My Arisaka T38 - Trainer or No ?

[Kwantung Armyman]

Hello guys, thanks for the info. Here are some pics of the Arisaka T38 I just bought, please tell me if it is a real rifle or a trainer, thanks !

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l112/Kwantung-Armyman/ArisakaT38-01.jpg
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l112/Kwantung-Armyman/ArisakaT38-02.jpg
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l112/Kwantung-Armyman/ArisakaT38-03.jpg
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l112/Kwantung-Armyman/ArisakaT38-04.jpg

It has the Kanji "Sanhachi-Shiki" with the chrysanthemum intact. It is made in the Nagoya arsenal. I don't know if it is a trainer but the chrysanthemum does have a ring of small circles overstamped on it. It does not have the "school" mark stamped. Is it a trainer then?

And also, if it is indeed a trainer, can you please tell me if it is poorer in performace compare to a non-trainer ? And if no, can you tell me the difference between a trainer and a regular T38 Arisaka ? Thanks !

 

[green]

IIRC the circles on the mum were a Siamese over stamp mark. Looks like a regular service T38.

 

[tiriaq]

The real training rifles are intended for firing blanks only, have a cast receiver., and a smoothbore barrel (?). Is the receiver tang integral with the receiver? If so, its a training rifle. The training rifles should never be fired with ball ammunition.
I'm on dialup, and it was taking forever for your photos to load, so I did not inspect them.

 

[Claven2]

Looks like a normal T38 to me, but it's had the Mum cancelled sometime after it left Japanese service.