I just picked up this nice little Arisaka Type 38 at a garage sale not even knowing what it was at the time, now I have it and don't really know what to do with it. Are these worth very much as a collecter's items? I know I won't ever shoot it, But I don't really know where to try and sell something like this.  Suggestions?

Thanks

Adam Rieck

Value would depend on condition, If it's really nice with an intact mum and matching action cover it could be worth around $ 300 at the most, alittle more if it has any xtras like orig sling and muzzle cover.
If it's in good shape it should be very safe to shoot, ammo isn't super cheap but get a box and give it a shoot...
Auction Arms or any other online auction would be the best way to find a buyer.

DONT shoot it -- im not saying its un-safe to do, but what caliber is it??? the japenese made those rifles in at least 2 different calibers( 6.5 and 7.7), maybe more or some variations in those calibers. they also made those guns in trainer models.
those guns have a lot of collector value, but i dont know anyone that shoots'em.
go watch the "tales of the gun" japenese weapons episode and they will go over the ammo differences.
the hardest arisakas to find are the first ones with -- flip down aircraft sights, bipod, metal butt plate, and a intact mum. then they start to vary which is what most will find, until you get to "last ditch effort" guns. which have wood butt plate, crud sights, no bipod, and the back of the bolt un-machined.

really find someone who knows those guns and can tell you everything you need to know, and if its safe to shoot.

The type 38 , 38 carbine and type 44 carbine are 6.5mm cal and new commercial ammo is available from Norma and Old Western Scrounger. The 38's are safe to shoot but have it looked at first to make sure it's in working order.

The type 99 7.7mm "last ditch rifles"  are the ones not to shoot !!!

This rifle is a 6.5mm and I've heard that some people rebore this rifle to a 250 roberts size cartridge or something, has anyone heard of doing this, and Garand...when you say flip up aircraft sights I'm not sure what your mean. It has flip up sights with a a slide that goes up and down, when you say aircraft I think like anti-aircraft gunship sights.
Thanks

Type 38's are very safe to fire. Ammo is a bit expensive, but one can handload.

Many variants exist of the type 38, and I'd need shots of the reciever ring, and right side of the reciever to ID it.

The late "last ditch" type 99's have an undeserved reputation for being unsafe. Yes, they used a cast reciever, but if one studies the design of the action, one would see how the '99 locks the bolt into a barrel extension, instead of depending on the reciever.(The AR-15 uses a similar locking theory.) One could make the reciever out of non strategic materials, as it no longer bore the stresses of firing.

The confusion, and basis for the reputation of the last ditch '99's lay in Japanese training rifles, intended to fire blanks or reduced charge munitions. Feeding a T-99 training rifle a full charge 7.7 service round would be disastrous.

Meplat-

some good links

www.surplusrifle.com/index.asp

www.radix.net/~bbrown/japanese_markings.html

I have a good early rifle that was a WWII bring back. It has the mum and aircraft sight. I lost the original safety knob years ago (when I was a kid and didn't know any better!) and got a later model safety that shows rough welds. The biggest problem is that it has ben converted to .30-06