I picked up two Type 99's and a Carcano the other week.

One of the Type 99's is an early war one but, was sporterized    

the other is a virgin late war/ last ditch but, of interest was the Sailor who brought it home marked it with his name, Sasebo Japan, December 1945 and his boat (a Minesweeper) before varnishing his info over.

I did some research and the boat was definitely there with Task force 5, who swept Sasebo Harbor and occupied the area.

Checking the gentleman's name, showed he died in 2008 after a full life. He also had 3 kids who at least from a cursory search are alive and well with grand-kids. The gun is great shooter (well as good as a late war type 99 can be) and was well cared for over the last almost 70 years.

What I don't understand, is why in gods name would you sell your dad's War Trophy rifle (I ended up getting it from another party)? That saddens me, I cherish the stuff I have from my Grandfather in WW2, I have my own souvenirs from the Middle East squirreled away. It's an Arisaka so, it's not like it has tremendous value. It's in my collection and will be cared for over many years but, I just don't get it, it should be something that is handed down from generation to generation.

Different values I guess????  

Nice addition. Some people just dont care, or dont want guns in their homes.

These are the same people who turn these  kind of guns in when there`s a gun buy back. Really is a shame some times.

I remember a case a few years ago where a man found the Arisaka that his grandfather brought back after coworker saw it at a gunshop with his name carved on it(grandfather and grandson had the same name). It turned out the rifle had been stolen shortly after the veteran returned home but the grandfather had told the family about it so they knew it was his. If its really bothering you, you could always contact the family and see if they sold the rifle or if it was lost/stolen. If somebody contacted me that had something of my grandfather's I'd pay whatever I had to too get it back.

What's the name of the ship? YMS 74? My Grandpa was on the USS HEED. AM -100

My uncle had four guns when he died, he wasn't even cold yet and his wife my aunt calls my other uncle and goes hey what do you think these are worth I would like to sell them. My uncle goes to look at them, all of them are in rough shape only three are serviceable. My uncle looks at her says maybe $300 for all of them. In the same breath he says but don't you think his grand kids might want them? She says no probably not, well he says how about this I will take them from you and if his grand kids ever want them, I will have them. He called me told me what happened so I called his grandson who has just got into to shooting because of this uncle and I. I tell him what's going on and the my other uncle has them. He said he would have pissed at his grandma if she had sold them and said nothing, which i agree. The uncle that saved them, had all of his fathers weapons sold out from under him when his father died by his greedy step children. My uncle was able to drive around to the local pawn shops and found two of the weapons that were his dads, but the other 50 or so are lost to history I guess.

IMO either two things happen either people think guns are icky and dangerous or they are greedy.

I have a Remington Model 60 that was my grandfathers, and then my fathers. Not a chance I would ever sell that thing. It still works great too, took it apart few years go, (don't think it have been cleaned) It was full of caked on residue, cleaned it all out, put it back together and still shoot perfect, never jams.

First, you have to insure your kids/grandkids have an interest in the guns.  Take them shooting and let them shoot the guns.  Tell them stories about the times when you got the guns and how you got them.

My grandfather's .22 means little to me.  My grandpa was a grouchy old guy who only spoke to us to tell us we were doing something wrong.  My dad kept it hanging on the wall and we were never allowed to shoot it.  I grew up hunting with my dad and we hunted all over the US and hunted all kinds of small game, upland birds and waterfowl - but I was never allowed to shoot that old .22 (a single shot Western Field bolt action).  What does that gun mean to me?  My dad's guns on the other hand (a 12 ga. M37 Ithaca and a Savage M29 pump .22) mean the world to me.  I carried a bag with the squirrels he killed from age 4 till I started hunting on my own.  I remember my dad waiting till a squirrel picked up a nut and was sitting on a limb cutting into it before he shot it in the head  (.22 shorts) and killed it.  They would fall with the nut still in their mouth and the paws on it.  I remember him shooting the front paw off a squirrel that was hanging from the bark of a big pine tree.  The squirrel was dead, but hanging there swinging in the wind and he shot its front paw off so the squirrel would fall (took him two shots but a paw is pretty small way up there on the side of a tree).  I remember him taking us shooting and setting up acorns and then empty .22 cases on a fallen tree for us to shoot at.  i remember the story of how he got the gun (traded a 3 hp outboard to a hunting buddy for it in 1961).  

