Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 6.5 Arisaka rechamber question

I would like to know if it is possible to re-chamber to 6.5x55 Swede? I KNOW ABOUT 6.5x257 conversion, I am looking for an easy to find FACTORY chambering. Does anyone know if this is possible - ever done it?

6.5-284 would work but you'd have to set it back.

But would 6.5 Swede, or 260 Remington?

check out drawings online of the cartridges and see if the measurements would line up.

not sure, offhand.

brb,

My first inclination is to wonder if the barrel is worth it. The bore in the one I have that dad brought back from the Pacific is really toast. We have fired a few Norma rounds through it and it scatters them around the target. I think corrosive priming mix was used back then in Jap ammo, and I'm sure the one I have has fired a gazillion rounds at the allies, maybe even killing some Americans. Dad "sporterized" the one I have so it is literally worth nothing except for scrap steel by the pound, but I would never part with it.

Big Redhead,

This gun has a 19" barrel that is bright the whole way, and the bolt face looks almost new. That is how it was when i got it

brb,

Looking at the cartridge dimensions, it looks to me like the 6.5x50 chamber could be reamed to 260 Rem with no other modifications. Bear in mind I have not done this before, but the 260 is just a bit larger and longer than the 6.5x50 in just about every dimension. The 260 rim is just a tad smaller (.473 vs. .476 for the Arisaka), but I doubt that would present any problems at all. The bottom of the 260 case body is .020 larger. This sounds like a good idea to me. If my Arisaka barrel was worth a hoot I would certainly consider having it done.

OTOH, You will not see any appreciable gain in performance by going with the 260, given both rounds loaded to equal pressure. Reloadable 6.5x50 cases are not all that common, but they CAN be had, and dies are available. You could probably talk me into sending you some 6.5x50 cases because I don't plan to load for it. Maybe you should save the cost of rechambering and just shoot it as-is. It's worth considering.

Hey, I am looking at it more from a perspective of ammo resupply. 6.5 Ari is sketchy at best when you try to find ammo - 260 rem will not be a huge cost saving,s BUT would be mush less of a potential supply issue. As I have a 308, cases could be easily formed in 260, but in 6.5 Ari, not so much

I wills end you a PM shortly

iambrb,

About 10 yrs ago I (quite by accident...) came across a man who was liquidating the stock of a 91 yr old gunshop owner. Believe me this was a treasure trove, and it cost me dearly. But I acquired a lot of interesting pieces. One of which was a Mann/Sch 1903 that was rechambed to 6.5/57. The guy also had a number of Jap rifles. One of them was a rechamber to 6.5x55. I don't remember much about it. I bought it, removed the Leupold Pioneer scope and immeadiately sent it down the road. But IIRC, it didn't look as if it had been set back.

I've been wanting a 6.5 Jap for a while, now. But I don't want a Jap rifle. So, I guess I'll have to build one. I really hate to use one of my Ruger #1's as a basis, but likely that's what it will come down to...

GH

OK, so here is the deal...about 8 years ago, I was casting about for a light-recoil deer rifle to put about $250 into. I traded some scopes for a 6.5 Arisaka project. Someone had taken a valuable M44 carbine, and stripped it to the action, and it looked like they D&T'd it with a hand drill! I also got a Timney trigger with side safety and a neat little mostly-inletted stock for it that had just a touch of grain. The barrel & bolt looked like little if any ammo had ever been run thru it, just amazingly good condition. Had it not been D&T'd by Monkey-Joe's, I would have converted it back to military configuration. At the time, I handed it off to a very good friend, my mentor to me in the gun hobby....and the trouble began. My bud could be a very well known gunsmith, but for his issue with addiction. I have watched him fight & lose this battle many, many times. Not too long after handing the gun off to him, which he promised in 6 months, he fell off the wagon, and rolled down a hill, and off a cliff. 8 years later, he is back up and actually winning! I went by there the other day and he handed me an almost complete Arisaka sporter! A bit more work to be done, but I cannot push him, you do not give hard deadlines to people with issues like this. So now, having years and years ago sold the dies and ammo, I am going to, it at least appears, to have the gun, maybe in a few months. So now, I find myself looking for ammo, but after the Obamma-ammo-scare, I do not think I will be seeing much of it, so it would be better to have a gun I can find ammo for & shoot, than one that I cannot.

I also have another bud (no such issues) that has a machine shop, and if I come up with the barrel, he can rebarrel very reasonably, so there is a whole other option out there if I so choose it, but for now, just exploring the options

I have seen one Arisaka Type 38 that had been rechambered to 6.5x55mm and Im sure there are others floating around somewhere.
Arisaka ammunition can be a problem finding, but its not impossible to locate if your patient. I own a custom Type 38 carbine that I picked up a few years ago, whoever customized it put a lot of money into it. Arisakas in 260 REM and 6.5RM pop up every now and then on the auction sites, but they are slow movers.

I may actually try this - have to see how things 'hash out' over the next few months

Has anyone ever made 6.5x50 brass by running a 260 Rem case up in a 6.5x50 die and trimming the length?

My book; The Handloader's Manual of Cartridges Conversions suggests making them out of .270 brass. But I think that would be a LOT of work.

I've always heard that the preferred brass is .220 Swift. Based on the drawings in the books, it looks possible. Not an issue to me because I have plenty of Norma brass. Three or four yrs ago, I knew a guy who had lots of Norma 6.5 Jap brass... But alas, he's gone out of business.

GH

http://www.lohmanarms.com/product_p/pc65x50.htm

Precision lists 6.5 Jap

thanks all! I am going to try it as-is 0 I figger roughly $300 or a bit more is the least I can get out going to another caliber, and it appears that a bit of ammo, plus some dies and components are begining to surface too. I have a VERY old Lyman manual that uses this gun with thi barrel length for load info, so I may try that, but like I said, just looking at options right now

Well if it shoots to acceptable accuracy it is a fine cartridge for the smaller big game animals.

I just finished two 6.5 japs to 6.5 swede, an easy project and they shoot fine. Reamer and a GO guage and your ready to go to work. No lathe work required, all hand turned from the back end with a T-handle and extention.

Just load your own. I have one and it isn't finicky.


http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1311523679/norma-reloading-brass-65x50mm-japanese-arisaka

Just put another custom Arisaka Type 38 carbine in layaway.