6.5 Jap

[jim21]

I'm thinking about buying a 6.5 Jap mauser.I'm not sure what it is.All I
know is it takes a 6.5 Jap roumd.Where do I find ammo for it? :-)

[Zcarp2]

Norma still makes and imports it.  $$$  Search the web (Midway, Midsouth, Graf's etc)

You'd be better off reloading for it.  I just set one up for my daughter, but haven't shot it yet.  Graf's had brass.  Still in the catalogue and a whole lot cheaper than Norma.

Dies are regularly available on the auction sites.  Be patient, they usually run up the price REAL quick.  I was out bid on several sets before I won a set at my price.  New dies are pricey!

There is a guy selling some brass on the classifieds from last week.  Good price if you need some.

Zcarp2

[Slamfire]

The 6.5x50S(emi)R(immed) was the Japanese service cartridge adopted in 1901 along with the Arisaka Type 30 rifle. It fired a 139 grain bullet at something between 2300 and 2400 fps. The chamber is perfectly cleaned out by running a .260 Remington reamer in until the bolt will close on the reamer.
A little dremel work on the extactor if it doesn't want to snap over the .308 cartridge head, and your ammo problems are solved. The rifle itself is most likely stronger than any Remington ever made.  :wink:

[R.W.Dale]

The 6.5x50S(emi)R(immed) was the Japanese service cartridge adopted in 1901 along with the Arisaka Type 30 rifle. It fired a 139 grain bullet at something between 2300 and 2400 fps. The chamber is perfectly cleaned out by running a .260 Remington reamer in until the bolt will close on the reamer.
A little dremel work on the extactor if it doesn't want to snap over the .308 cartridge head, and your ammo problems are solved. The rifle itself is most likely stronger than any Remington ever made.  :wink:

 And then poof you've just made a rifle worth $300 to $400 be worth at most $150.

 Just for ammo avalibility I don't tink .260 would ba the way to go, 260 is getting to be like 284win It may never go completely away but you probably have to mail order your ammo. If you're going to do that I'ed just order a wad of .6.5x50 online

[S.S.]

I have a 6.5 Arisaka myself and I absolutely love it.
I purchased 150 rounds of brass and the dies to reload
it off of E-bay! I would recommend reloading for it
because the NORMA ammo for it is crap and does not shoot
with anything resembling accuracy. I load nothing heavier than
120 grains for mine and it really likes the 100 grain Nosler
ballistic tips. Be expecting it to shoot about 3 inches high,
I have never fired any of the Japanese rifles that didn't.
Mine groups quite well though, Centered but high.
I like this cartridge so much that I am in the planning stages of having a custom rifle created for it based on a Swedish Mauser Action. Everything is ready except the bolt face and extractor claw.

[Zcarp2]

The $300 Arisaka is only worth that if it hasn't been chopped and is original military in excellent condition.

Mine was chopped on both wood and metal.  I've got a $50 barreled action.  If I put a new stock on it, the price will triple.  She's been cleaned up and will be my daughter's deer rifle this year.

Take care and shoot the thing!
Zcarp2

[S.S.]

I forgot to add something. The Japanese were renowned for BOOBY TRAPPING things. I have been collecting mil-surps for more years than I care to mention, and I have ran across 3 booby trapped japanese rifles.
One had a hole drilled just in front of the rear sight and what appeared to be a firing pin tip stuck in the hole. It barely protruded into the grooves of the rifling. the outside was polished and blued and was invisible without magnification. That barrel split from sight to chamer when it was fired.
Another one was done the same way but it was spotted before it was fired.
A piece of cotton from the cleaning patch was torn off by the obstruction
and was visible with the bore light. The last one had an angled hole drilled through the barrel just ahead of the receiver. The hole was filled with paint
of some sort and metal fragments. I assume the object of this was
to blow this debris into the eyes of the one firing it.  I have a theory that a lot of this was done when the war was over! The Japanese high command ordered that the Imperial crest be ground off of all rifles before they were surrendered. (This supposedly released the spirit of the weapon or something like that) I think our little yellow brothers did a little more that that. McAurther ordered our troops to remove the crest also from their captures.. Lots of troops didn't... I tied mine to a car tire and pulled the trigger with a string just to be safe. It has been fired
lots of times since. Great rifles, just check it well.

