7.7-06 Arisaka

[Arisaka99]

My grandfather gave me what he knew to be a 30-06 and Japanese rifle, but it wasnt. I did some research and I figured that it was an arisaka type 99. It has a sporterized stock with the mum, but it had a 30-06 reamer run through it, so it ruined its collector's value, but Wayne Smith another forum member here goes to my church. He is an expert on exotic weapons, and he casts and reloads. He is teaching me to reload and helping me put a pad on my arisaka. He said that when we can find a mold for a .303 enfield he will teach me to cast, so then i will actually be a caster. ;) We think it was a last ditch model, but it doesnt have the AA sight and the outside of the barrel looks like it was threaded. But overall its good for what I need, but I need to find a scope mount that I can use without drilling & tapping the reciever, because that will be pretty expensive. I found one that clamps onto the rear sight, but i think it was for the ladder sights. :?:

[bruce drake]

Welcome to the hobby. I have two Type 99s that have been rechambered for what I call 31-06 (30-06 reamer run up the chamber like yours) Your last ditch may not be pretty but is probably a good shooter since the barrel is chrome-lined to resist rusting.

a good mold to start for this caliber is LEE's .312 dia 185 grain. It should cost you like 20-25 dollars and you'll be making boolits shortly after it arrives.

I assume you have either the simple peep sight mounted on the barrel or ladder sight with the AA wings removed from the sight. A good cast load is 11gr of Unique or Red Dot with the above mentioned bullet. This load with the sights set at 300 should be dead-on for 100 yards

If you do wish to scope it, Weaver makes a base specific for the Arisakas that mounts on the receiver.

Drill and Tapping the Receiver for the scope base should cost you around $30-40 by a decent gunsmith plus the cost of the base.

If you scope it, you will have to bend the bolt as well. Your local gunsmith can easily bend the existing bolt hand with a torch and a hammer or you can opt for him to cut the original handle off and weld on a commercial replacement handle that will clear the scope that you have mounts. Bending a Bolt is cheaper but the product looks rougher sometimes. It all depends on how much time the Gunsmith devotes to the final shaping of the now bent bolt.

You'll learn to love that rifle since your Grandfather gave it to you. Also realize that you'd never get a decent value for the rifle as is but the value in that rifle was in the gift-giving from one generation to another.

Finally - Get the rifle headspaced by the gunsmith before you shoot it. $10 for that is worth a lot more than a missing eye or fingers should the rifle fail its headspacing.

Bruce

[Multigunner]

My grandfather gave me what he knew to be a 30-06 and Japanese rifle, but it wasnt. I did some research and I figured that it was an arisaka type 99. It has a sporterized stock with the mum, but it had a 30-06 reamer run through it, so it ruined its collector's value, but Wayne Smith another forum member here goes to my church. He is an expert on exotic weapons, and he casts and reloads. He is teaching me to reload and helping me put a pad on my arisaka. He said that when we can find a mold for a .303 enfield he will teach me to cast, so then i will actually be a caster. ;) We think it was a last ditch model, but it doesnt have the AA sight and the outside of the barrel looks like it was threaded. But overall its good for what I need, but I need to find a scope mount that I can use without drilling & tapping the reciever, because that will be pretty expensive. I found one that clamps onto the rear sight, but i think it was for the ladder sights. :?:

You should research the rifle a bit more before altering it in a permanent manner.
Many 7.7 rifles were rechambered by veterans in order to use the available .30-06 but there were also government arsenal rechambered or rebarreled Arisakas used by Thailand and perhaps others.
The Arisaka was easily available and those countries needed .30-06 weapons in order to take advantage of US military aid.
The Chinese converted some to 7.62X39 for use as training rifles.

If the barrel has been set back before rechambering it should be fine.
Some which were simly opened up without setting back can have an oversized rear portion of the chamber. those should be used with handloads on milspec 06 cases. The military case is thicker and less subject to blowouts in an oversized chamber.
Some Winchester ammo now uses a semi ballonhead case and these, as well as some other commercial cases, may not be safe in a loose chamber.

