Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Arisaka Action

At various times I've heard that the Arisaka had one of the strongest actions. A guy even told me about someone who brought back a 6.5mm Arisaka as a war souvenir. The guy asked a gunsmith to rechamber it to 30-06. It was rechambered all right, but the barrel was not reamed out and remained 6.5mm. The guy fired a 30-06 round in it and, aside from a huge recoil, no damage was done. I can't say whether this is true or not.

Anyway ,why are not more custom rifles made on Arisaka actions?

I have read that about the Arisaka being one of the strongest actions. Probably the reason there are not more custom rifles made on this action is because of the way it looks. Face it, it is not as attractive as a 98 Mauser or a pre 64 M70.

What I do wonder is what there is about it that makes it so strong. If the same design that makes it so strong, if there is anything to that, could be incorporated into a modern rifle and the safety made more attractive and easier to use, it seems like the design could be utilized for a really strong and functional action.

I have also read about the rechamber job to .30-06. That story has been floating around for years. I don't know if there is anything to it or not.

Get Ackley's book, Handbook for Shoooters and Reloaders, and he goes into why the action was so strong. Since the 7.7 was 311 caliber, it could be rechambered to 06 case, but would have to use 303 bullets. I've heard the story too about the 6.5, but it was a shorter round and not sure the action would take an 06 case.

Today, there are a LOT of stronger actions than the Arisaka's. The Rem. 700 about the strongest action out there. In a blow up test in the 40s, when the 721 first came out, Gen. Hatcher and his folks blew up a number of other actions, but were unable to blow the 721. The charge they had in it, to get to bulging and locking up the action, was a case FULL of proof powder, with a 180gr bullet, and then 5 or so MORE 180gr bullets, shoved down the barrel on top of it. What happens in most blow ups is, the case is not entirely supported, some of it, like in the model 70, is not supported, do to the design of the action. The pressures in the cartridge then let the unsupported area BLOW away, and feed gasses, etc., through the action, which destroys it. With the head of the cartridge being totally surrounded by steel, as in the 721-700 action, there is no unsupported case head area.

The design of the Type 38 is a big reason they are so strong.
Unlike a Mauser the top/left locking lug is solid and unslotted.

They (the Type 38's) were also very carefully and finely made with good heat treatment.

I don't know if I agree that there a LOT of stronger actions made today. P.O. Ackley never succeeded in blowing up an Arisaka either.

There is an aftermarket trigger for the Arisaka that uses
a side safety. I have been meaning to convert my 6.5 carbine
for a couple of years now, but havent done it.

I have seen the mention on another occasion of a 6.5 Arisaka being re chambered to 30/06 and it still seems to me to be something that would be difficult to do accidentally. The pilot on the reamer would be 30 caliber and not enter the 6.5mm bore. I don't doubt that an Arisaka action is strong (even if ugly), but I doubt that this conversion mentioned above took place by accident.

The Arisaka in question here was at one time (and may still be) in the hands of the NRA where it was sent by the gunshop owner who purchased the "hard kicking" rifle from the Bubba who ground down the pilot of a .30-06 reamer to fit the 6.5mm bore.
I read about the initial report of this in a late '40s early '50s issue of American Rifleman.
It is not apocryphal, it is true and they had pictures of the rifle and the bullets recovered after firing it. With a long string!

I can't even remember the last time I saw an Arisaka action/rifle for sale!

Then again, I don't really read GB and the like either.

Why aren't they used on more custom rifles? Have you seen an Arisaka action? They are hideous looking. Big, bulky, and clumsy. They might be strong but other actions are plenty strong enough and look much beter.

I don't doubt for a second that it could be done. I just doubt that it was done by accident. In the 60's I read of some tests done after the war on Arisakas that involved welding a rod in the bore and firing the rifle with a normal round. It evidently blew the rod out without much trouble and no further damage to the rifle.
To me the rifle described in the cartridge conversion sounds like a similar test and not something a knowledgeable gunsmith would do by accident because of the difficulty in getting a 30/06 reamer to enter a 6.5mm bore. I may be wrong though, even as improbable as the rifle conversion seems to be.

It was reported that the reaming was not done by a gunsmith but rather by a rather stupid owner who happened to have a .30-06 reamer.
This was done during the viral "sporterizing" craze of the late '40s and '50s.

Everyone was hacking away at the old military actions back then.

Yep they are that....
Ackleys book talks alot about them.
The pre war ones had excellant heat treatment and were the only action that Ackley could not blow up.
Ackley was actually blowing the barrels off the front.Made a mess but all they did was clean them up and try again.
The loads they were usuing pretty much made bombs of everything else.
Lots of egos got crushed that the japs had a stronger action than anything we could make.
To this day I dought it could be beat in strength.

dave

Here's the one my dad brought home from Korea in 1945. It was a joint family effort having it sporterized over 40 years. I worked up a good load using 150 gr Barnes X bullets and plan on using it elk hunting next year. It's a 7.7 not a 6.5.

The Arisakas are VERY strong. If you get a chance, pull the bolt on one and notice the size of the locking lugs. Interestingly, the M1 Garand will hang in long after many bolt actions give up. As far as the 30-06 in the 6.5mm barrel, that's not hard to believe. After WWII, large quantities of surplus 8x57mm (7.9/7.92) Mauser ammo was imported. Unless put side buy side, the 8mm and 30-06 look very similar. The 8x57mm will chamber and fire in most 30-06's and lot of those people that don't pay attention would fire an 8x57 in their 30-06 with the result being a catastrophic failure. There was a lot of argument over what caused the failure, to large a bullet or excessive head space. Finally the NRA conducted a test. They throated a 30-06 to accept an 8mm (.232") bullet and fired it with a full powder charge. The bolt opened and the case extracted without incident. Then an 8x57 was necked down to .30 cal. and fired in a 30-06 with disastrous results, proving that if the headspace is good, a strong rifle will likely survive an oversize bullet, but not grossly excessive headspace. Kids, don't try this at home.

I have one that my great uncle brought back from WW2. It is a Type 38 carbine. My grandfather had it converted to a 6.5X257, scoped, and a Timney with side safety installed. It is a lot of fun and surprisingly accurate with a new stock that I installed a few years ago. 125 gr. partitions in an inch or under at 100 yards.

The Arisaka has a god-awful safety for a sporter and there is nothing to be done for it.
Most 30/06's will not chamber an 8x57. If they do it is
the lack of neck clearence not headspace that causes the
trouble.

But for military rifle the Arisaka bolt is unparalled in it's simplicity.

IIRC it has six parts total!

They are not the prettiest, but not necessarily the ugliest rifles out there. (Personal thing, but I'd rather look at it than a black rifle.) Here's mine that I amateurishly sporterized almost 50 years ago when I was in college. That's a stock blank from good old Herter's that those of you of a certain age will remember. I refinished the stock a few years ago. I originally used a peep sight on that rifle and killed a lot of deer with it. My uncle brought it back from the Pacific and gave it to me when I was five years old.

WOW Al, that's a blast from the past. Pun intended. I've got one somewhere here I need to dig out and look at. Mine has been "drilled out" to use 30/06 brass.

I messed around with a Type 38 and a 77 years ago. They are expensive to sporterize these days, as mentioned, the safety is an issue. Mauser is a much better action to sporterize, and a custom on a Remington, Winchester, Ruger, Savage is cheaper by far in the long run.