Why there aren't Japanese rifles among "favorite WWII rifles"?

[Malygris]

Who wants to use a "losers" rifle.

So you don't 'believe' in collecting Mausers or Carcanos or Lugers etc? What about Mosins, as Russia lost the war of independence with Finland? I don't think this comment has anything really to do with whether we collect something or not. I think we collect simply based on our interest in the history of the firearm or the period it came from, or even more guttural, we simply like the looks of it - or both!

I, for one, won't have any of it in my house.

This kind of comment as well has the ring of associating political ideology to a firearm. If someone were to tell me they wouldn't collect a Jap rifle because of the Dec 7 sneak attack, I'd have to ask them if they would refuse a k98 because of the Battle of the Bulge? It simply is attaching evil to the firearm, an inanimate object. The gun is not evil. The person pulling the trigger may be. I don't blame a T-99 for the Bataan Death March any more than I do a 1940 Mauser Luger for the deaths of Jews in concentration camps.

As to the quality of japanese rifles, I don't own one yet, but am actively pursuing information as I wish to add one to my WW2 collection. But from what I've read their quality is fine - and as to 'last ditch', no more shoddy than a last ditch Mauser. The last ditch rifles should be approached from an historical view, rather than one of pure quality. Of course it's not as nice as a pre-war example - and one shouldn't expect it to be so, nor use it as a point to argue against the firearm, unless the quality was such that the firearm was unable to perform, which from what I've read isn't the case. The last ditch efforts merely reduced the weapon to doing only what it was intended without all the pretty features and quality of finish.

No, I think the real reasons these have not attained any real status is that they have never been mass imported and the odd caliber is not one readily obtained in sizable quantities unlike 7.62x54, .303 or 8x57, etc. Naturally one of the big allures of military surplus is the stores of surplus ammunition that goes along with it.

I just recently discovered a source for these and all were advertised as 'not import marked'. Where this company got so many of them I don't know - but that just goes to show that these have never really been imported in any numbers, or these would have all been import marked.

Another reason many people may shy away from them is that most examples you stumble on have been utterly butchered by back wood gunsmiths. Our country has a deep love to convert anything military into a 'good deer gun' to the point that it's possibly utterly amazing we have any milsurps left that have not had the stocks cut, barrels cut, bayonet lugs removed, etc. I saved a nice Finnish M91/30 from being cut and hacked on a couple of years ago - guy wanted to convert it into a hunting rifle. I asked him - 'Why don't you simply go to a gun shop and buy a durn hunting rifle then?' They end up with these things on trades and for $50 and don't want to just go spend the money is all it is.

[pondboss]

jap rifles got a bad rep after the war...when i was a kid (1960s) you could find them at yard sales for $25 .i know i bought my 38th year 6.5 with mum (bring back captured)at one of them.these are very good guns..i see prices on them climbing because they are drying up.i like that there is not alot of collectors compared to other rifles.good for us that do.(have two mod 99s also).

[riceone]

I bought my first Japanese rifle in the fall of 1950. I wanted to hunt deer and could not afford a commercial rifle but could afford $7.50 for a 7.7. Naturally I modified the stock and alot of others did the same thing for the same reason.