Type-I Brittle action prone to break???

[jeep]

School me on this . Is it web hype fiction or fact. Any shooters out there. In shear numbers of military rifles the I model is a drop in the ocean compared to main stay rifles. Maybe only 30,000 made in 1938-39 out of the 60,000 order and lots on the bottom of the ocean. Sunk on Japanese naval ships and the rumoured Italian shipments sunk in submarines and Jap I-boat cargo subs. Seems well made to me and some say they shoot better than the M38 Arisaka. Fiction or fact ????

Information

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[jeep]

Going through my archives on the Type-I,( I-means Italian) . I have reread the data. Not trusted because of national pride the ones that were shipped to the south Pacific by Italian merchantships then loaded onto Japanese submarines to avoid detection. Most were never used and were stored in warehouses till after the war. The ones that were not bombed and later dumped into Tokyo bay after the war were shipped home by G.I.s in 1945 who did not even know they were not Arisaka,s. A few cases made it to the surplus market in the early 1950,s There is no proof they were used in combat and none that were not used by the Navy or there Marines or post war military Japanese police. So there are not many around.

[Aragorn243]

I just found one of these for sale last week and contrary to the theory that they are in great shape from not being used, this one is in fact pretty bad shape. Whether that rust came about from during the war or after I have no way of telling but the damage was such that I opted to not purchase it despite it's rarity. condition wise it is on par with many other Arisakas that I've come across and in that it doens't have a chrome lined bore, that is bad too.

What research I found while looking around for that one seemed to indicate that they were just fine as rifles. The Italian made rifles all seem to have a stigma against them and this one is no exception but the idea that they are poor rifles is based more on appearance rather than actual function. That these were not used much by the Japaneses may be in part because of them not being Japanese made.

The rifle itself looks to be built better than both the WWII issue Carcanos and the Japanese Arisakas I've seen. If condition wasn't so poor on this one, I would snap it up pretty quick as it comes with a bayonet.

[ireload2]

I bought the remnants of one of these rifles a few years ago. The extractor had been broken.
I later bought a complete rifle and it is prone to having the rim hang up on the extractor. It is easy to see how an extractor could be broken on one.
FWIW an Italian Carcano extractor is not the same part.

[marysdad]

Type I rifles use the same materials and exhibit the same workmanship as Italian Carcanos of that period, which are fine rifles. The Type I's were made at about Italy's high-water mark, before the tide turned against them. The fit and finish is far superior to that of Japanese-made rifles, even examples made around the same timeframe (at their high-water mark). The action is more than adequate for the 6.5 mm. Carcano and Japanese cartridges. Here are a couple of close-ups of my Type I, which give some indication of the fit and finish.

[jeep]

They were made to prewar berretta standards and are very smooth and high grade machined. From what I heard the barrel specs and chambers are match grade and shoot better than the M38,s. Mine has a 3 digit ## The Germans did supply some some K98,s and vz Cezh 24,s.in small numbers. Some say the TypeI,s were shipped in the white and blued and stained in Japan,but this not true. The finish is not Japanese Urishsa,But 100% Italian and the same stain finish on wood , fine smooth polished pre-war blue used on prewar MP/38 smg,s and finer than most of the Carcano,s which got ruff in wartime. Alot of Type-I,s were used up and beat up as hunting rifles stateside. There is no mum or markings on the Type I other than the serial ## number and no there are no import marks . These few crates that hit stateside surplus were pre-1968 and in the early1950,s. Interesting Axis WW2 JApanese rifle.

[riceone]

I have a nice one now and have had others and all were well made. The only difference I have found is some have a butt stock 1 inch shorter. Some bolt parts will interchange but not the bolt as the ejector is at a different location and another groove would have to be cut in the bottom of the bolt if used. Chambers are tighter and cases do not swell like the T38. I think the reason they are not held in high regard is they are half breeds, neither Japanese or Carcano collectors are very fond of them. I have never heard of them having brittle actions. riceone

[ireload2]

My Type I chamber dimensions seem to be the exact same as the Japanese Type 38.
The rifling is the rounded lands and grooves segmental type same as the Type 38.

[jeep]

I assume its the same Metford type rifling. Will have to bench it for a group. It seems production figures may be 90,000 to 100,000 range. But thats still very ,very small compared to other types of Japanese service rifles. And yes it was a service rifle of the axis Japanese in the big one WW2.

[Old Joe]

I collect Carcanos and Arisakas mostly and have just picked up a beautiful Type 1 Arisaka. Oddly the same week I pick up a sporterized Type 1 on Gun Brokers, figure the odds of that. The Type 1 seems like a quality rifle and I certainly will fire it before I tuck it away.

Old Joe