Besides headspacing you should remote fire the rifle several times and closely examine the cases for bulging.
Some reloaders put a thin strip of tape or cigarette paper around the base on first firing to center the case in the chamber. Neck size only of course.

[Arisaka99]

I have already shot probably 30 rounds through it, like 15 sierra's and 20 sizing loads. Bruce, I heard that its pretty expensive to get it drilled, but I must be wrong, thanks for the mount info, because I couldnt find a mount anywhere. It has just a rear V sight and a blade front sight. My specific gun already has a bent bolt. It has a real bitch of a trigger, so I need to get a trigger job done also.

[bruce drake]

If it was converted by the military to 30-06 you'll see a US Cal .30 marking on the receiver ring indicating the conversion to the US Service Round. If a gunsmith did the rechambering than the barrel would most likely be marked 30-06.

Without pictures to confirm, the V-notch rear sight makes me think that someone cut the original aperture sight off.

The Weaver base is easy to find. Midway USA and Brownell's Gunsmithing both stock the item.

The triggers are notorious for being rough. A good Stoning gets them back into shape usually.

The barrel threading is just a standard barrel that the Japanese Armories choose not to do the final polishing to save several steps in the production in their haste to get rifles to the battlefield. I have a Last Ditch like that, that I draw-filed the barrel smooth and then reblued it as part of my own gunsmithing hobby.

Bruce

[Arisaka99]

yeah, the barrel has no markings, the only markings on it are the serial # and the chrysanthemum. I can take another look at it, but im pretty sure that is all. It shoots pretty good; about 3 ins low at 50yrds with the iron sights.

[Wayne Smith]

Somehow, years ago, I included a box of .311 Serria bullets in a Midway order. Never had a rifle in that caliber. That's what we used to load the loads Chris and I fired. I started with light loads, the cases were perfect - no headspace issues. Same with the full loads, loaded to 2400 fps.

Guys, Chris is the 14 year old I'm teaching to reload. He is, typically for his age, always in a hurry to go the next three steps! A very entheuastic beginner. I just receieved a modified Lee hand press for him from shooterg. He has a Dillon powder scale, a Redding powder measure and I have a modified set of RCBS 30-06 dies for him at my house. He will need a primer seater and will be all set up to reload once he gets components. Casting is later, and will need to be done at my place - he lives in an apt. and his mom is tolerant and wise but not that tolerant.

The rear sight on his rifle is a large block with a V cut in it. No adjustability, no sophistication, and the block is large enough that it will probably have to be removed to mount a scope or arperture sight. I have the stock which was butchered and have glued a piece on to increase the LOP. I need to get a grind to fit butt pad for it and refinish the stock. That's the next step in the process.

[bruce drake]

Wayne,

starting them right is half the fun!

Keep up the good work!


Chris,
Pay attention to the life lessons that Wayne is imparting. THey carry over to more to life than shooting guns.
Bruce

[Arisaka99]

Yeah, Wayne is a good guy, not to mention a wealth of information. ;) I pay very good attention to what wayne tells and teaches me. BTW: wayne, simms has a 5& 9/16"x 2&1/16" pad for sale at cabelas.

[bruce drake]

IF you get a chance- Take it to a gunsmith (or if you have a set of stamps -Wayne) and get the barrel marked with the caliber. This way, you or others will know that it isn't in the original caliber.

This will prevent any issue in the future should the rifle leave your care.

Also, take your time and do the rifle right. That chromed bore is probably in perfect shape despite how rough the rest of the rifle appears. A little (or a lot of) time spent preparing and cleaning up the metal and the wood will go a long way towards improving the appearance of the rifle.

I've found that my 31-06 (7.7x06) really loves those 185gr boolits from that LEE Mold. If you shoot jacketed bullets, use the 303 British loading data and you'll have a great rifle for a long time.

