Converting a Japanese Bubba ?

Pathfinder

Pathfinder

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
124   0   0
Location
Northeast Ontario
I got thinking about what to do with Bubbaed Jap rifles


Has anybody here ever seen there converted / rechambered ?

The receivers are supposed to be bomb proof so I guess the sky is the limit as far as pressures go ? I guess we are restricted by magazine, action lenght, bolt face (unless we want to alter it).

Would a 303 British Reamer clean up the orginal 7.7x58mm ? After Barrel setback I suppose.. ?? No idea about the bolt face I guess it would have to adapted for the rimmed case.

How about the Type 38 in 6.5 ? Maybe turn it into 6.5x55 / 260 Rem ?
 
As far as converting them, I agree that they are a very strong action, and should stand up to just about anything. I looked at one a few years ago, and my biggest complaint with the one I saw was that it was finished very rough, and would have taken a lot of work to clean up. I don't know if they were all finished like that, but it wouldn't surprise me with the wartime production models. As far as converting them, you would have to alter the bolt face if necessary, as well as the magazine in order to get reliable feeding if you were to try to convert the 7.7mm to .303 (or the 6.5mm to rimless). I do know that 7.7mm Japanese brass can be made by necking down 8mm mauser brass (they end up being just a little bit short, but case stretching after one firing takes care of it), so if you wanted to keep it in 7.7mm, I know it's a very good caliber. Just my thoughts.

Erik.
 
The 7.7 Jap was the first military rifle to sport a chromed bore so it might be a little hard on tooling.To ease brass availability they commonly set the barrel back and rechambered to .308 Win chamber with .312 bullets.Probably cheaper to take a take off barrel form the gunsmith in .308 Win and just shoot that..................The Jap rifles had what they call elipticle rifling that is shallow and appears worn out when it's actually not..........Harold
 
There can also be some problems chambering an Arisaka. Take the rifle to a gunsmith and get a cost estimate as well as a guarantee that he can do the job. The 7.7x58 and the 303 british are identical performance wise. This would be a great opportunity to get into reloading. The brass is available and standard .312 size bullets are as well.

It would probably be cheaper and certainly easier to set up for handloading than do the conversion. The 7.7jap can be loaded quite hot as well. The Japanese, like the Italians purposely kept their loads mild, for their short statured soldiers as well as keeping down the wear and tear on their rifles.

bearhunter
 
The Thai Gov't rebarrelled Type 38 6.5 Jap Arisaka's to 30-06.......Mexico ordered several thousand in 7x57 but naturally failed to pay for them so only the first order was shipped.The Chinese + VC converted many to fire 7.62x39 Timney is again making triggers for them...........................Harold
 
I already handload.

I looked up the specs on 7.7 and its not too bad indeed, but I would rather use commonly available brass and dies. The cost of converting would probably be prohibitive but it would make an interesting gun none the less.

I Probably would have more interest in having a 6.5 rechambered as I already load for 6.5x55.

Just one of those future future projects for the back burner.
 
I believe a 6.5 jap could easily be rechambered to a .260 Rem provided the barrel is good.Adam's+ Bennet make barrels pre-chambered in 6.5x55 that could maybe be fitted to an Arisaka.Your 7.7 Arisaka has a barrel dia. of 1.024" with 17 threads per inch V type threads so any Rem 700 1 1/16" will fit as well as 98 mauser1.10" Food for thought.........Harold
 
Certainly no flies on a 260 . Thanks for Tech info Harold.

I dont' actually have a Jap rifle, I was just reading up on their actions and wondering what I would do with one if I had the chance.
 
Interesting read from Frank de Haas: He refers to a lot of these type 38's being rechambered to use the 257 roberts case necked up to use 6.5mm bullets....6.5x57 ?

The blowup Testing sounds impressive. They rechambered these 6.5's to 30-06 while leaving the bore as .264 !!!! Even with those overloads they could not blow up the action or the barrel !!
 
6.5x57 is actually a factory caliber, just not here (I have one). As to the Jap rifles, years ago I had one that had been sporterised by H&H after the war and chambered to 6.5x54. A nice job, and a great deer caliber, but I just couldn't get used to the safety, and when I had a trade in the offing I let it go. I sort of wish now I had kept it, just because it was quite unusual. - dan
 
Timney is again making replacement trigger with side saftey for Arisaka's.Alot of people hated the original round rotating knob they used for a saftey............Harold
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom