Bolt Action Rifles. Wayne Zwoll

in place than with the cover removed. Since many captured rifles were minus their breech covers, it seems that some Japanese soldiers discarded them.

      Ample provision was made in the Type 38 Arisaka action to allow powder gases to escape harmlessly in the event of a ruptured case head or pierced primer. Two small holes in the top of the receiver ring provide vents for any gas escaping into the locking-lug recesses. A single large oblong hole in the bottom of the bolt, just behind the locking lugs, allows gas to escape into the left locking lug raceway and thence to the auxiliary lug opening in the top of this raceway, just to the rear of the receiver ring. Should any gas be directed rearward in this raceway, it would be deflected by the bolt stop lug, and if any got beyond this point the safety would deflect it from the shooter’s face. Should a large volume of gas get inside the bolt through the firing pin hole, all of it could not escape through the large vent in the bolt. It would expand into the inside of the hollow striker, but it would not reach the shooter because of the solid safety cap.

      Type 38 Japanese 6.5mm action, open.

      Left side of the Type 38 Arisaka action.

      Type 99 Arisakas

      In the late 1930s Japan was preparing for war. Type 38 Arisaka rifles were good, and so was the 6.5mm cartridge, but measures had to be taken to speed up production of the rifles and for several reasons a larger caliber was also desirable. Thus, in about 1938, steps were taken to modify the Type 38 (1905) action for easier, faster, less costly manufacture. The Type 99 (1939) Arisaka action was the result. At the same time they adopted a new cartridge, commonly known as the 7.7 Japanese or 31-caliber Japanese.

      Here is a brief description of the 7.7mm-caliber rifles and carbines based on the 99 action, or on further modifications of it.

      1. Type 99 (1939) Long Rifle. About 9 pounds, 31.4” barrel, 50” overall.

      2. Type 99 (1939) Short Rifle. About 8.5 pounds, 25.75” barrel, 44.25” overall. The standard Japanese infantry rifle used during WWII.

      3. Type 99 (1939) Sniper Rifle, same as number 2 above except fitted with a 2.5x scope with a detachable off-set mount. Bent down bolt handle.

      4. Type 99 (late version ) Short Rifle, same as number 2 above but more cheaply made. Identifying features are: wooden buttplate, fixed aperature rear sight, no model markings. See text for specific details of this and the paratroop rifles.

      5. Type O Paratroop Rifle. About 8.75 pounds, 25.75” barrel, 44.25” overall. Very rare model.

      6. Type 2 (1942) Paratroop Rifle. About 9 pounds, 25.9” barrel, 44.25” overall.

      The main identifying features of all rifles based on the Type 99 action are the stamped trigger guard, hinged magazine floorplate, and lower tang extending below the pistol grip. Type 99 Long, Short and Type 2 Sniper rifles usually had chrome-plated bores and bolt faces, and all except the sniper model had straight bolt handles. Sliding breech covers were also standard.

      The Type 99 Action

      Just as the 1903A3 Springfield action was a modified version of the 1903 Springfield action to make it easier to manufacture, the Japanese 99 action bore the same relationship to the earlier Type 38 action. In neither case did this result in the action becoming less reliable nor weaker. Although the quality of the finish suffered, the modified Springfield and Arisaka actions were unaffected as far as military use was concerned.

      The following are the most notable outward changes and modifications made in effecting the change over from the Type 38 (1905) 6.5mm action to the Type 99 (1939) 7.7mm action:

      1. The separate recoil block was eliminated; the 99 receiver was made with an integral recoil lug of ample size, which was an improvement.

      2. Instead of milling an L-slot in the receiver bridge for the bolt handle, most of the metal below this slot was cut away on the 99 receiver. This still left enough metal for a safety lug for the bolt handle in the event the front locking lugs should fail.

      3. The integral bolt-stop housing on the receiver was replaced by a copy of the Mauser bolt-stop and ejector. The bolt-stop, attached to a lug on the receiver, is held in place by a pointed screw turned in from the top, with the ejector pivoting on this same screw. The ejector is tensioned by a separate small spring wedged under the heavier bolt-stop spring mortised in the bolt-stop.

      Top view of the Type 38 Arisaka action. Note twin gas-escape holes in the receiver ring, the Japanese Imperial seal and other Japanese markings on the receiver ring, the clip-charger slot in the receiver bridge, the L-shaped slot for the bolt handle, and the oval grasping ball on the straight bolt handle.

      4. The auxiliary lug and the left (top) locking lug are milled entirely through for the ejector.

      5. Sheet metal stampings were used for several parts on the 99 action. These include the upper tang, lower tang and trigger guard bow, magazine floorplate and floorplate latch.

      6. The magazine floorplate is hinged to the front of the magazine plate.

      7. The 99 tangs were made longer to further strengthen the grip area of the stock. The non-detachable lower tang extends over the end of the pistol grip.

      8. Generally, the safety cap of the 99 action had a shallow groove cut into its outside edge instead of having a hump. The outside edge was usually unserrated and sometimes the rear surface was not knurled or checkered.

      9. Only a single gas port was made in the 99 receiver ring.

      10. The barrel shank threads were changed; see the barrel shank drawings elsewhere in this book.

      11. Other minor changes were made in the 99 action to adapt it to the 7.7mm cartridge and to facilitate manufacture. The magazine box and well were made slightly longer and the magazine well made slightly wider. The cut for the extractor inside the receiver ring was generally milled entirely through to the front edge of the receiver and through the threads for the barrel shank. Some milling cuts in the striker were made from the outside and entirely through the striker wall, instead of making the cuts only in the inside. The outside of the extractor was made flat instead of rounded.

      No changes were made in the breeching method. The bolt remained unchanged except as noted above and the same trigger and safety systems were used. As can be expected, 99 actions were not finished as well as 38 actions, with the quality of the outside finish getting worse each succeeding year. By 1944, shortly before the 99 Arisaka went into production, no attempt was made to smooth finish such parts as the trigger guard, floorplate, extractor and upper tang.

      Type 99 (1939) Japanese 7.7mm Arisaka action, minus breech cover.

      The 1945 Action

      By 1944 Japan was sorely pressed in her efforts to manufacture enough small arms for the expected homeland defensive operations. Her “last ditch” rifle was the Type 99 (1944 or 1945) version. It was made as quickly and as cheaply as possible and still be usable for serious warfare. Outwardly, this hastily made rifle was the same as the regular 99 (1939) version except for its finish, buttplate and rear sight. Its rear sight was merely a sheet metal aperture affixed to the barrel, the buttplate a thin piece of wood fastened to the stock with a few brads. As for the rifle’s finish, the word “rough” best describes it. On several of these rifles I’ve owned and examined, the receivers were not too bad, but the bolts appeared to be rough undersized forgings with only enough machining done to make them work. Safeties were unfinished, with the stem roughly welded to the cap; this same type of safety was also used on the regular 99 (1939) versions of late manufacture. Although these rifles were fully suitable for service, they were crude. No effort was made to mark the receiver