But the second was the sloppy chambers even from the pre WWII type 38's.
fyshbum-
Actually, it's not the chamber on the 6.5 Arisakas that is sloppy. It's the ammo.
The subject is covered in an article by James Taylor in
Handloader magazine #111, from Sept-Oct 1984. Sometime before WWII, the Japanese decreased the body diameter of their 6.5x50 military ammo to make it function better in their machine guns. They did not bother to alter the rifle chambers, because minor case swelling was of little military consequence.
For several decades, Norma was the only maker of 6.5x50 ammo, and their cases were made to match the dimensions of the issue Japanese ammo, which was undersized for the chamber.
It may be that Hornady ammo corrects the problem. I'll have to try some.
The difficulty is that most reloading sizing dies bring the cases back to the dimensions of the Norma and issue ammo. As a result the brass is worked pretty hard.
"riceone" occasionally posts on the campfire, and he has available a die that forms properly-fitting 6.5x50 ammo from 308 Winchester cases.
--Bob
