Thread: Gun City Japanese Arisaka type 38s

Hey all, does anyone here have any knowledge about where these rifles were found/stored for the last 70 odd years??

The guys at gun city Auckland had no idea.

I have brought one. It’s a pile of crap, but going to be part of the collection non the less.

Would love to know more about them though.

Matt.

Yeah I tried to find a good one but they all looked toast. I got the story that they were found in some shed on Australistan but who knows...

I saw them there probably around xmas. Definitely trying to make money from some pretty ordinary stock. they had 300 nicker on one with a blocked barrel.
I cant see many people buying them.

Ja I was in GC CHC last year and their condition was 1 step short of scrap.

Originally Posted by Ryan

Ja I was in GC CHC last year and their condition was 1 step short of scrap.

That’s like new isn’t it?

Originally Posted by longrange308

That’s like new isn’t it?

Nah, that's a Nambu pistol.

I saw one (un fired) go for about $2.5k
was a minta though...

I looked at the ones in ChCh a few weeks ago, mostly rust and rot... but if you need one on the wall or in your collection its a better starting point than a paper mache one!

Originally Posted by Ryan

Nah, that's a Nambu pistol.

Been a while since I heard that

I’d not fire one unless you strap it to a tree you don’t like and have a very long peace of string.
If it was a late war model you would really need to watchout for how they where produced ie rushed to the front with being properly heat treated.
I’m surprised there aloud to sell these. Guess that’s what happens when you have no prof house.

I just looked on the website they listed poor condition ones for 299 average condition ones for 399 and what they termed as “fair” condition ones for 499

I looked at a "fair" condition one and it was almost "wall hanger after restore".

I would love a decent one.

I did buy a shiter. And have almost restored in to wall hangar condition 😂 I’ll post pics later

My son got one as he is set on collecting WW2 bolt guns and dragged me along to have a look a few months ago. All of them had rust, all in different locations on each gun, so was a matter of choosing what "appears" the easy doer upper job. Left anything with split/broken/rotten or missing bits of stock and having less missing parts ie sights/ barrel band etc. Well anyway after a bit of a lottery ticket guess of which to get, he got.
Took days of soaking stock screws with CRC and more than a few blows with a impact diver to get it apart (still managed to save all the bolts to reuse). after a de-grease and a bronze wire brush down it revealed that it still has about 75% of blueing intact on the barrel and receiver. Worst part of pitting was along the join line where the barrel sat in the stock, no deeper than say if one was to flute it. The bolt had a bit of tarnish here and there but otherwise rust free. Chamber, inside and out was also blemish free. With only a couple of pass thru's of the cleaning rod the barrel was still shiny and will need a endoscope to check for pitting, from eyeballing couldn't see any nor any donuts. There was however a lot of pitting on the butt plate, sling band, edges of trigger guard where it seats in the stock, not seen until removed and the spring that holds the stock/sling band was a pile of grease infused with rust which once was a spring retainer. The stock/sling band still does the job but looks a bit eaten, be nice to get a replacement. The sight was fused together but after a good crc soak/strip down/000 wire wool it now works like the day it was made, it only had light surface rust. The stock is worn, dark stained from dirt and
absorbing rust/grease/oil/water/shit/blood??, lots of little nicks and dings, inlet edges a bit frayed and rounded. No cracks, dove tail butt still tight fit. With the barrel off in can been seen once a-upon-a-war time it was a light tan colour.

Missing bits- dust cover, cleaning rod, rusted out retainer spring bit. Only mismatched number was the bolt.

As for the markings - Type 38 Nagoya Arsenal series 27, 1933-1940 (serial number right near the middle of the allocated lot to this series). Has full MUM but with stamped extra o's that indicate that it was either surrendered or sold to another country after being remove from Japanese military service. It does not have the additional charter or extra serial 0's that mark a school rifle. Also all the bits are machined, none are pressed steal plate/welded parts, no sort cuts taken on this one, this is not a 'last ditch' gun

Great right up Slug. Post some pics and I’ll post some of mine. Yours sounds exactly like mine does in regards to condition/parts. But mine has the Mum ground off of it

Great write up Slug. Post some pics and I’ll post some of mine. Yours sounds exactly like mine does in regards to condition/parts. But mine has the Mum ground off of it