A Primer in Japanese Rifles

Having troubles telling the Japanese Rifles apart?  Didn’t know they had more than one type?  Bored with your troops all carrying only 1 Arisaka rifle?

I was.  So, I did some research to find out what other weapons I could outfit my soldiers with, and uncovered a lot of information about the Arisaka that might be of interest out there.  Along the way, I also discovered that you can make your own versions of most Japanese Rifles with the basic 21C Arisaka, razor saw, and glue.  At least then, you can have some variety.

Some notes and claims:  Model and Type are interchangeable in this discourse.  Model 38 and Type 38 are the same weapon.  All information was garnered from accurate resources, pictures, reference guides, etc. whenever possible.  There are lots of areas where this info could be wrong, but I tried to only take the best references I could.  Any errors are probably mine in interpreting.

Let’s go back to the beginning:  The basic Japanese Army rifle was built from the Mauser model. The Type 30 was created in 1897, and was a near copy of the mauser.  No 1/6^th scale company makes a type 30 that I am aware of.  This model was phased out prior to WWII, and replaced by the Type 38 (model 38).  The Type 38 was a 6.5 mm Arisaka (mauser inspired) bolt action rifle.  It was manufactured originally in 3 lengths: 50.25”, 44.25”, and 38”.  The 38” version was a carbine.  The only difference in these rifles is the length of the barrel and forestock. 

Later, the Japanese needed a higher power cartridge, and they rechambered the type 38 to accept the 7.7 mm cartridge.  This became the Type 99 (model 99) Arisaka.  It was made in two lengths, a long (50.25”) and short (44.25”) version.  The carbine was NOT rechambered for the 7.7 mm cartridge, so no short version of the Type 99 is known that I could find, BUT, there are pictures of a pretty short version of the rifle that is claimed to be the Type 99. 

The type 99 can be told from the type 38 by two differences:  The Type 99 had a wire “monopod” (actually, a simple wire bipod) mounted under either the Front retaining band or the Mid retaining band, and the sling attached to the SIDE of the buttstock, not the underneath.  

Thus, the Rifle that 21C includes in their Japanese Set is a Model/Type 38, 6.5 mm Ariska (the sling gives it away.. the monopod does too, but I have seen lots of pictures of Type 99’s were the monopod was torn off by the owner and disregarded.  The effectiveness of the wire device was less than expected in the field).  

The longer version of both Types were the most often issued rifles of the war.  However, shorter version were highly sought after by the Jungle troops, as hauling 4 feet of rifle (and another two feet of bayonet!) through the jungle growth was horrendous.  Many many soldiers traded/stole to get the coveted 44” version, or even the 38”. 

To complicate things, let’s look at the Japanese Sniper rifle and some experimental/later war models.

Two types of sniper rifles were made, a Model 97 and a Model 99.  The Model 97 was simply a Model/Type 38, 6.5 mm, 50.25” long, with a wire monopod on the front, a turned down bolt, and a left mounted 2.5x telescope.  The model 99 was a 7.7 mm, 50.25” long Type 99 with the turned down bolt, monopod, and 2.5x scope left mounted. 

In 1938, a Cavalry Carbine was made.  It was 38.25” long, chambered for a 6.5 mm cartridge, and looked exactly like the Type 38 carbine except for One key difference.  This rifle had a permanently attached folding spike bayonet, the type that fold under the stock, and sits in a groove in the forestock.  Imagine the ChiCom rifle from the Vietnam era, with the folding bayonet, and you have the picture.  This rifle was called the Model 44. 

Finally, the Japanese created a rifle in April of 1945, the Type 38 Experimental.  This was a 6.5 mm rifle, with a shortened barrel and stock (looks to be about 44” long), that was fed from their 30 round banana clip for the type 96 LMG. 

What does this mean to you in the 1/6^th world? 

It means that you can take the basic 21C Type 38, and by cutting a bit here and gluing a bit there, you can create practically EVERY infantry weapon the Japanese army used. 

Start with the Type 38.  To make the 44” version, you need to make several cuts.  Just in front of the finger groove in the main stock section (just past the sights), cut the rifle.  Cut it again just behind (to the rear of) the mid stock retaining band, effectively taking a chunk out of the “first” section of the forestock. Then, cut about halfway down the front forestock section, then again right to the rear of the front retaining band (the one the sling attaches too).  This should give you three pieces of rifle, and two sections of wooden stock (waste).  Glue the front retaining band (and rifle barrel) to the wood left in front of the mid-retaining band, and then glue that to the main rifle piece.  Align the sights up, make sure the lines are neat, and let dry.  Sand the glue residue off, retouch the paint if you need to, and Viola, you have a functional 44.25” long Arisaka Type 38.  If you want a type 99, simply attach the rear sling clip to the side of the rifle (like the German Gwr 43), and you have a shortened type 99.

Want a carbine version?  The 38” version is easy as well, just cut off more wood between the bands.  Cut just past the finger grooves (sights area) with your first cut.  Cut just behind that first retaining band (the one with the sling attachment). Then, cut the Front retaining band from the front of the rifle, cut the wooden stock just past the rear retaining band (with the sling), and glue it to the wood.  The length should be just a little smaller than your Sam’s hand is wide.  This will give a “carbine” look to the rifle, with a finger groove, retaining band, small forestock, and front retaining band/barrel.

To make the Type 38 experimental, cut down a Arisaka to the 38 inch size.  Then, take a curved banana clip (from M-16, AK, etc.) and either dremel out a recess in the underplate, VERY close to the trigger guard, or sand down the bullets on the top of the clip and glue it into place almost directly in front of the trigger guard.