Arisaka 'last ditch' sporter?

[blixen]

I have an Arisaka sporter that was, at some point, rechambered to .300 Savage. The stock was hacked horribly. But it shoots CBs great! So, I've been looking for a more comfortable, less ugly sporter stock without much luck.

I just found another Arisaka sporter in 7.7 that has a walnut after-market stock, a Williams receiver sight and a commercial ramp front sight. The price is about what I see for sporter stocks alone.

Here's the weird part--the bolt has the cylindrical bolt handle that is, I understand, associated with "last ditch" rifles. The rest of the rifle has been sporterized, so I can't find anything else that would be characteristic of a 'last ditch' rifle (like the rear sight). The receiver and barrel look well machined, very little rust and the bore looks as good as my .300 Sav.

Why would someone sporterize a last ditch rifle? Did other Arisakas have cylindrical bolt handles? Is there some way to know for sure if it's a last ditch model?

I may still buy it just for the stock and the receiver sight, but it would be nice if it's a safe shooter, as is.

[Scharfschuetze]

Check the bore, chamber and bolt face for hard chrome plating. I don't think the last ditch 99s were plated so that might be a clue to it's suitability for shooting.

Many last ditch 99s didn't have knurling on the safety knob at the rear of the bolt.

Of course with the chaos in Japan during the last few months of the War, the above two clues may mean nothing or something.

Another clue might be if the locking lugs have set back in the receiver. You can tell when you shoot a round and the bolt is hard to open due to the lugs having to fight their way out of their seat. If that's the case, then it was not heat treated properly or it was made of "last ditch" steel that was too soft for its purpose. I'd definitely tie it down to a tire for you test fire with your suspicions.

If it has copper fowling in the bore, it has already put up with at least some shooting in a safe manner, probably with full power loads.

"Emptor caveat!"

[blixen]

The safety knob is knurled, no chrome that I can see (bore is dirty) but rifling looks good. The cocking stroke is smooth but much harder than on my Arisaka, like it has a much stiffer spring. I read that the substitute 99 was made for years and most weren't "last ditch" at all--just sort of a simplified economy model. Maybe this is one of those.

In fact, my good shootin' 7.7-.300 savage has a wooden butt plate and no chrome, indicating it also was a "substitute" 99.

[fryboy]

i cant state that it's bad but i was always warned about the last ditch rifles , other than that i love the jap rifles , somewhere there's a website devoted to these fine rifles , i think it would be worth searching for in this case ( i know it helped me find the manufacture and date of mine )

[Scharfschuetze]

If your rifles still have their arsenal markings, then this link will help you determine where your rifle was made.

http://oldmilitarymarkings.com/japanese_markings.html

[Multigunner]

I've always wondered if the skinny cylindrical bolt knob might have been originally intended to have a bakelite knob molded around it.
One of the older Jap Bolt actions had a hollow wooden knob with a sort of pear shape. Those used a leaf or V shaped mainspring housed in the knob.
A bakelite knob would make sense for combat in extreme cold weather conditions of northern China and the Aluetians.
The skinny knobs just look unfinished, way too small even for small hands.

Some of the last ditch rifles used perfectly good if old and beat up actions.

[kywoodwrkr]

Try this forum.
http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdisplay.php?52-Firearms-Of-The-Rising-Sun

[blixen]

Thanks to all. I love Arisakas but Figuring out Japanese markings is like translating a secret code written in hieroglyphs. I should have photographed the rifle.
I also ran across a 99 in original condition with a welded-on fixed peep sight (talk about last ditch!) It had a very nice stock, but I don't collect milsurps and also don't bubba. I like to shoot cast through unusual (and usually cheap) military rifles that someone else has "sporterized." I've got a very small and very motley collection.