Type 99 Rifle Questions [Pictures Included]

[masterdiver330]

I previously posted about this said rifle but wasn't able to obtain pictures at that time and I still have the opportunity to buy it. I've taken pictures this time around. I'm looking for more information and details about it's origin, authenticity, etc.

I'm pretty sure it was manufactured at Nagoya Arsenal and is of the 3rd Series and is an early model manufactured in 1939.

Help and answers would be greatly appreciated.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[lthilsdorf]

That rifle would have had a mono pod I believe.

I see the bolt is mis matched as well. Any chance you looked at the safety and extractor to see if they at least matched the rest of the bolt? I don't think that would matter much however as a mist matched Type 99 brings in less money regardless of that.

Any chance you saw if the dust cover was matching to the rifle? Seems unlikely with the mis matched bolt but who knows. The wear on it however does at least mean it's probably an original cover, unless someone was desperate to fake it, ha!

Not sure on the price though. Those are just the little things I know to look for. Hope this helps! Looks like if the bore is at least decent it might be a nice purchase as a shooter.

[Aragorn243]

Monopod if you can find one will probably be in the $65 range. Dust cover looks legit, I just saw one last Saturday that was a repro and it wasn't hard to notice as it looked new.

Stock doesn't look bad except for that large chunk that's missing. Metal looks a little below average condition for those I've seen but isn't at the bottom end by any means. Bore should be chrome so that shouldn't be a big issue. Bolt is mismatched.

If you want some pricing info, look under "X-Mum" here under Japanese Rifles. I was at an auction that sold 10 of these on Saturday and while I believe the prices are a bit skewed for the "better" ones, it will at least give you a reference for the possibilities.

A similar rifle to this one with the repro dust cover brought over $400. It also has a mis-matched bolt. I don't recall if it had it's mono-pod or not.

[kar98k]

if i were going to buy this i'd go $300 at the very most. it's a nice one but Type 99s just don't bring large sums yet.

[Patrick Chadwick]

"I'm pretty sure it was manufactured at Nagoya Arsenal and is of the 3rd Series and is an early model manufactured in 1939."

I respectfully disagree. The series were distinguished by Katakana characters, taken in the traditional order, which forms a poem in Japanese that serves as a mnemonic for Japanese children when learning the entire syllabary of kana (Katakana or Hiragana) characters. The first line of this poem runs:

i-ro-ha-ni-ho-he-to

So series 3 would have been indicated by "ha". If you look up this character (you can find them online) you will see that it consists of 2 strokes that are unjoined, looking a bit like the two sides of a trapezoid.

However, the character shown in the photo, in front of the series number and just above the thumb, has two strokes that are joined, making it look like an inverted "v" or a circumflex accent.

This is the character "he" - the 6th character in the mnemonic poem.

The rifle is therefore a 6th series Nagoya rifle.

If you think that I have misinterpreted the character, please post a close-up photo. But as already pointed out, you can find and check these characters online.

Patrick

[lthilsdorf]

I thought it didn't look like a 6th series, but I'm sooo bad at looking at those tiny little characters, ha! In that case it would be correct without a monopod. I also didn't see any wear in that area of the stock more use of a monopod. They stopped adding those even back in the 5th series if I recall correctly. I'd pay $300 for that piece. It looks very original, other than the bolt mismatch. Like I said before, let us know the serial number on the dustcover and if the bolt at least matches itself.

[Aragorn243]

The barrel band has the bracket for the mono-pod. There is a barrel band that does not have the bracket that was used on later rifles.

Would they have built a rifle with the mono-pod band without the mono-pad?

[lthilsdorf]

As far as I am aware they did indeed build them with a monopod lug but without the monopd. I feel like it wasn't until much later in the war they they may have changed to a non-monopd band. Not sure about the series number, but certainly once you get to the Last Ditch rifles you'll start to see the missing lug.

[Patrick Chadwick]

The barrel band has the bracket for the mono-pod. There is a barrel band that does not have the bracket that was used on later rifles.

Would they have built a rifle with the mono-pod band without the mono-pad?

Yes. Any factory in wartime (and probably most in peacetime) would have used up existing stocks of parts if the change did not affect function. Leaving off the monopod did not affect the function as a barrel band, so they would have used up any remaining stocks of the monopod-ready version.

The factory-change effect has been a frequent topic on the Mauser forum, especially with regard to the sliding changes through the various 1891/2/3/4/5 transitional models. Collectors frequently forget that military rifles were not built for collectors! In many cases, the frequently used phrase "that is not correct for the xx model" would have baffled the people in the factory who assembled those rifles.

Discarding fully functional parts may on occasion have been demanded as a result of bureaucratic pedantry. Otherwise, any sensibly run factory would use up what worked - especially in wartime!

Patrick

[303Nut]

I thought it didn't look like a 6th series, but I'm sooo bad at looking at those tiny little characters, ha! In that case it would be correct without a monopod. I also didn't see any wear in that area of the stock more use of a monopod. They stopped adding those even back in the 5th series if I recall correctly. I'd pay $300 for that piece. It looks very original, other than the bolt mismatch. Like I said before, let us know the serial number on the dustcover and if the bolt at least matches itself.

The 6th series did not have dust covers so it can't match the rifle. Still a nice looking T-99 even with the bolt mm.