Type 38 safety Problem

[AGB-1]

I recently purchased a Type 38 advertised as an early war model. Mismatched bolt with a notched safety. (late war)
The problem is when trying to engage the safety ,it slips back into the fire position.
Any ideas?Thanks,AGB-1

Information

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[vintage hunter]

Maybe a burr in the receiver slot but since it's a mismatch you'll more than likely need to fit the safety knob to the receiver by filing a small amount off the knob stud until it fully turns in and locks.

[Catfish Magic]

I had this same problem on my Type 38. It was driving me nuts, so I disassembled the bolt and gave it a good cleaning. There was a good amount of dirt, dust, and old grease lodged in the rear of the bolt and the safety cap. After cleaning, it engaged like normal.

[Aragorn243]

I recently purchased a Type 38 advertised as an early war model. Mismatched bolt with a notched safety. (late war)
The problem is when trying to engage the safety ,it slips back into the fire position.
Any ideas?Thanks,AGB-1

First thing I'd do is figure out exactly what it is you have there. There are no early war and late war model Type 38s. All were produced prior to WWII. The safety styles did change as production went along but it is dependent on the series of the rifle for which type it originally had.

The small protrusion safety appeard on Kokura rifles late in series 20, on Nagoya rifles late in series 26 and on all Mukden rifles.
The notched safety appeared on Kokura rifles late in series 23, on Nagoya rifles late in series 27 and on all Jinsen rifles.

All Kokura and Nagoya rifles prior to these series changes should have the large protrusion safety.

None of the styles should affect the operation of the safety so having the incorrect type should not be the cause of the problem. Cleaning would be my first suggestion, then fitting if that still doesn't work. Most guys bringing these home did not clean them well and that heavy goo in there does collect dust.

[AGB-1]

Thanks for your replies and information. I will give the bolt a good cleaning and try again.
AGB-1

[AGB-1]

Cleaned the bolt and lubricated it, but the safety still won't stay on.AGB-1

[Salt Flat]

Try this--Back off the rear gaurd screw a couple of turns and try the safety again. Sometimes it hangs up on a long screw. Salt Flat

[AGB-1]

Did not help.AGB-1

[jmoore]

I think vintage hunter has it right. I've had to do the very same a few times, once on a numbers matching rifle. It's not peculiar to Arisakes, have had to adjust safeties on More than on Mauser type as well. Not to mention Winchester Model 70s, etc.

[Salt Flat]

Yes, Vintage hunter and Jmoore are right on this. After reading this thread I did a check of my Arisakas. All of the safeties on my 4 matching rifles worked perfectly. About half of the mismatched rifles had safeties that could not be turned to safe position. This surprised me, but since most of these are for display purposes, I had not previously checked them all. This suggests the safety knobs were most likely hand fit at the factory and are not quite as interchangeable as one might think. After some filing on the back of the safety "nub" on one of them, and fooling around I was able to fit one of them properly and it now functions as it should. It took some time as I needed to proceed slowly and constantly check the fit and function. I am not recommending you should try this as it is something best left to a gunsmith. Salt Flat