The Best Mauser? Arisaka Type 38 

I'm fine with people looking down on them, keeps the prices low so I can collect them all lol

The more people hate and misunderstand them the cheaper they are. Just got a type 99 all matching in amazing condition for 400$.

The fact ammo is extrememly hard to find here in Australia for these means they are good value. I just got an arisaka type 38 carbine with bayonet in not bad condition for a very happy price. Even if i have to pay extra for reloads I nearly have all rifles that shot at my grandfather in ww2 now!

"Everybody knows that the Mauser 98 action is probably the pinnacle of bolt actions" Me, clutching a 91/30: "You take that back!" JK I love all milisurps

I have a type 38 carbine and the action is just outstanding! It was a WW2 vet bring back.

Couldn’t agree more. I would say the 99 is a more shootable rifle. The whole family of rifles are fantastic. Such a well thought out design and perfectly implemented. I have a 99 long and it’s built very well.

Just picked up a Type 38 last week for $230 on gunbroker. Looks rough but has rifling and seems to be all in order. That barrel is incredibly long, similar to my G11 Swiss long rifle

I know everybody calls them Arisakas but only the Type 30 is an Arisaka. 38's,44's and 99's are Nambus

Fun fact: in China, the type 38 Arisaka is actually called "38 big lid" for having that dust cover

I'm glad that in recent years the community has been starting to show an increased appreciation for this wonderful little shooter.

One thing that I think really keeps the demand for arisakas down is the price of ammo. Pretty much any milsurp caliber (even 8x56 and 7.5 French) can be found online and in bulk, good luck finding 6.5 jap or 7.7 for a reasonable price online

I got my type 38 for 200 bucks. The rifling and everything was in good shape, i was surprised.

I have always found the dust cover concept interesting they are also of the straight bolt master race instead of inferior bent bolt

My mother's uncle was a gunsmith and a friend of P O Ackley. He said Ackley tested the 38 & 99 to see how strong they were and never blew them up. Apparently he was impressed with the quality of the steel and the heat treatment. I ended up inheriting a type 38 from my uncle. Sometimes I wonder if it was one that Ackley owned. It would be cool but unfortunately there's no documentation indicating that he did.

I have a Spanish m43 that I bought for 350 at a gun show, it was in rough condition with terrible bluing and dented stock. I refinished the metal, steamed out the dents, sanded and varnished the stock. It's barrel is crispy and mint so I lucked out. (Bought in late 2021)

I never realized how great of a rifle these are! i hear them being praised all of the time on here and C&R. I have a rifle from each of the major powers during ww1 cept the french. I cant wait to find one for sale and maybe one day ill get a berthier and/or label. I looked on a couple places including Gunbroker but i didnt see any ww1 era rifles. :(

The biggest difference between the locking lugs is that the Type 38's lugs aren't cut in half for the extractor to slip through.

I have a 1938 ,Type 38 , a early 1942 ,Type 99 & a late 1943 ,Type 99 , this one has the wooden butt plate , no clean rod or place for it , no aircraft sights , yet it shoots very well . I would like to get a Type 30

I often see type 99’s and 38s for dirt cheap and never even consider buying them...and I sell guns and Militaria! Lol I honestly should start picking some up, but I figure if they are still sitting there at the end of the show, then no matter what I pay I won’t be able to sell it for a profit. For example, a nice 99 with fully intact mum, sat at a fairly large show in Huston all weekend without selling, it was only $250! Lol I even looked it over thoroughly but never truly considered buying it. I think your opening statement about the stigma around the Arisaka rifles is very true. I would like to own a paratrooper takedown and a type 44 at some point however, attractive guns and seem like a good investment.

I had an absolutely beautiful Arisaka that was converted into a very lightweight sporting rifle rebarreled with a commercial barrel to .300 Savage. It had a carved lightweight stock and a recoil pad as well as a 4x Weaver scope. It was quite an accurate weapon. The problem with this beautiful rifle was that it was too light in weight for the .300 Savage caliber and it kicked like a mule (even with the recoil pad). I was tossed up about keeping it as a decorator but, my friend asked for it and I sold it to him. He used it for one season and then sold it to another guy.

