Bolt Action Rifles. Wayne Zwoll

the Imperial seal was usually stamped on them.

      Takedown and Assembly

      First make sure the chamber and magazine are empty.

      Type 38: Raise the bolt handle, pull it back as far as it will go, then swing the bolt-stop to the left until the bolt can be fully withdrawn. The bolt can be replaced by pushing it forward in the receiver. In replacing a bolt with a sliding breech cover, the cover must be aligned with the grooves in the receiver at the same time the bolt is inserted.

      To remove the firing mechanism, grasp the bolt with one hand and, with the palm of the other hand, depress the safety as far as it will go, then turn it clockwise about one-quarter turn or until it is released. Safety and striker can then be removed from the bolt and the mainspring removed from the striker. Reassemble by inserting mainspring in the striker, inserting the triker in the bolt with the cocking cam positioned in the shallow cam notch, then insert the safety by tarting it with the hump positioned slightly clockwise of the bolt handle. Push the safety forward as far as it will go and then turn it counterclockwise as far as it will go. When assembled, the lug on the bottom of the safety must align with the cocking cam, otherwise the bolt cannot be inserted into the receiver.

      Type 99 Arisaka action, open.

      Remove the extractor by turning it on the bolt so it covers the gas vent and then push it forward. Replace in reverse order. Do not remove extractor collar unless absolutely necessary.

      Remove the magazine floorplate, follower and follower spring by depressing the floorplate latch in the trigger guard bow.

      Bolt from the Type 38 Arisaka. (Below right) Bolt from the late Type 99 (1945) Arisaka. Note smaller, cylindrical-shaped grasping ball on this bolt, compared to the larger oval-shaped ball on the Type 38 bolt.

      Japanese Type 99 action. The action shown with breech cover and bolt open.

      Receiver ring markings on the Type 38 Japanese action (right), and on the Type 99 (far right). When the Japanese Imperial seal is entirely intact (not partially or entirely ground away) it means that the rifles were captured. Surrendered Japanese rifles generally have the seal ground off.

      To remove barrel and receiver from the stock, first remove the barrel bands and turn out the two guard screws and the tang screw. The barrel, receiver and upper tang can then be lifted from the top of the stock and the lower tang, trigger guard and magazine box can be removed from the bottom of the stock. Remove the magazine latch by driving out its pin, then remove the latch plunger and spring.

      Remove the trigger and sear by driving out the sear pin. The trigger pin is riveted in, but can be driven out with a drift punch if necessary.

      Remove the bolt-stop by turning it out, and pulling out the rear screw under the bolt-stop housing. Turn out the ejector screw to remove the ejector. Remove the bolt-stop spring by swinging its rear end down one-quarter turn and lifting it out.

      Reassemble all above units in reverse order. In reassembling the bolt-stop, first replace the ejector and bolt-stop, then replace the spring by swinging it in place.

      Type 99 takedown: Follow same procedures as described for the Type 38 rifle and action except for the following: to remove magazine floorplate, drive the hinge pin out; to remove the floorplate latch, turn the latch screw out; remove the bolt-stop by removing its screw; the ejector can then be pulled forward out of the bolt-stop housing; the bolt-stop spring is removed by driving it forward out of the housing and the ejector spring is removed along with it. To aid in driving the bolt-stop spring forward, a small screwdriver should be inserted under the rear of the spring so it can be held up while driving it forward until freed from the bolt-stop.

      In reassembling the bolt-stop spring, first place the ejector spring under it, then drive both forward until caught. Then insert a screwdriver under the rear end of the bolt-stop spring to hold it up so the spring can be driven fully in place.

      The barrels of these rifles are threaded tightly into the receiver (right-hand threads). Do not attempt to remove the barrel unless you have the proper tools to do so.

      Type “I” 6.5mm Japanese action, these made in Italy for Japan. The receiver, bolt and trigger assembly are a close copy of the Italian Carcano action.

      Action Strength

      Almost every gun buff interested in military bolt-action rifles, or in just the actions, knows that the 38 and 99 Japanese Arisaka actions are strong. Many articles have been written about the strength and safety of these actions, and many blow-up tests have been conducted since the late l940s when someone discovered that all Japanese rifles were not junk. P.O. Ackley, in his book Handbook For Shooters & ReloadersVolume II, describes tests he conducted on various military bolt actions, and the Japanese actions were still going strong after most of the others had failed. This book is recommended reading for anyone interested in action blowup tests.

      Of all the material I’ve read about the strength of Arisaka actions, the most astonishing report of the toughness of a Type 38 Japanese action and rifle appeared on page 52 in the May, 1959 issue of The American Rifleman. This describes a Type 38 6.5mm Arisaka which was rechambered to accept the 30-06 cartridge. The 6.5mm barrel was NOT rebored, only the chamber was enlarged. The fellow who did the rechambering accomplished it by grinding down the pilot of a 30-06 reamer so it would enter the bore. After rechambering he test fired it. Nothing much happened, so he used the rifle on a hunting trip and killed a deer with it. Because the rifle kicked so hard he took it to a reputable gunsmith who discovered what the owner had done with it and what he was shooting in it. Because the rifle was still intact after firing a number of 30-06 cartridges, the gunsmith sent the rifle to the NRA. The NRA staff then fired some more 30-06 rounds through it, and it seems incredible that neither the barrel nor the action burst, for just imagine firing .308” bullets through a .264 ” groove diameter barrel! If one were to deliberately plan a torture test or blow-up test on the 6.5mm Japanese rifle one could hardly think of a better scheme, even though it is a little crazy. That this particular rifle did not burst, or even appear to be strained by this abuse, certainly proves that the bolt, receiver and barrel were made of the best heat-treated steels. It also shows that the breeching and locking system is excellent.

      Type “I” action, open.

      Japanese Arisaka Type 2 (1942) 7.7mm takedown paratroop rifle action, the bolt partially open. Loosening the ringed take-down nut on the right side of the receiver ring allows the barrel and forend to be slipped out of the action.

      About 10 years before the above incident was reported, a friend and I put another Japanese rifle through a torture test with the sole intention of firing it until it blew up or could no longer be fired. For this test we used the worst specimen of this rifle which was ever carted home by a returning GI, a Type 99 rifle in 7.7mm caliber. This particular rifle was such a crude specimen that initially we thought it to be a Japanese training rifle. I rechambered it for the 30-06 cartridge, and purposely cut the chamber fully .010” deeper than normal.

      For the test, I loaded a couple of cartridges of each of the following loads in military 30-06 cases:

      No.