Type 38 Arisaka

[Military Surplus Lover]

Hello all, found this type 38 arisaka rifle yesterday. It has had its mum scrubbed unfortunately but retains its original dustcover. I believe it was made at the Kokura arsenal. Is it possible to date when this rifle was made? The numbers are not matching. Stock is in very nice shape and has the cleaning rod. Also noticed that some type 38s seem to have front sight ears while others do not, were they removed from this one? Looking to find out more about this rifle, and wondering what it’s worth, doesent seem to be a whole lot of arisakas for sale in Canada. Thanks

 

[The_Red_Rabbit]

Hey OP,

Ammo is the hardest thing to find. It took over a year for me to find some 7.7 for my Type 99. Going to be harder as Tradeex is scaling down.

Your Type 38 is in pretty decent condition. I would say it worth around 1000ish.

Here is a link on markings.

http://www.oldmilitarymarkings.com/japanese_markings.html

 

[Military Surplus Lover]

Hey OP,

Ammo is the hardest thing to find. It took over a year for me to find some 7.7 for my Type 99. Going to be harder as Tradeex is scaling down.

Your Type 38 is in pretty decent condition. I would say it worth around 1000ish.

Here is a link on markings.

http://www.oldmilitarymarkings.com/japanese_markings.html

Thank you very much for the info! Yes I have realized that ammo is not too available and it’s not cheap at all, will be one of those rifles that I’ll only take out once a year! I’m looking forward to trying it

 

[bearhunter]

It's not worth a $1000 with the mum crest ground off the receiver. Maybe $650 if the interior is as good as the exterior

Loaded ammo may be hard to find but the cases can be made from 220 swift for hand loads. These rifles can be extremely accurate if they have decent bores that are on mean specs. They are plenty strong enough to be loaded to modern pressures in modern cartridges, such as 6.5 Creedmore and 260Remington. Not saying the specs are interchangeable but comparing pressures.

That front sight is original. The cleaning rod is an after market replacement and IMHO its been put back into milspec condition with mostly original replacement parts. For me, one of the indicators is the wear to the metal surface finish.

Still, a nice example but it's a shooting example more than a collector example, that's why the lower evaluation

 

[antidote1985]

Need a clear view of the symbol on the left of the Serial number to tell you the serie and approximative years..

Yours have a cupped butpalte so the stock is made after 1935 is my merories is good. early type 38 don't have front sight ewrs and late type 38 have some.

 

[Military Surplus Lover]

Thanks for the info everyone, just bought some ammo for it, I’ll try to get a clearer picture so we can date it!

 

[eos]

Early front sight and safety knob.

 

[Military Surplus Lover]

Need a clear view of the symbol on the left of the Serial number to tell you the serie and approximative years..

Yours have a cupped butpalte so the stock is made after 1935 is my merories is good. early type 38 don't have front sight ewrs and late type 38 have some.

There doesent appear to be a symbol on the left side of the serial number but there is one to the right of it and it appears that it’s made at the Tokyo arsenal, anyone know around when this was made? Thanks

 

[antidote1985]

If I dosent have a a symbol on the left it's a serie 0 the symbol on the right of the arsenal marking are a inspection symbol

but I'm pretty sure there a symbol on the left.... Just not very visible

 

[Military Surplus Lover]

If I dosent have a a symbol on the left it's a serie 0 the symbol on the right of the arsenal marking are a inspection symbol

but I'm pretty sure there a symbol on the left.... Just not very visible

Doesent seem to be anything there unless it was ground off. Is a series 0 really early in production?

 

[antidote1985]

Doesent seem to be anything there unless it was ground off. Is a series 0 really early in production?

Type 38 Série 0 koishikawa (Tokyo) 1906-1935 the first to produce the type 38 approx 2 millions type 38 produced during 29 years.. Yours have some early feature but the stock is cupped so I think the stock is a later model made after 1933 or 1935... Maybe I'm wrong

 

[Military Surplus Lover]

Type 38 Série 0 koishikawa (Tokyo) 1906-1935 the first to produce the type 38 approx 2 millions type 38 produced during 29 years.. Yours have some early feature but the stock is cupped so I think the stock is a later model made after 1933 or 1935... Maybe I'm wrong

Oh cool! That’s interesting! Thanks for the info! Is it possible to get an exact date it was made based on the serial number?

 

[antidote1985]

I don't think so... Maybe someone have a book with aditional info but I never have seen such information and I read and search everyday about Japanese weapons... If my I had a good memories I Think that a lot of information have been lost in the great Tokyo fire (1923)and the end of ww2...

 

[Phat Eagle]

If you've never checked out www.nambuworld.com you should. Teri has a TON of info on there, and she is a first-class collector. I always look forward to her displays at the 2 day HACS shows!

 

[antidote1985]

Great lady! She help me a lot with some traduction and finding some rare stuff...

 

[Military Surplus Lover]

Oh cool, never seen that website, thanks