I'd like to thank Bud W. Smith for providing permission to post this article.
There are perhaps some people who have always heard that Japanese Rifles were "Junk." Perhaps some people who have not seen a Japanese Rifle, or if they did , did not realize that these rifle appearances changed during the war due to "wartime influences." The purpose of this article is not to change anyone's opinion or blief about Japanese Rifles. It is to present some facts known or some that may not be as well known, concerning a rifle that deserves, in my opinion and a few others, something better than to be called "Junk."
For brevity, there are generalizations included, and details left out.
The Japanese produced over 6.4 million rifles and carbines in the 40 years from 1906 to 1945. Japanese arms and equipment, although less sophisticated and technologically inferior to ours, served their purposes. The WWII Arisaka Rifle used a modified Mauser bolt action. It began under Colonel Nariaki Arisaka in 1905, with Captain Kijiro Nambu designing the action. The improved Arisaka bolt action featured a hollow firing pin with an internal coil spring, a straight bolt handle, and a large distinctive round safety knob on the rear of the bolt. The bolt on closing was secured by two front locking lugs, and was one of the strongest military bolt actions ever produced. The Safety was operated by pushing the knob forward and rotating it about one-eighth turn to the right. Unlike other Mauser-inspired actions, the bulky safety knob of the Arisaka also served to deflect gases blown back as the result of a cartridge case failure or punctured primer. (Partial Ref: #3.)
Type 38, chambered for the 6.5mm Japanese semi-rimless centerfire cartridge. The simplified bolt consists internally of a firing pin, firing pin spring and safety. This design reduced the Mauser type action to components that were extremely reliable, functional, and cost effective. The Type 38 rifle manufactured for 35 years remained essentially unchanged except for minor improvements.
Production was discontinued in 1940. When the break down of the supply line from Japan to the China Expeditionary Force occurred in 1943, arsenals were set up in China. Full-scale production was just getting under way when World War II ended. Almost 3 million Type 38's were produced.
Type 99, chambered for the 7.7mm semi-rimless centerfire cartridge. Experience in China as early as 1932, indicated that a cartridge with greater impact energy was required. Also, the continued development to larger caliber machine guns made it opportune for a change to a infantry rifle of similar caliber. The type 99 was placed into production in 1939, Approximately 1942, changes had to be instituted because of the lack of steel, wood, etc. (See "Substitute" following.) In 1943, all manufacturing companies began production of the "substitute Type 99 rifle" which was produced until the end of the war in 1945. This substitute" rifle is discussed later. Approximately 2.5 million Type 99's were produced.
Lt. Col. John George, Army Officer, Scholar, Adventurer and Distinguished Rifleman was on Guadalcanal. He commanded a company, which fought beside the Marines in the clean up of the island. In Burma he was in one of the battalions of Merrill's Marauders. In his book "Shots Fired in Anger" published by the National Rifle Association of America, he goes into great detail concerning the 6.5mm & 7.7mm Japanese Rifles. It is a very good comparison of the Japanese Rifle to the 98 Mauser and 03 Springfield. On page 269, he mentions the 6.5mm is a pretty good gun, clumsier than any of ours, but in slow fire it is easier to shoot. It has practically no recoil (long barrel, moderately loaded cartridge, and weight of 10 lbs.) It has fair accuracy up to about 500 yards, muzzle velocity of 2,400 foot seconds, which puts it up in the high power military class and gives it a maximum range of some 2,600 yards. He mentions, "In spite of all it's shortcomings, some of which were so stupid that they defied belief (almost as much as certain of our own ordnance inanities concerned with the adoption of our Springfield) it proved to be a good, reliable combat rifle .
One item of side interest is the "Dust Cover." Colonel George mentions that another fixed idiocy was the receiver cover. He mentions that it is a foolish contrivance, which would give the working parts of the rifle negligible contribution. He mentioned that the receiver cover on the weapon rattled alike all of the proverbial tin pots and pans in hell. This Dust Cover was a controversial decision arousing much debate whenever the Type 38 rifle was being developed. Japanese Army experiences during the Russo-Japanese War convinced the development commission that this sliding dustcover was essential. During dust storms many Type 30 (previous rifle that the Type 38 was replacing), had been left inoperable, and soldiers had resorted to wrapping receivers with cloths for protection. This Dust Cover was primarily designed for the China Area of operations. Many a Japanese Soldier did discard his Dust Cover, but probably so reluctantly as equipment issued, belonged to the Emperor, not to the Soldier and he was fully accountable for it.
