Arisaka 38 Parade rifle or?

[700LH]

First post so bear with me if I goof.

Buddy of mine with no internet just acquired a Arisaka 38 that has been chrome and gold plated. It seems to be in great shape except the mum is gone. Neither of us are collectors and have very limited knowledge of such items. I cannot find any thing like it online. We would like to have some idea of what this gun is worth. He needs a good elk rifle and a gun show is in Boise this weekend, or perhaps online is a better selling option?
What do you guys think?
Any input is appreciated, thanks

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[andiarisaka]

Well now that's an oddity. I'd have to guess that someone was experimenting with electroplating and wanted to try his hand on something that wasn't very costly. Since the defaced mum is under the plating, we can rule out any sort of "palace guard" scenario. Wow! Nice catfish pic in your album! You see that teenie spot of Federal land in Ohio, I'm from a little town in the midst of it. Combined with coal company land, it makes for a lot of hunting.

[Johnny Peppers]

At one time a nearby town had a plant that manufactured lighting fixtures. They had plating facilities, and many an old gun ended up with a terrible buff job and nickel or gold plate. One of the saddest was a 4 digit 1900 American Eagle Luger that had been plated and then wouldn't go back together. It was brought into a local gun shop where the gunsmith took off enough plating to let the parts go back together.

[Bill Hollinger]

I think General George S. Patton would call that a "pimp gun"!

Oh, sorry It looks to me to be a post war dress-up job on an old Japanese rifle. I've seen a few of these over the years that were polished, chromed, jeweled and more.

[geeded]

Howdy,

I have one similar to yours in that it has been plated. However, it's bronze plated on buttplate, trigger guard, and bands. The name of the GI that brought it back is carved on the left. Best guess is that he wanted it to look "spiffy" hanging on the wall. Like the previous members mentioned, a lot of WWII weapons were "improved" after the war. After all, they were "just" souvenirs at the time....and available at a dime a dozen. I've seen so many German K98's "sporterized" that it's not funny.

It's an interesting oddity, but more than likely, done by a proud Sailor or Marine.

Cheers