[Slamfire]

I've seen a lot more junkers than collector grade rifles, although the Type 38s seem to be better made than the 99s, you can still get late war production examples. Mukden, the Manchurian arsenal never did make any type 99s, clinging to the 6.5s right to the bitter end. I have one, you can barely operate the bolt, and don't try feedin' from the magazine. I only keep it around to shame scope users with.  :wink:
I've a good collector, matchin' numbers, smooth operatin', mum bearin' example that I paid $250 for about 15 years ago.
Guess which one is a .260.  :wink:

[Japlmg]

I have been collecting and shooting Japanese rifles for nearly 50 years now.
I have never seek a booby trapped Japanese rifle.
But, I do proof fire every surplus rifle I ever shoot, after I have dissassembled and inspected everything!
I do so with all surplus rifles, no mater where its origin was.
Anyone who does not do the same thing is a total fool!
The only Japanese rifles that I have ever seen that blew up, were blank firing only trainers that some unknowing fool fired live ammo in.
Japanese rifles have very strong actions, and even very late war production last ditch rifles are normally safe to shoot.
As to the ground mum thing.
The Mum is the Japanese Royal Family's crest.
The Mum being on a rifle in effect means it is the property of the Emperor.
When a Japanese soldier was issued a rifle, it was like the Emperor was loaning his personal property to the soldier.
It was unthinkable for a Japanese soldier to surrender a rifle with the Mum intact.
Since Japanese soldiers rarely surrendered in combat, Japanese rifles with intact Mum's were for the most part battlefield pickups.
A rifle with a ground Mum (or defaced Mum) was most likely picked up after the surrender in September of 1945.
Regards, Gregg

[Type99]

Hello Greg...

I have a Type 99, complete with dustcover and cleaning rod.  It has a mum with what look like two bayonet strikes through it.  Or perhaps they could be a screwdriver(?).  

In any event, was the theory behind this the same as grinding them off completely?  Do you think it was done by a GI?

Cheers,
Gary

[Oldtimer]

I also have a 99 that was brought back from the Phillipines by my father-in-law.  It had to be unissued: no soldier worth the name would go into the field with that rattletrap of a dust cover.  I understand that all surrendered weapons had the chrysthanthemum ground off.  I don't think the US military allowed weapons off the ship unless they were ground.  My father-in-law said that his unit was told that if they had weapons that did not have proper transfer papers in San Diego, the soldiers would have to stay another two weeks to get the weapons cleared.  He said that night, it sounded like a waterfall, with all the weapons being dumped overboard, because all the soldiers wanted to get home as soon as possible.

[S.S.]

They (the military) normally do have folks checking duffle bags and such
for contraband at the docks/Terminals but there is slack security on the checkers themselves! I was amazed at what a friend of mine brought back from Beiruit. I found that it is amazing how much STUFF you can fit in a common Canteen too :lol:  I am a firm believer in the fact that If I put my butt on the line and decide to pick something up to commemerate the experience, (War Trophy) I should be able to.. Mine is an SKS.
My Uncle felt the same way after WWII, His  7.7mm Jap rifle is Pristine.
Everything is completely intact. A man I knew back in the 70's had a collection of improvised Viet Cong Grenades, probably 2 dozen of them,
all live.. He also had a 40mm M79 grenade launcher I didn't believe it was functional until he dropped a round onto a Beaver Dam in South Georgia. The flood was interesting to watch when part of the dam ceased to exist.
Soldiers will find inovative ways to get things home. Especially if they go through a battle to get them.

[jim21]

After reading some of these posts.I decided against buying it.Thanks people.

[Japlmg]

Most of the Japanese rifles with completely ground Mum's came out of Japan.
Yes, the US military did have a ground mum policy from October 1945 until some time in late 1946 or early 1947.
The reason for the droping of the policy, was the Japanese Emperor by Imperial edict (a proclamation by the Emperor) declared himself to be a man, not a God. Thus there was no longer a need to save face by removing the Imperial Crest from the rifles.
The Japanese soldiers in the field used what ever means they had to deface the Mum before handing it over to the allies. That ment hand grinders, files, hammers, chisels and when nothing else was available, the bayonet. A Mum with a "X" filed through it is common, as are mum's with a couple hack marks accross the Mum.
If the Mum is damaged in any manor, it is considered a decrested rifle to serious collectors.
As to the dust covers, they were intended for use in dry dusty areas, like China. When not needed, they were removed fron the rifle and stored in the soldier's back pack. No Japanese soldier ever just removed his rifle's dust cover and "threw it away". If one did, and he could not produce his rifle's dust cover during an inspection, he would be beated to a pulp by his NCO's.
Regards, Gregg