Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Neat old rifles...

I posted this on another forum, but figured you guys would appreciate this rifle.

You never know what you will find in a pawn shop, and today was no exception.

Made a few rounds today, and spied this one up on the shelf. Actually, what caught my eye, was the Lyman rear peep. I knew it was a sporterized something, but was really surprised when they told me "Japanese"....I don't think I have ever seen an Arisaka with a rear peep. But when they handed it to me, I completely lost interest in the Lyman once I saw this....



Arisakas in any flavor have gotten fairly uncommon, and finding one with an intact mum is a rare.

Whoever got a hold to this one put in a lot of time and effort, as its one of the better sporterizing jobs I've seen. Here are a few pics:

I haven't had a chance to decipher any of the markings, but it should be an earlier model (still has checkering on the bolt safety). I *believe* it has been reblued, which would make sense given the amount of work someone put into the rifle.

Oddly enough, I've never had much interest in Arisakas until recently. I picked up a basketcase late war/last ditch gun a few months back (I'll have to find the thread I started on it)...its probably not in shooting condition, but this one looks like it will be a nice shooter. I'm pretty sure this one is a 6.5, so now the hunt begins for brass....and dies....and bullets.

Grateful to have never lost a Bet,that big. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!.............

Very cool rifle. Thanks for sharing.

Cool old rifle, holding an piece of intact history in your hands is an experience to enjoy. Much more enjoyable than wrapping blue tape around your scopes and mashing your keyboard with incoherent insults. But those with intact synapses already knew that.
Congrats on the find.

MM

Nice old rifle, is it in the original caliber ?

Here's a 7.5x55 bullet in the muzzle...I guess it is a 6.5 bore (I don't have any .264 cal bullets with me to check right now).

PO Ackley couldn't blow one up, so you got that going for you. Which is nice.

If 6.5 and sporterized like that would not be surprised if 6.5X257…..have a couple that I use as “beaters/loaner” rifles and are more accurate than you might think.

PennDog

Well done sporter and a piece of history.

Cool old gun

Great source of info on this forum on Gunboards.com -

https://www.gunboards.com/forums/firearms-of-the-rising-sun.52/

My father-in-law had 3 of these in a corner of his basement as well as swords, holsters etc. I was able to figure out what models they were and sold most of it there

First step: do a chamber cast so you know exactly what you're dealing with. Guesswork in terms of chamberings of old milsurp conversions is sometimes a Darwinian Mistake. Second step: check headspace. Third step: pursue brass/dies/bullets.

I messed with a few Arisakas back in the 70's and 80's and never got one to shoot with a tinker's dam. The one that came closest to exhibiting any kind of decent accuracy was a mint carbine that looked like it just left the arsenal, intact mum and folding bayonet. Got $650 for it, 35 years ago, and the fella I sold it to sporterized it......

Very nice conditon.

I've often thought about drilling and tapping my Jap sporter (rebarrled in .308 Win) for a peep. It's very acurate, but my eyes and the sights on it don't get along very well anymore.



Extremely wise words. I've encountered them rechambered in 6.5-250, 6.5-257, and 260 firsthand, and I'm sure a lot are floating around in assorted other 6.5 cartridges.

Sent you a PM

Yep extremely wise and prudent words!!!

PennDog

nice gun. somebody put some work into that. i have an original 6.5 that a ww2 vet gave my son. he was on the boat when the bombs went off. he said they had piles and piles of those things laying around and you could just pick any one you wanted and ship it home. i bought a box of ammo and we shot it. it shot very well.

I had a Type I (thats "eye", not "one") which is an Italian Carcano, in 6.5 Jap, with a staggered magazine. It was accurate and killed deer just fine, I traded it away fifty years ago. I have an Arisaka which I have yet to shoot. GD

Ordered Cerrosafe last night...just to be sure.