Is This Arisaka 1943 or earlier?

[jmoore]

Theoretically, the parts are interchangeable throughout the entire series so long as it has that mum stamped on it.

Possibly with the Type 99. Type 38 bolts seem to come in two basic variants as regards geometry of the locking lug faces: 90° to the bore and inclined plane. (like the M1917, etc.)

Have yet to note that drama with Type 99s. Whether the headspace issue is worth pursuing is up to the user. Have yet to have a problem with Type 99s, matching bolt or not, but... (Type 38 bolts have been found to vary a good bit, though- almost as much as US '03 bolts!)

[Patrick Chadwick]

What I'm curious about is where are you guys getting the year approximations?

Interpolation between 1939 (introduction) and 1945 (end of production).

Shouldn't be a "Type 99" mark on a series 25.

But Series 25 had lost the chrysanthemum stamp on the receiver.

Sorry, brain slipped there, I should have written "...lost the 99 stamp.." as you have rightly pointed out.

Large recoil bolt would not be on a series 22.

The large recoil bolt is a feature that appeared in Series 25.

Well, at least I got that right!


P.S: And I still say that a "duffle-cut" is a piece of vandalism that should be repaired, even if the saw was wielded by Gen. McArthur himself.

[Patrick Chadwick]

The series mark doesn’t look exactly like any of the diagrams either but looks closest to the series 22.

It looks like a "22" with a well-rubbed second horizontal stroke.

I get the impression that the Type 99 was in fact a long succession of intermediate types, or rather mixes making total nonsense of the collector's passion for "all-correct" models. By the time this rifle was made, the factories would have been putting together anything that more-or-less fitted, regardless of "correctness".

And I still say that the duffle cut is a piece of vandalism that destroys the proper functioning of the rifle and should be repaired!

[SRiverrat11]

Patrick, since you feel so strongly, and have general all around agreement. I will start learning how it should be done. Then I must find the time to do it. I'm oilfield trash and work a lot. I'm at a drilling rig right now. Thank you .

It looks like a "22" with a well-rubbed second horizontal stroke.:!

I get the impression that the Type 99 was in fact a long succession of intermediate types, or rather mixes making total nonsense of the collector's passion for "all-correct" models. By the time this rifle was made, the factories would have been putting together anything that more-or-less fitted, regardless of "correctness".

And I still say that the duffle cut is a piece of vandalism that destroys the proper functioning of the rifle and should be repaired!

[jmoore]

Patrick Chadwick isn't alone on the subject, but I'm a bit more understanding of the rationale behind it. GI in a faraway place with little resourses at hand has limited options to get a souvenier shipped home. He wasn't worried about collectors' opinions. Just wanted something to display or use as a reminder. Many of these rifles were never shot after being returned. Just forgotten. Now they need your help!

[SRiverrat11]

Patrick Chadwick isn't alone on the subject, but I'm a bit more understanding of the rationale behind it. GI in a faraway place with little resourses at hand has limited options to get a souvenier shipped home. He wasn't worried about collectors' opinions. Just wanted something to display or use as a reminder. Many of these rifles were never shot after being returned. Just forgotten. Now they need your help!

Thank you, jmoore. Those are my feelings. I wonder if he didn't do the cut right after he did the initials. As another way to keep it from being stolen. That said, I do not believe he would ever have cut it if he didn't think he had to, to get it back home without being confiscated.

[SRiverrat11]

Thank you another time jmoore. You got me thinking. I have not put this in any of my other posts.I did not think it important, but, there is another AWM carved into the "trigger housing"? Right behind the guard. Did he mark this rifle so much that rear-esheclon pukes would pass up his for someone else's? A possibility?

[jmoore]

Could be any of a number of reasons why he marked it so vigorously. All purely speculative at this point.

[SRiverrat11]

When I was in the Marine Corps we went on ships to practice amphib. landings. Seabees were on the ship too. To unload and assemble the big steel pontoons on the side of ship. The ships crew didn't like them much more than they liked us. Seabees are not part of a regular ships crew, but that's how they would have travelled. They would have been subjected to a lot of navy officers wanting souvenirs with little protection. Its a theory but I think a good theory.

[kar66]

Your type 99 is a early series 25. They were mfg. like the series 24s. The later series 25s were "last ditch". The bolt is not Kokura.