I have three of them.Have taken deer with two.Have reloaded certainly hundreds of rounds,likely thousands,haven't kept track.
The first one is still in original military condition,brought back by my father in law,who served on the carrier Bennington in WWII.They came back from shore leave one day and found many thousands of them in a huge pile on the dock.He and many shipmates took souvenirs.I bought two boxes of Norma ammo ,and we "liberated" the rifle ,unwittingly,on December 7,1968.It proved to be very accurate with those long 156gr. bullets,even with issue sights.
Next is a mod 38 carbine,chopped back stock,issue sights removed,replaced with a sporter front and redfield peep in the rear.The bolt was nicely bent.The guy who had it had been a SeaBea,who took two of them from two of several enemy soldiers he had killed in self defense while building an airstrip.
He sporterized both of them,kept one,gave the other to his brother in law.Said they managed to bring two plus cases of jap ammo back.Made their own dies,pulled the full patch bullets and found a supply of 6.5 softpoints with which they loaded the cartridges,using the original powder and primers.He and his brother in law were well drillers and farmers in the Catskills,and shared adjoining farms.They perportedly killed several dozen deer every year on those farms,from just after the war until the mid 1970s,using only those rifles and that ammo,until they finally ran out.They both raised large families on that venizon.I acquired that rifle for $35 about 1980.
It has been accurate to very accurate with bullets from 85 grains up to 160 grains of various brands.Took two deer with it,both under seventy yards,but have shot it at targets up to 300 yds.,and if the opportunity arose,wouldn't hesitate to shoot a deer at that distance.
The third,another carbine,is without doubt the nicest sporterized Arisaka I've ever seen.It has an 18 1/2" barrel and is done in a full manlicher style.Side mount for the scope places the scope nicely over center bore.Stock wood can only be described as beautiful.It has been converted to 6.5x57,shoots a wide variety of bullets very well.Has accounted for numerous chucks and another deer,also at about 70 yds.
After having tried probably forty different cartridges for potential conversion,and having sprung an RCBS junior press in the process,I found that very servicable brass can be made from .35 Remington.No problem to do,normal cartridge lube,one pass through a full length sizing die and your good to go.
The bulging cases usually occur with Norma brass.It tends to be soft,and the Arisaka chambers were generous to allow operation under adverse conditions.I have experienced no such problems with converted .35 Remington cases,and I tend to drive these cases a little on the warm side.I found all three of my rifles seem to shoot tighter in the upper reaches of velocity,regardless of the projectile.
You may or not be aware that the barrels of these rifles are chrome lined,which adds to their value as all weather rifles.