Colonel George mentioned on page 264. "The Arisaka bolt can be disassembled faster than any others of the Mauser type; a rank amateur can jerk it into its five basic units in four seconds and keep a hand free to toy with his gal's ear all the while, if she happens to be close by." He did not care for the straight bolt handle, but he mentions that they committed less non-constructive butchery on the Mauser than did the designers of the '03 rifle.
One technological feature that the Japanese Rifle had, and I believe no other nation had at the time (the United States incorporated it halfway through the war) was a chrome plated barrel and bolt face. The Japanese incorporated it in their Type 99 rifles beginning in 1939. It was fore-sight on their behalf, taking into consideration the high humidity conditions of the Jungle, salt weather influence, perhaps lack of proper cleaning supplies & the corrosive powder in ammunition.
Chuck Karwan (Ref. 5) wrote an article entitled "The Top Guns of WWII"
He details various weapons, but under bolt action rifles, he states that he believes the best was the British .303 No. 4 Enfield. Then he goes on to say -
"There is another excellent WWII bolt action rifle that is often overlooked and in some circumstances might even be better than the No. 4 Enfield. This is the Japanese 7.7mm Type 99 Arisaka, particularly in its somewhat simplified version that dropped the monopod and aircraft engagement sight features of the earlier versions. This rifle is easy to make, extremely strong, light and handy, accurate, has a removable action cover for such operations as amphibious landings, and has a chrome lined bore. Its bolt has only six parts, which includes a safety, and can be disassembled for maintenance in seconds without tools. Its manual safety is very positive and extremely fast to disengage. In extremely rough field conditions, I might prefer the Type 99 over the No. 4 Enfield because its ease of maintenance and chrome line bore would keep it operating longer particularly with the corrosive ammunition commonly in use at the time."
He then rates the U.S. .30-06 M1917 as third.
He mentions in the area of bolt action carbines, the clear standout is the British .303 No 5 Enfield commonly called the "jungle carbine." He goes on to state that the only other WWII bolt action carbine that even comes close to the British No. 5 and that is the Japanese 6.5 x 50mm Type 38 Arisaka carbine, particularly the variation made at the Mukden arsenal with a peep sight. "This little gem is nearly 5 inches shorter than the No. 5, about the same weight, has most of the good features of the Type 99 rifle mentioned earlier (though not the chrome line bore), and is chambered for a very effective cartridge that has low recoil. (It was not uncommon for U.S. Marines to pack one of these on jungle patrols in preference to their Springfield M1903s early in WWII.) (emphasis in ( ) was mine.)
The basic design of the Type 99 rifle remained the same until 1943. Simplification for many reasons had to be accomplished, i.e., lack of metal, good wood, lack of money, etc. Changes as an example were:
Deleting such items as: The sling, the bolt cover, shortening and eventually eliminating the cleaning rod, substituting inferior steel for the bolt & barrel, eliminating the chrome in the barrel & bolt face, using an inferior wood on the stock, a peep sight zeroed to 900 ft., and minimizing machining of the weapon.
If a person was to view one of these 'Substitute Rifles" without being able to see the "standard" wartime production, then it's very likely that an impression that Japanese Rifles were "Junk" could be formed. "Junk" opinion could also be formed after reading part of what a well known author wrote concerning the "Substitute" rifle, even though the "Substitute" rifle and the standard run action were the same. A statement from: Small Arms of the World, Joseph E. Smith, 9th Edition. (Ref 1). "In 1943, a substitute Type 99 was introduced which was made of inferior materials, without bolt covers and sling swivels and without chrome plated bores. The rifles had fixed rear sights. It is inadvisable to fire them, since they can be dangerous. On the subject of material and strengths of actions, tests conducted after World War II showed that the 6.5mm Type 38 action was stronger than the U.S. Springfield, 1917 Enfield or the German Mauser Action. We all know that after the war, numerous Japanese Rifles were converted to Deer and Sporting Rifles.