T99 Long Rifle. Worth Restoring?

[vintage hunter]

How scarce are the long variants? Would an early? no series Nagoya(s/n 7800) with scrubbed mum and mismatched bolt even be worth the expense and effort to restore?
It needs wood, all band screws, rear sight slider assembly, a mag spring and follower(I may already have those) and cleaning rod. It's been neglected and is fairly well covered in rust all over. I've tried cleaning it off but it's to the point where the surfaces are mildly pitted so I'm thinking of having it bead blasted and blued if I get that far. Bore is good except the last 3/4'' which is also severely rusted but I could counter bore that little bit I reckon. So far the correct stock and hand guard have proven to be all but impossible to find. However I've located one with some metal up for auction but it may go for more than I want to shell out. It's been sanded but that's no big problem really, considering the metal will need refinishing to get rid of the rust.
What I'll end up with if I manage to complete this project is a refinished mixmaster with no collector value but at least I'd have a representative example that I can shoot with no worries. What ya'll think? Restore it or make a hunting rifle out of it?

Information

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[UNPROFOR1994]

The long Type 99 was manufactured in small numbers at Nagoya (8000) and Toyo Kogyo (30000). So your Nagoya rifle is one of the scarcest Type 99's.

[vintage hunter]

The above mentioned stock went for more than I wanted to shell out for a refinished example so I'm back to square one. The rifle does have it's original? stock but theres a great big chunk missing from the toe and no hand guard. I believe I could make up a useable HG from a T38 guard although a couple dimensions differ, but probably wouldn't be all that noticeable. Wood appears to be walnut so it might be possible to find a cut down T99 stock to rob the butt splice from. I was able to come up with a firing pin, spring, safety knob, extractor w/collar and lower band screw from my parts bin but still have a lot more small odds and ends to come up with yet but at least they're fairly common parts.
Here's what I'm working with. Spent a couple hours last night cleaning, looks much better than it did when I started. Forgot to take any ''before'' pics so these will have to do.

[Aragorn243]

You could buy a sporterized stock dirt cheap and take the bottom of the butt off and slide it on your rifle. I do not believe they are glued.

[jmoore]

My long Type 99's bolt is matched to a number on the underside of the receiver ring. Had another the same way some time back, but it wasn't as in good condition.


I may have a stock toe about. However, IIRC it's a little short...

[Salt Flat]

VH, When I first read your post I thought this might not be a good restoration candidate. However, after seeing the pictures I'm thnking WOW! This can be a very nice collector rifle. I would keep the resto as minimal as possible and not worry about the bore or counterboring the muzzle . Nice project! Salt flat

[zip code]

Hello there:
I don't want to rain too much on your parade or the T99 longs, but using a donor lower section of a T99 short wont work. The butt plate of the T99 long is longer than a short's is.
From T99 long SN# 838...0 series..... length of butt plate = 4 11/16" ....from top of butt plate to center of screw = 3 5/8"
From T99 short SN# 53830...0 series..... length of butt plate = 4 1/2" ........from top of butt plate to center of screw = 3 7/16"
Both are from Nagoya of course and the T99 short is a cavalry rifle. Just to confirm, I checked a series 4 SN# 96681 as to butt plate size and the regular and cav. short T99 have the same dimensions.


I don't think you can counter bore the T99 since it's chrome plated. I heard a guy at the Knob Creek MG shoot asking one of the smiths out there about shortening a AR 15 barrel. The smith said "sure, as long as it's not chromed, too hard to work".

[jmoore]

The chrome ought not be a bother with some care. Too thin too hurt tools. But may need a bit of finishing with a stone to minimize chipping. Just dress a dremel stone to size and touch lightly. A bit of finess is desirable...

[vintage hunter]

I don't want to rain too much on your parade or the T99 longs, but using a donor lower section of a T99 short wont work. The butt plate of the T99 long is longer than a short's is.

Yes, you are correct. Had already determined this by taking some comparative measurements after reading post 5. I'm not sure I'll bother with fixing the toe at this point. It appears to be battle damage so for now I'll leave it as is. Another ''oddity'' I encountered was the bolt body that was with the remains of the rifle. It had no rib around the bolt face and it isn't chromed. Never seen another one like it so I'm thinking bubba possibly modified it in the attempt to be able to fire rimmed or semi-rimmed MG ammo. I did a chamber cast and the chamber hasn't been messed with so this is the only explanation I can come up with.
No worries about the counter-boring, there is no chrome left to contend with. The bore in that area is pitted some but the Metford style rifling is still visible so I'm gonna see how it shoots before doing any boring.
The project is coming along well so far, Have replaced most of the missing screws and rear sight slider. Follower and spring coming, had a Nagoya bolt body in the parts bin. The cleaning rod and hand guard are going to be the hard parts to find.

[benjamin dobreuen]

If you look at the back of the bayonet lug you may also see the bolt number stamped there.