The above tales are why that gun is important to me.  I bought my youngest son a M29 B Savage .22 based on those memories and knowing they were good guns.

If it means something to you then take the necessary time/effort to insure your children/grandchildren understand why and know how/why it was important to you.  You can't expect them to feel strongly about something you ignored when they were little or came to vist when they got older.

When/if my sons get married and have kids you can be I will have them out with their great grandfather's old guns and that's what they will learn to shoot and have fun with.  We'll start with my pellet rifle and move on to great grandpa's .22's and then to the shotguns and then to the deer rifles.  Then my old 03's, M1917's, M1 Garands, etc.  If we go varmint hunting it'll be with AR15's so they learn to appreciate those, too.  And have even more good memories.

Yes it is YMS 74, which was the precursor to the AM class. The Y meant "Yard" since they were built by Yacht Yards throughout the US  during WW2.

I was a Mine Warfare guy so, as soon as I saw the stock I jumped all over it.

Wooden Ships, Iron Men... those were some tough SOB's that did sweep duty on those classes of boats from WW1 till the last of the MSO's were decommissioned in the early 90's. Especially those guys who ran off Japan and Okinawa at the end of the war.

I have a type 99 that was a bring back from my uncle during WW2. I've had for about 15 yrs. I do like to shoot it occasionally but finding ammo for it especially now can be very difficult.Unfortunately i don't have a pic of the rifle by itself so I figured I'd show a group photo. It's the one on the far left.

That's awesome to have it, you are lucky!


What is the story on how and where he got it?

Oh and PPU 7.7/ Graf and Sons isn't that hard to find  

it was probably sold by an antigunner.  Their options were probably either sell it or take it to a gun turn in event, which would have had it destroyed.  I'd much rather see the path they took

To be honest I'm not really sure which Island or campaign it came from. When my uncle brought it back he left it at my grand fathers house. My uncle relocated from one end of the country to the other and never took it with him when he came to visit. I got the rifle some time before I entered H.S. from my grand father. It sat in our family safe until I enlisted in the army and took it with me when I was stationed in TX. When I got the rifle to TX I finally had it inspected by a gun smith and I was told that it indeed was safe to fire.

My wifes dad has an old Arisaka that has been sitting in his closet for years that his brother carried back, none of his kids could really care less about it so every time we are over there I hit it with a little oil and remind him when he is ready to get rid of it that it is coming to live with me instead of getting dropped off at a pawn shop or turned in. I even put a tag on the trigger with very specific instructions

That pretty much sums up how I ended up with mine. Luckily I was able to liberate the type 99 and a single shot 12 GA  at the same time. They will be a permanent pieces in my collection, simply due to the fact that I never sell guns that were gifted too me.

Nice find!

I have 3-4 GI 1911s, a 38H and a German marked WW2 Hi Power that were bought off people who didn't want their Dads or Grandads WW2 guns plus numerous other old collectable ones sold for the same reason. Don't understand it, never will but I damn will give them a better home then they ever would. The guy I bought the 38H off of had 15-20 old rifles and shotguns [Browning and such, most were not cheapos] he had left lying on the cement floor in the basement for a decade, they were worthless and rusted beyond repair.

Of course it still pisses me off that the guns my Grandpa on Dads side owned mysteriously "disappeared" right after he passed away. They were just a .22 and a shotgun but he always had them around and I would have loved to have them to remember him by. Have a very good idea who took them because they started picking his house apart right after he died but Dad never pursued it [he was the executor] because financially, they were not worth much.

I have a type 98 carbine with bayonet that was a bringback from my father's father who served in WWII.  It costs me about $4 per round of 6.5 Jap to shoot it (I wish I knew how to/had time to reload), but I will NEVER and I mean NEVER get rid of that rifle.

Op just out of curiosity does yours have a mum?

No unfortunately, the Emperor saved faced on both these Type 99's I picked up.  

I'm usually really anal on that (it took me years to find my Type 38 with an unground mum, 98K with waffenmats still there and so on). I would have passed on this one if it didn't have the USN Sailors marking on the stock, the dust cover still present and a very nice sling still attached. The other one (sporterized) I picked up at the same time, I picked up for almost nothing (like 40 bucks) so I really didn't care about that one.      

well very nice rifle none the less.