Arisaka Type 38 Rifle with Mum,

 No series Koishikawa Arsenal (Tokyo)

Bolt action, 6.5X50 Japanese, 5 round capacity

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Type 38 rifle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Type 38 rifle Arisaka was a bolt-action rifle. For a time it was the standard rifle of the Japanese infantry. It was reliable and accurate. It was known also as the Type 38 Year Meiji Carbine in Japan. An earlier, similar weapon was the Type 30 Year Meiji Rifle, which was also used alongside it. Both of these weapons were also known as the Arisaka, after the inventor.

It used an indigenously Japanese designed 6.5 x 50 mm caliber cartridge. This cartridge produces little recoil when fired. However, while on par with the Swedish and Italian 6.5mm military cartridges of the time, the 6.5 x 50 was not as powerful as several others in use by other nations. The Arisaka Rifle at 1280 mm or (4 feet, 2 inches) was the longest rifle of the war, due to the emphasis on bayonet training for the Japanese soldier of the era who stood 1600 mm (5 feet, 3 inches). [1] The rifle was even longer when the 400 mm (15.75 inch) Type 30 bayonet was fixed.

These two concerns (among others) led to the Japanese Army adopting the Type 99 Rifle, a shorter rifle using more powerful ammunition. Japanese authorities also wished to adopt a new long arm that needed fewer machining steps to be produced given Japan's then-existing metallurgic capacity.

The Type 38 Cavalry Carbine is a short-barreled version of the Type 38. It was used not only by cavalry, but also by engineer, quartermaster and other non-frontline troops. It was introduced into service at the same time as the Type 38. The barrel was shorter at 487 mm, giving an overall length of the rifle of 966 mm and a weight of 3.3 kg Another Type 38 variant was the Type 38 Cavalry Rifle which were merely Type 38 Infantry Rifles with their barrels shortened from 31 and a quarter inches to 23 and one half inches. All Cavalry Rifle receivers carry the arsenal and proof-marks of Tokyo Artillery Arsenal - the source of the original Infantry Rifles.

Other variants developed from the Type 38 were the Type 44 Cavalry Rifle, Type 97 Sniper Rifle. The Japanese Imperial Navy also purchased a number of Type I Rifles from Italy at the beginning of World War II. The Italian-built rifles were chambered for the same 6.50 x 50 mm cartridge as the Type 38 rifle. The Type I Rifle were similar in appearance and length to the Type 38 rifle, but were based on the Italian Carcano action.

Post-war inspection of the Type 38 by both the US military and the NRA proved that the Type 38's receiver was the strongest bolt action of any nation and capable of handling more powerful cartridges.

After the war, Type 38 rifles were extensively used during the Chinese Civil War and the Korea War by the People's Liberation Army and the People's Volunteer Army. It was also widely used by Chinese troops during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
 

Other web sites with information about the Type 38 Arisaka Rifle

• Collecting and Shooting the Arisaka Type 38 Rifle

• Markings on Japanese Arisaka Rifles and Bayonets of World War II

• Japanese WWII Rifle Parts

• Japan's Intriguing Arisakas

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