Is The Type 38 Arisaka The Best Military Bolt Action Rifle? (Guns of Imperial Japan Pt.3) 

Awesome story & thank you much for sharing.

My grandfather's brother brought one back from the war, and gave it to my grandfather. He used it for hunting and didn't like it. He ended up trading it for a shotgun. I have the bayonet that was on it, and started researching what gun it went to. My father filled me in on the background of it. Pretty cool peice of kit you wouldn't find on a soldier returning from war these days

@@paulmattle6683 agreed. The metal sheath on the bayonet that was on my rifle has a small ish dent on the side too. Adds character lol and has a nice patina on the finish now. Pretty neat addition to the rifle itself

@@MikeJones-nc1xz I kind of want to get the rifle now. That Bayonet makes it insanely long

@@paulmattle6683 yeah with the bayonet attached is taller than I am lol. Ok that might not be entirely accurate but it is really tall with the bayonet attached. I imagine it looked ridiculous for a stereotypical little Japanese soldier. I do recommend finding a rifle in good condition for it. Ammo is not overly common but not impossible to find. Kind of expensive per round but mine is a hoot to shoot. And still really quite accurate after all this time

Young me started off around 1998 just wanting 1 6.5mm Arisaka and 1 7.7mm....now look what it has turned into!

Exactly, and yeah my early and late Type 38s are a bit different in the noise department...oh well. Its still a neat feature and actually well thoughtout. Thanks Nambu!

Mine retains the original Japanese barrel, modified for 7.62x39. Its an...'interesting' conversion.

Chinese military converted them as well

@@misha5670 yes same with mine it's a barrel insert but I can change it back but you can only do it with type 99s but I have a type38 Chinese military conversion with a Chinese SKS barrel threaded in place with magazine adjusted, I do love the og arisaka rounds but pricy and cases can be hard to get. Have loaded 6.5 quite hot. Type 99 was the first chrome lined barrel to be used on a forearm and my type 99s are still perfect.

@@jason200912 Chinese converted everything they could get, the most popular Chinese Chinese was a varient of the G88 but then imports of rifles by garmany and machining made them make the Jiang rifle, preffy much a 98K with some differences. I have one in nice condition but most got stored in the south so unless the barrel was full of cosmoline some are in bad condition. They also used CZ machine guns in 8mm (one the bren is based on) They also had quite a lot of American and British war aid especially after the surrender of Japan they had sherman tanks, M1 garlands and M1 Carbines going to the KMT but they did have all manner of German WW2 and soviet arms from Russia. Even after the Peoples Republic of China was solidified in 1949 you could have many many different calibers. A common weapon during the warlord era was a C96, Spanish or local clone in 7.63 mauser or 9mm High power with a attachable stock/Holster. The most common pistol cartridge before 1949 was the mauser pistol and they would import a lot of long barreled, 20 round detachable mag Carbines as they are are not classed as military weapons, they called them box cannons and where a status symbol. Due to the German connection (Germany supplied slot to China even helmets and uniforms) 8mm was the most common rifle cartridge, 9mm luger was also common on high quality pistols. Some police forces managed to get brownings in. 380 but the most common non military handgun caliber was .32acp just like in Europe. China took to semi auto stic pistols and SMGs very fast, as in as soon as semis where reliable like the C96 they stopped using revolvers. A C96 was like wearing a rolex GMT. Some warlords managed to get shipments of Thompson SMGs and ammo, they would start ammo and localised SMG production and even got the armoury to make. 45acp C96 pistols. In China they wasted nothing at all the Korean war was a logistic nightmare as in some units may have arisaka 38s, some 99s, some G88s, some 98K types. Some had mosins. Some had m machine guns some had Japanese machine guns SMGs where just a mix. With pistol and SMG quality ranging from home workshop to arsenal grade top notch. Some C96 pistols got made to take the pressures of a tokarev round. I'm all the Chinese really liked German and American weapons they alp liked the huge amount of stens from the UK and qloved the SMLE. American weapons where saved for special forces, same with all auto loading rifles and good pistols and SMGs. Russia set up a mosin carbine factory in China and while they did not like it that much it was a start of standardisation. They converted SMLEs and CZ/bren machine guns in this caliber. (I have converted a few. 303 rifle to 7.62x54R a SMLE with a bad lead and headpsace and a martini endfeild also with a bad lead (cordide) 54r and. 303 are about the same overallsize and the bullet diameter is exactly the same, barrels removed cut a little from the breach then had it rechambered with a new extraction cut made and a little part of the muzzel cut and recrowned. Yoy can also do it with 7.62x39 but with prices I would not recommend it plus you can reload 54r so many times vs. 303 In China eventually when the ammo ran low they just converted what they could to soviet calibers l, SMGs easyx some rifles easy if your making barrels l, I'm sure a lot of hot SMG tok ammo was used in C96 pistols. I worked for the PLA and ironically they preferred the SKS over the AK as it was more accurate. All Chinese SKS rifles are spikerd and so are most of the AKs but it seems they made the As really nice. Nearlyball legit Chinese military AKs have a non threaded muzzel and can't accept any muzzle attachment. 3rd and 4th line plus local militias may still use 7.62x39 so will the police forces. 12.7 soviet and 7.62x54R is still widely used in the modern military. As strange as it sounds some marksman weapons while rare are made in. 308 and .338L as I think they can see the trouble in using rimmed cartridges for DMR /sniper rifles. They also have 12.7 soviet (not rimmed) For assault rifles they use 5.8mm and for pistols they use 5.8 (ala 5.7) I have shot the 95 bullpuo and 103 (a strange but light and great non bullpup half designed by a female) 5.8 feels a little more potent than 5.56 NATO but only by a little, for a steel case bi metal jacket it's very accurate. I think the standard non bullpuo rifle was a stopgap as they now are mass producing rifles that look like the IWI ace. Supposedly a lot lighter a better trigger (bullpup triggers are not great) but they mostly want this rifle for red dotsx magnified optics, lights, lazers, IR lazers, and night fighting capabilitys Plus the ease of changing the barrel size and configuration. Thrybkevlar is real no idea how good it is. The star issue pistol is great is a DA/SA with a 20 round mag that's double stack double feed. Feels much nicer than the FN 5.7 but apart from the round concept it's in no way a copy I would say the pistol is based more off a CZ75. Very accurate and it's carried with AP ammo. They have some cool SMG/PDW weapons in 5.8 pistol but I can't find the info. They also have some strange very small pistols for generals that are meant to be light and fire a strange round. Its mostly for show. The army still use this really cool SMG in 7.62 tok and it has been modernised to accept optics and such. 7m62 tok is my favorite pistol round as if you use surplus it will shoot though both sides of pistol armour, it's a fast and flat shooting round like half pistol half intermediate. Every quarter I would get invited to go ti the range and we would shoot all the ammo down to the emergency amount (so they got more next quarter) They would also wreck weapons with problems, magazines and anything with a problem also. It was so cool firing the high caliber machine guns, Atuo grenade launchers and RPGs. We had to spend a good hour cleaning the weapons as no 9ne was sure what ammo was corrosive based on year but we always shot the oldest ammo. Ironicaly alot of the police use civilian or military M16/M4 in 5.56 (brass case) most pistols and SMGs are in 9mm for export and some local police and I think some Tok. They make rifles and machine guns in 5.56,. 308, 54r, .50bmg and 12.7 soviet. Inbprettybsurennoronco does not make 7.62x39 ammo any more but they do have old stockpiles. I'm also most sure notinco does not make any SKS or AKs anymore as it seems they sold AK and AR tooling to an African nation and maybe some other and type 81 tooling (looks kind of like an AK and uses AK mags but has short stroke recoil like the SKS to Bangladesh they did make a 5.56 export version and it was the test bed for the 5.8 assault rifle cartridge. The 95 has the safety in the most stupid position ever (near to the bottom of the stock) The ration packs are pretty good and most assume they don't get issued boots but since its so hot in the south many will wear traditional kind of converse style cammo shoes. But you would never see a soldier in the far North Wear them. If your in the Chinese army you can get a licence plate and it means you don't have to pay for tolls and police can't stop you (I was given one) If a wife of a man in the military cheats she can go to prison, if the guy knows her husband was in the military so can he. Not sure if it's the same for GFs and no idea of the law for female members of the military but I dated a girl in the military for 2 years and she told me look if you cheat on me I will throw you in prison. China has a lot of female soldiers. A semi decent position in the military is coveted and you can't just join you need connections. They will supply you with a nice home in a garden (gated community) free and good childcare, free health care for you and your family, a good wage after a few years if you went to specialise in something and other opportunitys to learn and get better positions. I was an English Langage and Culture for the PLA for just over 2 years, I had military ID and after my interview I was grilled. I just said I don't care about my own nation that much and it would never come to a war. And that I would probably sell out my nations for a comfortable life. 10% of the time was teaching the children if soldiers in kingergarten oral English and they are the most disaplined students I have ever met. Before I could date that female soldier we had to request it and a huge list of what we could not do but most of it was stupid like no churches or making China look bad or making her look bad.

