons are oversize to take care of dirty or oversize ammo. They are safe to shoot. Don't wast your money on a "gunsmith" to protect himself he will tell you not to fire your rifle.l roy