I'm thinking of making an offer on a Type 38 but have a couple of concerns that I'm hoping you guys can help clear up.

The biggest thing is that it has a rather large oval stamping on the right side of the butt with characters in it that translated to "for the practice of training only". I had this translated by a native Japaneseicon lady so I'm pretty confident in the translation.

There are no other markings on the rifle that I know of that would indicate that it was in fact a training rifle. It has a full mum, no circles stamped over it. There is no extra character stamped on the receiver above the type 38 characters to indicate a school rifle. There are no extra zeroes in front of the serial number.

I have not been able to physically inspect it yet, so I don't know what the bore or bolt is like. There is some surface rust. Cleaning rod is there. Stock looks to be in fair to good shape considering the age. I don't know if it is shoot-able or not.

Seller is asking $250.

My questions are.

1) Do you think this is a training rifle?
2) Any idea why it would be stamped on the stock as a trainer but the other markings show it stayed in service? Possible bore or chamber issue maybe?
3) Fair price? I know without pics it's a crap shoot. I just have concerns about it being something that may be un-shootable because of head spacing or bore or chamber issues and being priced unreasonably.

I'm not really looking for a shooter. More likely it will just be a display piece, but I don't want to overpay for something that it isn't.

Thanks
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