Arisaka Type 38

Arisaka Type 38 Story

The Arisaka Type 38 (Rifle, Meiji 38) was the standard rifle issued to the Imperial Japanese infantry during the First World War (1914-1918). The rifle is inherently accurate and has proven to be highly reliable in even the harshest conditions on the modern battlefield - especially in jungle fighting in Southeast Asia and throughout the Pacific Rim.

Wartime records further show that some 3,400,000 weapons were eventually produced and that the series was actively used in elements outside the Empire - including those belonging to Great Britain, Thailand, the Russian Empire/Soviet Union and China. The Type 38 entered service with Imperial Japan in 1905.

The Type 38 rifle is a "long gun" optimized to use the Type 30 infantry bayonet mounted on the barrel. Overall, the rifle is approximately 4 feet 2 inches long, making it one of the longest guns of its kind still in service during World War II (1939-1945). The mounted bayonet added an additional 20 inches of range, allowing Japanese soldiers to determine the range of their targets during close quarters combat. However, the average Japanese infantryman was still only 5 feet 3 inches tall, so there were inherent difficulties in handling such a long weapon.

The average Japanese soldier was small in stature and also required a relatively small caliber cartridge and lighter powder charge to suppress recoil when the weapon was fired from the shoulder.

These design issues led to the production of different versions of the same rifle, including the shortened Type 38 carbine issued to "non-combat" troops. In this form, the overall length has been reduced to 966 mm.

Airborne/paratrooper models were produced in a similar fashion, but with a foldable stock to provide a more compact shape. The Type 97 rifle uses telescopic sights and is assigned to specialized sniper units for precise long-range fire.

The Type 99 uses a 7.7mm cartridge and features a collapsible monopod for stability when firing at troops (some are said to have even been used to attack low-flying aircraft).

Since all active duty rifles and bayonets are the property of the Emperor of Japan, sixteen-petal chrysanthemums are printed on the stock (for the rifle) and the blade (for the bayonet). This created a cultural connection between ordinary soldiers and the samurai class that the Imperial Japanese Army was still very proud of at the time.

The Type 38 is a manually operated bolt action rifle that requires the operator to operate the bolt handle located on the receiver. The following actions eject the spent cartridges from the chamber and insert new cartridges in turn. The standard cartridge for the Type 38 became the 6.5mm/50mm Arisaka cartridge, fired from a simple 5-round magazine.

The rate of fire in a trained shooter is about 30 rounds per minute.

The gun's curb weight has been reduced to a manageable 8.7 lbs. Its overall look is very traditional, with a long wooden frame strapped at two points. The main internal work was concentrated on the rear of the receiver, with the long barrel occupying most of the length of the barrel forward.

The sight is mounted on the front (post) - just behind the muzzle - and on top of the receiver (folding leaf) - in front of the action. The stock is solid wood and is ergonomically designed to fit snugly in the user's main hand.

The trigger hangs below the system and, as usual, is protected by a slender trigger guard.

Although it was introduced in 1905-1906, the rifle series continued to appear in conflicts even after World War II. They encountered during the Chinese Civil War (1927-1936; 1946-1950), the Indonesian National Revolution (1945-1949), the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960), the Korean War (1950-1953), the First Indochina War (1946-1954) and the subsequent Vietnam War (1955-1975).

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