Milsurp After Hours

Since nobody has posted here in a coons age....and just to try 0ut the new camera.... I'm posting this for those of you who don't have any Arisaka's. Did notice that I had a finger smudge on the lense about half way through.

This Arisaka I've had for a dozen years and have never fired it. However, although beat up pretty bad the bore looks really good.

Notice the crack in the butt....all Arisaka's seem to have stocks made from two pieces of wood glued together. The crack is pretty normal for rifles that have had a hard life.

Notice the Mum ground off...another regular feature.

The magazine empties by pressing in a latch in the trigger guard and the base of the magazine ejects...kinda an improvement to the basic Mauser design in that it works without having to find something to press down on the catch.

I think this one was made in China at a plant run for the Japanese. I knew what it was once... have to go looking for it again by the symbol on the receiver. Edit: Mukden (Manchuria)


I'm just going to jumble these photos up as I come to them.

By the way....the camera is a new Sony DSC-HX9V. It's made in Japan.

That is one of the rarer varients. I don't think I have posted any pics of my Type 38 rifle. I will have to get some done. Not many Arisaka rifles seem to be in the UK, at least I never see any on the range.

Regards
Peter.

When I bought it I thought I was taking a chance and maybe paying too much considering the condition! All things considered, I wish I had bought a couple more for the curiosity value. It came from the old Springfield Sporters. Here is a photo of their catalog from about the time I bought it. Notice the story they tell of their Arisaka inventory origins. And note how Springfield Sporters just about always added the non shooting clause to probably protect themselves from any eventuality from firing any old weapon they sold.

Henry Kranks have a short rifle in at the moment. I looked at it the other week, it has the chrysanthemum and the barrel looked a bit rough, price tag of £495.

Joe

I am going to Kranks next week so I will have a look at it. It seems a bit overpriced at £495. None of mine were over £295. My best one, the Type 38 carbine, I got from Kranks. It has a good barrel and is all matchng including the dust cover and complete with the chrysanthamum. It cost £250 though it was getting on for ten years ago. One of our club members has just paid £600 for a Swedish Mauser. It is a nice one, but I can't believe he paid that much for it. Others have paid £500 for No.4 rifles. I have a few variations to fill, but I don't fancy paying those prices to fill them. I wish we could get Arisaka rifles here for $70.
Regards
Peter.

In the US they aren't sold often for $70 any longer either. Probably one like I have would sell for somewhere about $200 on average.....still better return on investment after about a dozen years than lots of other things one could have invested in. However, the individual gun merchant probably would ask a little more ...check out this guy's present listings. He has been mentioned at a lot of internet gun sites over the years with a generally decent reputation from all the remarks I've noticed. His prices are higher than if some major importer had them for sale, sometimes significantly more, but I think he would be representative of the market retail asking price.

http://www.empirearms.com/rifles.htm

I just mentally spent about five years worth of gun money there. I really want an M1 Garand but they are illegal here as it is a centrefire self loading rifle. That really annoys me, but that is unlikely to change in my lifetime.
Regards
Peter.

I wonder what a Jap bugle is worth? Seen today in a display on board the USS Alabama.

You can see the uniformed display dummy. Looks like his bugle blowing days are over though.

Nice display. I have not looked for any Japanese accoutrements apart from a couple of bayonets I have.
Regards
Peter.