Type 38 info

[chun12]

I am trying to decipher some of the markings on my rifle, any help is most appreciated. I do not have the dust cover unfortunately.

Information

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[Eaglelord17]

They all had dust covers fitted originally, any without it is because at some point someone removed it.

[Singer B]

The dust covers are a pain in the you-know-what. Beautiful gun. Looks like the metal and wood have been refinished. Based upon the clarity of the buttstock markings, it doesn't look like it has been sanded. I have not seen many Type 38s so my question to the experts is do you see many where the wood is all uniform in type and color as on this rifle?

[chun12]

The dust covers are a pain in the you-know-what. Beautiful gun. Looks like the metal and wood have been refinished. Based upon the clarity of the buttstock markings, it doesn't look like it has been sanded. I have not seen many Type 38s so my question to the experts is do you see many where the wood is all uniform in type and color as on this rifle?

I don’t recall if it was refinished, I haven’t touched it and bought it as is a long time ago. Unfortunately I didn’t save the listing off of guns America. But it does look really good and nice. I have out 3 rounds through it total to make sure it fires and then cleaned it. I also cannot get the Ammo.

[jangle]

Ok, I'll try to make this as brief as possible without trying to get confusing.
Your rifle was originally manufactured by the Koishikawa Army Arsenal in approximately the 1922 time frame, then was re-arsenaled at the Kokura Army Arsenal, 2nd Manufacturing Plant sometime after November of 1933.

When originally made in 1922 time frame, all of the small parts on your rifle were matched to the sub-assembly number located on the bottom of the receiver (549 on your rifle). When going through the re-arsenal process, they normally issued a new bolt numbered to the last 3 digits of serial and reused or replaced any other worn small parts without regard to numbering to rifle. Your stock is also an original finish replacement done at this time. The original rifle was in good enough condition to refurbish instead of turning it into a school marked rifle.
Your rifle is in original refinished condition and is a very nice representative of the re-arsenal process.

[chun12]

Jangle, that’s so cool! Really neat stuff, I’m going to have to read up some more! I thought it looked really nice compared to the other examples at the time of being bought. Thank you so much for the info! I did get your email.

[Salt Flat]

Yes, that is a nice original finish rifle. With the mum and matching parts its as good as it gets. Most of the 38s You encounter are in very worn condition, have beat up dark oil soaked stocks or have a ground mum or not matching numbers. I have one with the mum in nice condition but the numbers don't match. IMHO I really don't care about the dust covers (unless they came with the rifle and are matching). There is a reason the dust covers are hard to find-- many were probably tossed by the troops. Salt Flat

[bob q]

All type-38's came with dust covers . There were no parts being excluded from T-38 rifles during production . That only applies to Type-99 rifles .

[chun12]

@Salt Flat, thanks! I guess I got lucky, the only thing I recall when I was searching is I wanted one with the “mum” and this one was the nicest, if I recall correctly I paid about 400 USD for a 2014ish.

[Singer B]

Ok, I'll try to make this as brief as possible without trying to get confusing.
Your rifle was originally manufactured by the Koishikawa Army Arsenal in approximately the 1922 time frame, then was re-arsenaled at the Kokura Army Arsenal, 2nd Manufacturing Plant sometime after November of 1933.

When originally made in 1922 time frame, all of the small parts on your rifle were matched to the sub-assembly number located on the bottom of the receiver (549 on your rifle). When going through the re-arsenal process, they normally issued a new bolt numbered to the last 3 digits of serial and reused or replaced any other worn small parts without regard to numbering to rifle. Your stock is also an original finish replacement done at this time. The original rifle was in good enough condition to refurbish instead of turning it into a school marked rifle.
Your rifle is in original refinished condition and is a very nice representative of the re-arsenal process.

A couple of months ago, you helped identify my Type 38 as being manufactured in 1921. Only two parts (the safety knob and the magazine floorplate) have non-matching numbers with the rest of the rifle. Could this have occurred during an arsenal refurbishment as you described in this thread? Thank you for your help and I enjoy learning new things from your posts.