Arisaka Type 38 (6.5x50mmSR)
Kim du Toit
January 12, 2003
12:00 AM CDT
From Reader Scott comes this plea: “Need more gratuitous gun pictures of old, famous, bolt-action rifles!”
How does 1905 grab ya?
More than one aficionado of older bolt rifles think this is one of the best ever made: the Japanese Arisaka Type 38 in 6.5x50mmSR (aka. 6.5mm Jap—the “SR” standing for “semi-rimmed"), with a 5-round internal mag and a lo-o-o-ong 31¼” barrel, weighing about 9lbs:
Many thought the cartridge was weak and underpowered—right up until Guadalcanal. In fact, the 6.5mm Jap was perfectly adequate: light recoil, excellent penetration and very accurate.
But the main strength of the Type 38 was, well, its strength. There is a documented story of a G.I. who brought back a Type 38 from the Pacific campaign, and had it re-chambered to accept the .30-06 cartridge. For reasons unknown, he neglected to ream out the barrel to take the larger .30-caliber bullet(!!!). The result was an enormous bang, and massive, highly-unpleasant recoil. The .30 bullet ended up being squeezed into the rifle’s .256 diameter.
What should have happened was that the Type 38’s action should have exploded—but it never did. The NRA performed a test on the rifle, firing three more .30-06 cartridges, and still the action remained undamaged. Astonishing.
The Type 38 was modified by the Japanese in 1911 into a short carbine (the Type 38 “Cavalry” and the Type 44):
Later during WWII, the Japanese rechambered the Type 38 into the 7.7mm cartridge (essentially the British .303 without the rimmed cartridge), renaming it the Type 99, but the 38 remained in service until the end of the war, and beyond.
Other Type 38s were rechambered (and re-barreled) into other calibers (like the 7x57mm Mauser) for other countries.
Historical curiosity: The British Army bought 50,000 of the Type 38 during WWI, and used them to equip the irregular Arab troops of T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia).
Incidentally, if you get one of these (typical price: about $200 - $300), if it has a chrysanthemum stamped on the barrel, it means it’s a trophy or “bringback”—when the Japanese surrendered in 1945, the Imperial symbol was ground off to save face.
6.5x50mm Jap ammo runs about $40/20—unless you’re a cheap bastard reloader (for whom we point to Chuck Hawks for loading advice).
The later production of this rifle was limited to home foundries, as the USAAF was bombing the crap out of Japan’s factories, and the quality shows. Stick to pre-1941 issue.
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