My other Type 99 Arisaka (Sporter)

[psteinmayer]

Here are some pictures of my Type 99 Sporter. I have every intention of replacing the stock and bolt, and returning this to it's original condition. My father sported this in the 1950s to use for deer hunting, and he has regretted it ever since. He is going to help finance the reconstruction! Enjoy!
Paul

[Deano41]

It looks to be a nice sporter. You might just want to leave it as is The price of the stock (the original companies have been out of business for 67 years) and a replacement bolt would probably be almost as much as you would spend on an original rifle. Not to mention that unlike American rifles where "stocks is stocks and bolts is bolts", japanese Type 99 rifles were made by eight different arsenals. As the war progressed, raw materials became scarce, courtesy of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army Air Corps. The original design was changed to save material and speed up production. So to make your rifle correct, you would have to match arsenal and series. Finding the correct parts would be a challenge, and the bolt would still be mismatched. In Econ 101, I think they called it the "point of diminishing returns". :>)

[psteinmayer]

Thanks Dean. I am unsure if it's financially feesable to retro it also. I met a guy at a gun show (who sold me the monopod for the other rifle...) who claims to have bolts, stocks, and all other parts unknown for jap rifles. He got my father excited to rebuild the gun. Me? I'm not so sure... As you said, it is a very nice sporter. It shoots great and accurately! My dad did the sport job himself, except for the bolt, which he had a machinist friend modify! The rifle is Nagoya Arsenal, Series (I think) 11. If I keep in line with my two Krags, then it fits because I have an original rifle and a sporter also!

Cheers!
Paul

[Deano41]

If it's a good shooter, I'd leave it as is. It's part of the history of the rifle. With the ladder sight, it's not a series eleven. That was the end of the run (12 is the last).
I bought a Krag cut-down years ago, thinking I could restore it. Man, was I wrong! The cost would have been prohibitive, even if I could find all the parts. They just aren't making these things any more!

[psteinmayer]

I wasn't sure about the series mark... It doesn't really look like any of the series marks that are identified with the Nagoya arsenal... I'll have to take another look. I think by the condition of the rear sight and relatively low serial number (if that matters in Jap arms), it may be an earlier Type 99... but I am far from an expert on the subject!

My Krag sporter is a cutdown too... at 24 inches which is too long for a carbine, but still too short for a rifle. I hate the stock though, and I'm going to install a repro carbine stock!

[Deano41]

Nagoya went from "no series" to series 12. The serial numbers were in blocks of 100,000 in each series. So the same serial number for Nagoya would be repeated 13 times. That's why the series is so important to know. (I always get amused when someone blocks out the serial number. Heck the same serial number was repeated 32 times for Type 99 rifles!) Here is a data sheet for the T-99 rifle:
http://www.gunboards.com/sites/banza...a.htm#Model_99
It shows the arsenals and the series marks.
The series three mark and the eleven are close. The series three would have had the anti-aircraft wings also, and a chrome lined bore.

[psteinmayer]

Well, the closer I look... To me, it looks like a small letter b in the circle, but I guess I could go with series 7. It does not have a chrome lined bore.

Incidentally, My other Type 99 (posted in my other thread) does have the chrome lined bore.

Paul