The rifle's original caliber was designed as a rimless 303 Brit so the loadings in the manuals are close to equal. And a deer in North America will definitely die if hit by a bullet propelled by one of those loads. No need to hotrod it up to 30-06 (also saves a bit of powder for later) pressure levels.

Bruce

[Arisaka99]

Wayne had some Sierra prohunters I believe 180gr .311dia. and the most accurate load was like 48.7 (correct me if im wrong wayne) grains of powder. It shot about 3 ins low but grouped at like an inch and a half @ 50 yrds.

[bruce drake]

Do you recall the powder? As Wayne will teach you, each powder has different burn rates and pressure curves. Each powder/bullet/primer will develop it's own recipe for accuracy. 3MOA from rough open sights and a lousy, gritty trigger is a good start!

[Arisaka99]

Imr 4350

[Multigunner]

Somehow, years ago, I included a box of .311 Serria bullets in a Midway order. Never had a rifle in that caliber. That's what we used to load the loads Chris and I fired. I started with light loads, the cases were perfect - no headspace issues. Same with the full loads, loaded to 2400 fps.

Guys, Chris is the 14 year old I'm teaching to reload. He is, typically for his age, always in a hurry to go the next three steps! A very entheuastic beginner. I just receieved a modified Lee hand press for him from shooterg. He has a Dillon powder scale, a Redding powder measure and I have a modified set of RCBS 30-06 dies for him at my house. He will need a primer seater and will be all set up to reload once he gets components. Casting is later, and will need to be done at my place - he lives in an apt. and his mom is tolerant and wise but not that tolerant.

The rear sight on his rifle is a large block with a V cut in it. No adjustability, no sophistication, and the block is large enough that it will probably have to be removed to mount a scope or arperture sight. I have the stock which was butchered and have glued a piece on to increase the LOP. I need to get a grind to fit butt pad for it and refinish the stock. That's the next step in the process.

If its going to a gunsmith anyway I'd enquire into having the barrel set back a couple of threds and the chamber freshened up to ensure that he won't have any case bulging or spliting later on.

These rifles can be transformed into excellent custom sporting rifles with a little work and a good stock.
Its already altered enough that collector condition is not an issue, so may as well go whole hog and DT for a proper scope mount and set of auxillary iron sights.

[Arisaka99]

What will having it set back a couple of threads do? Or how do they freshen up the chamber? I was planning on having it drilled and tapped, but idk how they can put new sights on if its an old gun like that?

[bruce drake]

Setting the barrel back a few threads is strictly a gunsmith operation at this point for you since you proably don't have access to a lathe. Basically what it does it moves the chambering forward by removing the back of the barrel to essentially make a short-chambered barrel so that when the chamber is recut with the chamber reamer it causes the original chamber to be recut to 30-06 dimensions properly. The 7.7 Arisaka cartridge has a head dimension of .476 while 30-06 is .473. It removes that potential for cartridge bulge and possibly blowout of thin brass cartridges. The big key on a barrel setback is the proper indexing of the barrel so the extractor cut is kept the same. If you don't than you'll have to mill a new extractor slot into the barrel as well.

Putting new sights on the Arisaka is no harder than putting sights on a Mauser. Any gunsmith or decent tinkering gun nut can put iron sights on. scope bases should be put on with a sight jig for full accuracy and most gun nuts don't carry the jig on their shelves. (they are about $200 from most gunsmith supply houses)

[bruce drake]

Imr 4350

A good medium/slow powder for this cartridge. IMR4895 is another good blend for this cartridge as well once your supply of IMR4350 is exhausted.

[Arisaka99]

Yeah, when we were fire forming the cases we used 18grs of IMR4759, but that was just to check my chamber. But its a good chamber and it was done right.

[bruce drake]

Well, its up to you and Wayne to finish this project! Good luck on the Arisaka!

Bruce

[Arisaka99]

Thanks Bruce, Thats definately something we will do!! I will inform everyone when we finish it.

[Arisaka99]

Well, I have my reloading stuff now, so I can reload my own shells for the arisaka!! Now all i need is a shell holder and components.