Great rifle and video as always you seem to be the Mauser expert. Not sure if you remember me I was asking your opinion on a classic rifle with a good Aperture sights. You made a few suggestions and 1 of those was the CG 63. It's probably the only rifle I look at and not want to change something. Lol It's perfect. My dilemma now is they come with several Aperture sights and there's not a lot of information on them. I was wondering if you had any preferences. The GF and the Soderin look good. I see most are 100 to 600 meters if you're velocity doesn't match are there 1/4 or 1/2 moa clicks up and down? Do you own any and have you done any videos on the CG 63. I know collectors don't like sporterized milsurp but this rifle is different being a factory rebuild. Thank you for anything you can tell me.

Just curious, will you guys be doing any more Podcast?

So you could shoot more because of less recoil, but because the ammo is much more expensive, you won't :) Always interesting videos, worthwhile watching, thanks!

I found my last mod 99 Arisaka 7.7x58mm for $200 at an Ag store only a few years ago but my first one, the one I put a scope on, I got for free after finding it in parts rusting in a trash can in my uncles basement Those rifles I have are the strongest actions made in the world and are 80 years old is how far ahead Japan was ahead of the rest of the world My 1992 Browning A-Bolt hunter 7mm08 was made in Japan also which was one of the main reason I bought it to begin with besides the superior ballistics of the 7mm08 One time I thought something was wrong with it only to find I shot five bullets thru the same hole at 100 yards After that I said to myself, Damn! I gotta quit wasting ammo like that LOL i shot my mod 99 and got three bullets thru the same hole one day at 100 yards but stopped looked and realized it was shooting good before I wasted any more ammo Almost wasted more ammo because I could not understand why more holes were not showing up on the target LOL That looks so neat to see those different shades of grey to black within the one hole on the target 5 for five shots and 3 of them for three shots If you are lucky you can find one for $200 being sold on consignment like I did otherwise you could pay more than $400 for an Arisaka

Hello everyone can you tell me where I can buy an M48 Mauser Barrel assembly ? I have picked up my rifle and the bore looks like it is really bad due to corrosion, thank you.

A quick story about how I got mine. My dad had a friend who got it from a family member. Chrysanthemum intact and rearsenaled according to a gunsmith. But the stock was ruined beyond repair. Through some searching I found a replacement stock and while it was not a perfect fit it was solid and brought the rifle to working order. And that’s how I got my type 38 for free and only needed to spend 150 bucks on a stock.

Owning both a k98 and a type 99, I lean towards the type 99 just a bit.

Cool I just got an all-matching type 99 short rifle in great condition at a pawn shop for 300$

I think my next rifle will be a nice type 38 for sure. Just getting a bayonet is going to cost more than the rifle.

Ok, price wise I agree. The type 99 I had was actually a great shooter. All matching #s and accurate. Bought back in the 90s and cost about $150. NOW for the best mauser type? Sorry but I still go with the Swedish mauser in 6.5. Light recoil and SUPER accurate (mine was the sniper variant ). But the Swedish mauser is much more expensive, especially the sniper

The 38s did see service in Eruope the fins carried them as well as the soviets in very limited quantities and the one That’s very unknown the polish army, the polish border guard regiments in ww2 carried them.

It was Durable and reliable like a AK47 yet has a good MOA and accuracy yet being so simple to produced feild strip yet while featureing modern new idea and hexogonal rifleing

Do you know if matching serial numbers make a difference in accuracy?

Oh they will be going up now that you’ve done another fine video

The Type 38 carbine is great. I wish the normal Type 38 was the length of the Type 99 and had the peep style sight of the 99.

I have 6.5 Jap ammo for my Type I Carcano a Type 38 is on my shortlist!

