Anyone ever have a rifle built from an Arisaka action type 38?

[j two dogs]

Anyone have a rifle built from an Arisaka type 38 action?
If so, how did it turn out?
Show pics?

[rhbrink]

I have a friend that has one, .243 works and shoots great. Probably built in the 60's guessing, there are a lot of issues, magazine feed, bolt head size, trigger, and safety. Unless you can do the work yourself it would be a costly experience be a lot cheaper in the long run to buy a Stevens or Marlin and strip down and rebuild to whatever you want.

[ironglow]

Arisaka (IMO) not a really good base to start with. The value is probably coming up on Arisakas so if you have one, you can either trade it for a decent used rifle of choice or trade for a Mauser action. Just my $.02 .

[j two dogs]

I just had one built in .308, the smith is a friend and did the work fairly cheap, there are alot more issues then just re-barreling like with a mauser.
What interested me was the fact that P.O. Ackley could not blow one up all the others he tested british enfield, mauser 98, sprinfield 1903 all failed at around 80,000 cups. I think he took the arisaka all the way up to 120,000 cups and still could not get it to blow.
Someone correct me if I got the story wrong, I know this, that they are legendarly strong.

[Rangr44]

I don't have pics, because the rifle's in VA with it's owner, my wife's late cousin's husband - but he's used a custom Arisaka for deer hunting ever since it was customized when he discharged from USN in the late 50's.

He left it in 6.5 Jap, had the bolt handle turned down, barrel, action & bottom metal filed/polished/reblued, and restocked in a georgeous piece of Black Walnut - but no checkering.

I shot it a time or two @ 100yds, and it was pretty accurate - although I personally thought it a tad heavier than I really like.
The owner's never had a problem connecting with it, anytime he took it out.

Unless a person looking at it recognized the rotary Arisaka safety cap on the rear of the bolt, it was very hard to tell exactly what kind of boltgun it was.
.

[Siskiyou]

Arisaka (IMO) not a really good base to start with. The value is probably coming up on Arisakas so if you have one, you can either trade it for a decent used rifle of choice or trade for a Mauser action. Just my $.02 .

I think they make good lamps.  This is one of two down in the garage being re-wired.  It now stands next to my recliner.


This is the later Type 99 but I have the same dislike for both the Type 38 and Type 99. I believe the safety on the rear of the bolt is rather awkward to use compared to other safeties. My field experience is limited to shooting a friend’s a few times, and working the safety at that time.  I passed on a number of sporterized ones for hunting because of the safety.

Over the years I have encounter a few Japanese Type 38 or Type 99 rechamber for the 257 Roberts, and one chambered for the 300 Savage.

I have been impressed with the locking lugs on the bolts.  These rifles were built for stout.

[Val]

I acquired one that was sporterized with a nice peace of wood and a .257 Roberts barrel. I started to develop a load for it and it shot a nice shotgun pattern. I decided I was going to get this rifle to shoot because it looked so nice. I measured the twist rate and determined it was a very slow 12:1 twist. I bought some Barnes 80 grain copper TSX bullets and started getting 3-4" groups.  The next thing I determined was the stock was interfering with the action and the barrell. I inletted and floated the barrel and removed touch spots around the action and glass bedded. This rifle now yields three shot .75" groups. With the copper Barnes bullets it will be a Kalifornistan Condor Range varmint gun. It's a nice looking rifle.

[j two dogs]

Arisaka (IMO) not a really good base to start with. The value is probably coming up on Arisakas so if you have one, you can either trade it for a decent used rifle of choice or trade for a Mauser action. Just my $.02 .

I think they make good lamps.  This is one of two down in the garage being re-wired.  It now stands next to my recliner.


This is the later Type 99 but I have the same dislike for both the Type 38 and Type 99. I believe the safety on the rear of the bolt is rather awkward to use compared to other safeties. My field experience is limited to shooting a friend’s a few times, and working the safety at that time.  I passed on a number of sporterized ones for hunting because of the safety.

Over the years I have encounter a few Japanese Type 38 or Type 99 rechamber for the 257 Roberts, and one chambered for the 300 Savage.

I have been impressed with the locking lugs on the bolts.  These rifles were built for stout.

I too thought the safety very unattractive, that is why I went with a timmney trigger and safety

[Siskiyou]

My father-in-law was in the Pacific during the war, and was station in Japan when Korea started to heat up.  He had the lamps made up while in Japan.  While re-wiring I cleaned the barrel of one and checked out the bore.  A lot of bore erosion the first few inches.  Suspect that was caused my corrosive ammunition.

[Rangr44]

Let me help light the way.          







.

