Arisaka Type 38 questions

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Eaglelord17

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Hi all,

I wanted to ask some questions about the Arisaka Type 38 I just acquired (a Nagoya 28 Series) and as you all love pictures I took a couple.
My main question is does anyone know what this star above the receiver is, to me it looks almost like a Tula star (as in Russian). I tried looking through my book on Arisakas and nothing came up. I checked the stock to see if it had the Chinese markings on it but it doesn't. The other question I have is I have a Type 30 Bayonet that fits perfectly on my Arisaka Type 99 but it won't fit on the Type 38, maybe just difference in tolerances (I have no photos for this one)?




(there was still a decent amount of cosmoline in the gun when I got it just noticed that I missed the gas vents)






The last picture is to show how ridiculously long the ladder sight is.
Thanks for looking
 
Well, it's definitely a Type 38: that is exactly what the remaining markings on the receiver translate as.

The 'Mum has been ground completely away, so there is a good chance that it was surrendered at the conclusion of the War rather than a capture during the fighting.

The STAR I am not at all sure about, although I have seen a somewhat-similar star on Lee-Enfields refurbished in Indonesia after it obtained Independence from Holland.

Perhaps this rifle also saw Service in that part of the world..... again.

I don't know the production figures but, in this country anyway, Rifles seem to out number Carbines half a dozen or so to one.

BTW, Eaglelord, Trade-Ex has brass for your Ari. I find that they like a bullet with a soft jacket. I tried some hard-jacket Match bullets in mine and that 4-groove Metford rifling absolutely shredded the slugs. My best 200-yard 5-shot group was 20 feet high by 30 feet wide. With nice, soft Remington 140s, groups settled down to a touch under 1" at 100, off the bags, of course.
 
smellie said:
The STAR I am not at all sure about, although I have seen a somewhat-similar star on Lee-Enfields refurbished in Indonesia after it obtained Independence from Holland.

Perhaps this rifle also saw Service in that part of the world..... again.

I don't know the production figures but, in this country anyway, Rifles seem to out number Carbines half a dozen or so to one.

BTW, Eaglelord, Trade-Ex has brass for your Ari. I find that they like a bullet with a soft jacket. I tried some hard-jacket Match bullets in mine and that 4-groove Metford rifling absolutely shredded the slugs. My best 200-yard 5-shot group was 20 feet high by 30 feet wide. With nice, soft Remington 140s, groups settled down to a touch under 1" at 100, off the bags, of course.
Click to expand...

Thanks Smellie,

I need to get a reloading set up but you can be sure within a couple months or so I will have it set up to go. The rifle actually has a decent bore, its a bit rough but the rifling is strong. The fact is still has the cosmoline on it makes me guess it was stored by some nation for at least a bit. The star is throwing me off as since it is not a Japanese marking it is likely a other nations property mark (I was thinking Soviet or other communist nation, but Indonesia would be one to look into now).
 
Eaglelord17 said:
There are both Rifle and Carbine Type 38's. The carbines seem to be around more (at least in Canada) but there were more rifles made then carbines.
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Thanks for the education Eaglelord. I found my Type 38 Carbine does not like boat tail bullets. Flat base are the way to go. I shoot a lot of cast bullets with neck sized brass. Very accurate. Awesome little rifles.
 
You learn something new everyday with old rifles. For example I was surprised when I got this one as I didn't realize it had a aperture sight (like the Type 99s). I figured that they all had the 'V' notch (which I actually prefer as for some reason I can't use a aperture sight properly).
 
I've seen quite a few series 28 Nagoyas that went to Siam/Thailand ("zero" cancellations around the circumference of the "mum"). Wonder if this one started there but later disposed of elsewhere? The star marking is Indonesian as far as I know.
 
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eos said:
I've seen quite a few series 28 Nagoyas that went to Siam/Thailand ("zero" cancellations around the circumference of the "mum"). Wonder if this one started there but later disposed of elsewhere? The star marking is Indonesian as far as I know.
Click to expand...

Thanks, so I know at least post-war it was in service with Indonesia. It really is to bad that old rifles don't have a sheet magically attached to them saying where they have been and what they did.
 
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