@@misha5670 I'm pretty sure we purchased them from the same guy as only 1 site sells them, I was abit hesitant when he told me to use loctite lol. I put mine on a then cheap Arisakas that was starting to get last ditch so no bipod thing or aircraft sights, no chrome lined barrel but adjustable sights, good rifling and a semi decent bolt. Amazing how the early barrels are still so good, I wonder if they knew it helped with cooling or if they did it on machine gun barrels. I did do something a little stupid and that was buying WW2 7.7SR Jap MG ammo and removing the semi rim. It worked but was crazy hot. You can sometimes find them converted into crazy calibers. I did read that 7.7 jap was based on .303 ballistics but rimless, I do know that Japan made Lewis Guns and Brit .303 under contract. Howa that makes rifled actions in alot of calibers and barrel types and the Japanese assult rifle used to make Arisakas. The howa bolt action rifles are a great price from mini action in 7.62x39 to .338 good trigger and a nice accurate hammer forged barrel.

Ridiculously strong.

Duh.

@@jason200912 wow that was real helpful! Thanks.

@@keymedian2 you're welcome. glad it answered your question

I assume it's a matter of priorities, the Japanese empire did not see the invasion of china as a life or death situation while the USA was more threatening

6.5 was their mainline cartridge for 40 years by that point, they were already in conflict with China far prior to the war, and the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere forces and arsenals were equipped and producing 6.5 chambered rifles. All their forces on the continent and supply chains were using 6.5. No point trying to re-equip those forces with new rifles in a new caliber when you can just give the troops shipping out to a new theater the new equipment since there are no established supply chains in place yet, and just divert their no longer needed 6.5 weapons to the mainland or keep them in reserve.

The type 99 and the larger caliber went into production in 1939,or 1940 and the Chinese invasion was in 1937.

They invaded China in 1937 so Im guessing they tried to simplify logistics by keeping the 6.5 in China? What they should have done was only make machine guns in 7.7 since the 6.5 was a great rifle cartridge but was terrible and constantly jammed in machine guns, due to the semi rim most likely.