[Confederate rifleman]

Helped a buddy make a sporter out of a Type 38 and it came out well.Definately go with the Timney replacement trigger and safety.BTW the safety is also the point of disassembly for the bolt. You will also need to use a Remington type recoil lug as the Ari has a post that fits a bar in the stock.Use only the post and you will have poor accuracy and a guaranteed split stock( eventually).Yes the Ari is STRONG.There was a story in the American Rifleman back in the '50's where some idiot took a 38 ( 6.5mm) and rechambered it to 30-06.Notice rechambered NOT rebored.He had to grind the pilot on the reamer to fit , and was shooting 180 gr '06 out of it! Took it to the gunsmith because " it kicked so hard".Remington copied the recessed breech of the Arisaka in designing the 721/722 series actions.The Type 38 and 99 will both operate just fine with .473 cases heads ( same as .308 and .30-06) The 38 has a shorter magazine than the 99 and you could go .300 Sav,.308 a 250-3000 would be very nice...The 99's , although no where near the fit and finish of a 38 , are just as strong . 7x57, 8mm ,257 Robts would be nice too.Be advised the barrel threads are metric pitch. My buddies 38 sporter used a Shilen barrel chambered to 6mm Rem and will regularly shoot 1/2 moa. The thing about rebuilding milsurps is this;If you're doing it to make a buck you will lose every time.HOWEVER, if its something YOU want , and it works, its worth it every time. Best of luck

[Huffmanite]

No pics available, but acquired a type 38 arisaka a year or so ago that was sporterized probably back in the 70s.  Work was supposedly done by A&M, a pair of very reputable gunsmiths in Arizona.  Whoever did the work put the barreled action in a Fajan stock after rechambering the action to 6.5X257 Roberts, shortening the barrel and D&T for a scope.  From what I gather, reaming the original 6.5X50 chamber to 6.5X257R (the 257R is a 7X57 mauser necked down to 25 cal) was a common thing to do back then.  They also installed a safety which is quite ingenious.  Rifle still has the military trigger on it.

Reloading for the 6.5X257R is no real problem.  I can use either 257R brass or 7X57 mauser brass to make my ammo.  I use a 6.5X55 Swede resizing die to neck up or neck down the brass to 6.5.  Anyway,  bore of my rifles barrel was not in the best condition.  At first I thought the rifleing was worn badly, but then I learned the Japanese beveled the rifling and that I did have just a very frosted/lightly pitted lands in my bore.

When I first began shooting the rifle, probably had 3" or more groups shooting at 100 yards. Dispite trying various powders/loads/bullets in it, groups looked like I'd shot buckshot.  Somewhere I had read of a product marketed for bad bores with teflon in it.  It was supposed to coat the bore with teflon and fill the pitts and etc.  One day I'm in an autoparts store and bought an oil crankcase additive called Greased Lighting, a STP like product that had teflon in it.  Well, I'd swab a coat of the Greased lightning in the bore and fire a round.  Now this is something I'd hesitate to recommend, but with the strenght of the Arisaka action, I was not too concerned with having a problem.   After about 5 rounds, swabbing a thin layer of Greased Lightning before each round, I noticed an improvement in my accuracy with rifle.  After about 10 rounds with the Greased Lightening, I was shooting a 1 1/2"  or less group.  Hardly anything to brag about, but it was definitely an improvement.  I think the rifle can shoot better with a better trigger.

By the way, I did have a minor chambering problem.  Solved it by using my dremel tool to do a minor alteration of the extractor, removing some metal in its area that came in contact with rim of cartridge.
 

[gunnut69]

Some of the early arisaka rifles were quite well built but as need outstripped production they got sloppier.. A Timney with safety would indeed be a good idea.. as with a scope the original safety is very hard to use.. Stong and resonably accurate, one with a good bore woauld make a good deer shooter in the standard caliber.. Ammo is available.. good luck.. BTW-I just bought one at the local pawn store..$100 out the door..sound steep? Well not when you consider the double set trigger installed... I'll likely remove that trigger for another project and replace with a Timney.

[LASSIE]

P. O. Ackley tested them and found them to the strongest action of all
the different makes of military arms after world war 2.

[yosemite]

I had one that had been a gunshop project, a blow up test of sorts, it was a long rifle, cut and crowned just to remove the front sight, the rear of the receiver hogged out for extra length and the trigger /sear cut at front as well, with a spring added at the rear, it had a n excellent bore, and was rechambered to 264 win mag, bolt face opened, bolt srop /ejector severely modified, and themag box altered, rails opened, it fed it fired, it was glassed into  a springfield stock, with a bit of iron behind the recoil lug, 100's of rounds of factory,ww, and handloads with compressed charges of 870,and 4350 behind 160 grain bullets were fired, never cratered a primer, never had a n extraction or headspace problem, some years ago I put it in a bishop cherry stock and traded it to a guy going to alaska on the pipeline project, the chief culprit in the original build was Dick Campbell, a custom gunsmith and knifemaker from Colorado, now in Wa I believe, the 38 never seemed slick or smooth, unless tou compared them to a 99, or maybe a Russian, I have a barreled action now. not vety restorable, thinking of 6.5 swede, 260 remmy, or a rebarrel to 450 marlin, have fun!