Is that an Inglis Hi Power at the bottom right?

I have a friend and his Arisaka messed up on him maybe you can help him with it I looked at it he has a Chanel it’s rick nethery please and thank you

The Japanese Arisaka-both in 6.5mm or 7.7mm-is in my opinion the best and most serviceable combat bolt-action rifle ever made for the common infantry soldier, fighting the actual sort of battles that were being fought around the world during the first half of the 20th Century CE.

No love for the 03A3? :(

There are 4 locking lugs on the t38 bolt. Not 3

Lol I just bought a Type 38 Carbine today

Where do you find ammo???

Still so many years later, I find them for cheap in good condition.

Is the podcast still a thing? Haven't seen anything a while...

Mosquefal m968 from brazil?

Btw wheres the podcast?

Loved your presentation here, but you overstepped one major issue with arisaka rifles, And that is the oversized chamber they purposely build into the rifle. This limits reloading to one or two reloads only. There is a way to get around that with a piece of quarter inch tape with one wrap right before the extraction groove this all double the reloading capabilities of multiple fired brass. But inspection of of your brass prior to reloading is still critical.

German versus Japanese, no comparison, Japan products have gained a reputation over time that carry into anything they produce, and my humble opinion this is correct, but i would also like a pristine model 38, i would much rather have a Swiss 38 in 6.5 good luck with your searches

I love that people hate them. Makes it cheaper for me! Got my type 38 for $250!

I have a rifle can you help me to know what is the caliber of my rifle please

Unfortunately, my type 99 has a cracked wrist on the stock lol

Picked up a type 38 a while back for 300 bucks, matching numbers and in decent shape, I have some ammo for it but have not gotten around to firing it yet. It’s a nice looking example for what I paid, these were going for under 200 just a couple years ago. It is a little disheartening how much the milsurps have gone up. Mosin going for 1000+ is a little out of hand but that’s capitalism. It is definitely making it difficult for those of us just getting into the realm though

Ia have a german mauser 1938 but i dont know about his story

First!! Love the joke at the end!!

16 y/o me. "I dont know why all these guys bitch about recoil, I love these big guns!" *one decade later* "Man... that 22lr is starting to hurt..." I get it XD! I love my 6.5 swede rifles because that bullet leaves in a hurry and that recoil is super light compared to like a swiss K31 or a Mosin

Shhh! Let people think they are trash, keeps them nice and cheap

The Russians didn't trust their troops with the Arisaka (Type 30 or 38) floor plate release. They ground them down. Glove issues? Probably.

Wheres the safety on the type 38?

There were no "last ditch" 38's. Only 99's.

for my money the Swedes (especially the M38s) take first place.

With how expensive ammo is I'm gonna have to disagree

I would have to say the M1903 is Better but the arisaka is more affordable

These were made of Soligen steel

Japanese rifle are excellent.

Strange. Soldier of Fortune said the Arisaka was the strongest of all actions to blow up. Just saying.

Gunna have to respectfully disagree the swede is perfect mauser imo

I’ll take a 6.5 Swedish Mauser, over arasaka

実射求む

Nope. The Type 38 is nice but the type 38 isn't even the best Japanese rifle. I used to have a really valuable one that was transferred to Finland and was Finnish marked. They're great rifles but not the "best" by any stretch of the imagination.

I disagree the Arisaka is a good War Rifle but not in the class of a Mauser 98 or Enfield not in the same class. It’s a copy of the Mauser. Just my opinion but all the Japanese Rifles I have ever found are in poor condition but maybe if is found one I real good condition .

Well I think noone buys arisakas because theres no ammo for it

the type38 is not a mauser it's a Tanaka

So the cheap arisaka’s are now going to be over ? Ahh thankyou !

NO! NO! NO! THE MODEL 38 IS NOT A MAUSER, ANY MORE THAN A REM 700, RUGER 77, SAV 10, OR WIN 70 ARE MAUSERS.