Type 38 Arisaka. From trash heap to the firing line!

[GIZMO8Z]

Hello, all!

Those of you who saw my rifles in the trash thread know that I was able to rescue a Kokura Arsenal T38 Arisaka rifle from the trash heap. To my surprise, it's chrysanthemum emblem is intact and it has all matching serial numbers.

Unfortunately, the rifle was pretty well rusted, missing it's cleaning rod and sling, and I assumed that the bolt was fused shut.

BEFORE RESTORATION:

[GIZMO8Z]

Members of this forum and members of more firearm specific forums were very eager to help me restore this rifle. To be honest, the restoration was pretty easy going and really only took a few hours of gentle scrubbing with 0000 steel wool soaked in CLP, and some rubbing down of the stock with a cloth made damp with water and diluted dawn dish soap.

I was able to find a sling for it and ArisakaDogs on gunboards was awesome in that he helped me out with a cleaning rod (not pictured).

AFTER RESTORATION:

[GIZMO8Z]

Today, I was finally able to take the restored rifle to my gun club! I told the range officer that it had been rusted and I restored it. We were both thrilled when it shot flawlessly! If you listen closely to the video, you can hear the range officer exclaim: "I GUESS YOU'RE ALRIGHT! IT DIDN'T BLOW UP!"



I must say that I found my T38 Arisaka very accurate! At ~50yrds, I was able to put all five shots on this ersatz target I put up (Sixth shot is from my cousin... he was only able to put 1/5 of his shots on target, but he is a lot less experience than I am!):

[samnev]

Well done Joe.

[Wolfe1165]

Glad to see it in working order!

[GIZMO8Z]

Thanks, gents! It wasn't a drastic or difficult restoration project, but I am still happy and proud of the result. I am not sure if I will ever shoot this rifle again... but I am glad to know that it is in working order.

I feel that I have done a service to the Japanese soldier who I assume fell in combat with this rifle and to the American service-man who brought this rifle home as his war trophy.

[MarkV]

Great work, Joe!! Isn't it great to restore one of these beauties to firing condition?

[GIZMO8Z]

Thanks, Mark! It really is great! Because I restored this rifle myself, I feel more connected to it than most of my other rifles. This Arisaka and my IBM carbine are the two gems in my collection. My Carcano is an honorable mention because of how rare it is (it'll be featured in a book) and because my girlfriend bought it for me.

[SteveR]

Really nice job friend.

[Wagriff]

Good to see these old boys being saved and restored. Nice job all around!