Arisaka with no serial numbers/markings

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Arisaka with no serial numbers/markings

Posted: 11/27/2008 10:38:07 PM EDT

Hi, recently I was going through the crawlspace at my mom's house and came across what I recognized as a relatively dirty arisaka rifle that she had never seen before. She let me have it knowing nothing about guns herself and preferring to have nothing to do with them if at all possible

When I got it home I tried looking up any information I could find on it and noticed that whereas most rifles that had arsenal marks and serial numbers, mine just has 3 kana characters directly between the receiver holes, positioned so that you can tell it never had a mum.

I was wondering if anyone knew why the gun would have so few markings compared to the other arisakas I've seen in pictures

Posted: 11/28/2008 6:40:44 AM EDT

[#1]

Its probably some kind of trainer. Cool find though; I wish I could get that lucky.

Posted: 11/28/2008 6:45:56 AM EDT

[#2]

If it's a trainer, do NOT shoot it.

If it was "in service" then it had a mum on it, while most were ground off, it was pretty obvious that they were, they didn't use any finesse about it whatsoever.

Posted: 11/28/2008 8:06:06 AM EDT

[#3]

Where are the pictures?

Posted: 11/28/2008 8:28:26 AM EDT

[#4]

I'll post pictures in a bit, don't expect too much from my camera though

Posted: 11/28/2008 3:57:12 PM EDT

[#5]

Sounds interesting. Certainly could be a 'last ditch' Arisaka.
Looking forward to pics.

Posted: 11/28/2008 4:30:34 PM EDT

[#6]

tag for PICTURES

Posted: 11/28/2008 4:53:32 PM EDT

[#7]

if i had to guess about what you have without seeing pictures...
you may have a rifle that was given up after the formal surrender of Japan.

arisaka rifles were marked with a crest of some such, as it was the property of the emperor and considered sacred.

before they were surrendered, the markings were ground off.

possible that you have a bring back.

also equally possible that you have a trainer or one of the "last ditch" rifles.

last ditch means that they were made as cheaply and quickly as possible in a effort to arm Japan during the final days of the war, and in anticipation of the an American invasion.

only way i would shoot it would be if it is a surrendered piece. a trainer or "last ditch" will blow up in your face.

of course this is all 2nd and 3rd hand knowledge, and as always, YMMV.

Posted: 11/28/2008 6:49:26 PM EDT

[#8]

Keep looking. Maybe there is a 82 year old Japanese soldier hiding up there too.

Post some pics so the experts here can help you.

( I'm not one of them)

Posted: 11/28/2008 11:34:56 PM EDT

[#9]

Finally got the pictures up

Like I said, not the best quality, but you can at least kind of see what I mean when I say the characters are right between the holes.

The handguard, both the metal loops that fit around the front of the stock, and the front sight are missing, but everything else is there including the dust cover.

Posted: 11/29/2008 6:37:05 PM EDT

[#10]

It's tough to tell anything by the pictures but I'll stay with my guess as a last ditch rifle.

Posted: 11/30/2008 5:49:03 AM EDT

[#11]

i guess you arent a photographer ?

if its a last ditch rifle expect it to look so. the stock will look like it was carved with a pocket knife.

Posted: 11/30/2008 6:27:55 AM EDT

[#12]

I don't think it's a last ditch rifle. Could very possibly be a "school rifle", and extremely unsafe to shoot!

Could also be an earlier Arisakas model, and maybe worth some bucks.

It doesn't appear to be a Type 99, might be a T38 6.5mm, or possibly an older T30, however the school rifle thing scares me!

I think it's a T38 or T30, but you had better find out for sure, Maybe consult a guy named Peter salt who posts at Gunboards. The Arisaka guys there would know for sure.

The school rifles are quite like a real rifle, except just made to train little samurais, and not shoot. Stories abound of fellows jamming a 6.5 Arisaka round in a School rifle and having it explode in their face!!!

Posted: 11/30/2008 7:15:29 AM EDT

[#13]

Thats not a last ditch, it's [even tho the pics suck] built to nicely, the last ditch's looked like crap and the trigger guard is all wrong.

Posted: 11/30/2008 7:07:13 PM EDT

[#14]

There are a few rifles that were marked with concentric circles rather than the mum.

Lots of good info on markings and other information for identifying Arisakas can be found here:

http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforums.yuku.com/topic/5149/t/Japanese-Arms-Ref-Info-READ-THIS-BEFORE-ASKING.html

Posted: 11/30/2008 9:21:47 PM EDT

[#15]

Checked around a bunch of those resources but still can't find much, I got a picture of the bolt which looks a litttle different than others I've seen, and I used MSpaint to roughly etch out what the characters look like since you can't really see them that well in the pictures

Posted: 11/30/2008 9:57:55 PM EDT

[#16]

The rear of the bolt and the markings are very similar to the Type 30, or perhaps even the 35, although profile is closer to the 30. Very hard to tell from the pictures, shape of the safety varies between each model, is there a hook of any kind on the safety?

Posted: 11/30/2008 10:18:05 PM EDT

[#17]

Not sure what would qualify as a hook, but here are some more pictures of the bolt

Posted: 12/1/2008 5:13:24 AM EDT

[#18]

dude, you got a FREE rifle, now go buy a digital camera! youre killing me!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Arisaka with no serial numbers/markings

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