I have a couple of foreign military rifles that my uncle brought/sent home while he was in Korea, both Arisaka Type 38 rifles in 6.5. While talking to my dad Saturday morning, telling him about the rifles, their condition and the fact that my uncle said he killed his deer every year (up until about 5yrs before his death) from the day he was discharged from the Army with those two rifles. He asked me how accurate they were. I didn't have an answer for him, but it has had me thinking about military rifles that haven't been touched/sporterized and their accuracy.
I also have his two Garands, one a standard M1 carbine and the other a standard issue M1 rifle. They are both in really good condition to have never seen much care or cleaning since he brought them home. He told me that they were military rifles that brought home while on leave. I am not sure if at some point he acquired them from the depotor PX or the backdoor, but the rifle has his initials and my aunts named carved in them. I have shot both of the Garand rifles and while I am sure in the right hands they are more accurate than they are for me, but I think I could kill a deer out to 100yds with the open sights. I have never shot either Arisaka, mostly because I didn't want to change his "zero" or search for ammo before I had all 4 of them deep cleaned and preserved hoping one day to donate them to a museum or give them to a descendant of the family. I tried to get him to tell me or have his service time documented for his daughter, but he never would talk about any portion of his time overseas.
Out of all of the mass produced military rifles around the world, in the original configuration, which rifle is considered the most accurate, and is it more of the caliber or the design that leads to this accuracy?
