I strolled into a local shop the other day, and my eyes were immediately drawn to a specimen with a bayonet that was nearly half as long as the gun. Things became far more exciting when I picked it up and spied the hook safety. Then my wallet began heating my backside when I confirmed the lightly canceled, but fully intact chrysanthemum.
A complete Arisaka Type-30 Cavalry Carbine, the first one I had seen outside of pictures, came home with me. Attrition, foreign sales and sporterization have reduced these specimens to an extremely scarce status.
Pretty good shape for a 110-plus year old gun.
Normally, I wouldn't feel the need to disassemble a gun. But I took this carbine down on the long shot that the assembly number on the bottom of the receiver would match the bolt. Rear sight and trigger numbers do match, but the bolt and other numbers are not even close. Most early Arisakas passed through several arsenal rebuilds, so I wasn't surprised.
The stock crack looks like it could easily be approached internally with a form of glue/pin/screw/dowel/clamp repair, if I so chose. But I won't be shooting it, so a future owner might be left with that decision.
Aside from the thin line of moderate pitting along the right side barrel/stock border, the rest of the barreled receiver is in amazing condition. Extremely fine machining and deep blue finish remain under the wood on this T-30.
There's not a plethora of Type-30 Carbine information available on the web (I know! Get some books!), but I was able to determine that this one was built approximately mid-way through the serial number range, at 25,906. Approximately 45,000 total carbines were produced between 1899 and 1905 at the Koishikawa (Tokyo) Arsenal. My particular carbine may not have seen any cavalry action in the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905), but it was more than likely in service at that time.
Even with the (mis-struck) concentric circle cancellation of the Mum, indicating that it was removed from Imperial Japanese Army service, it doesn't exhibit any characteristics of having been included in the WWI era sales of Type-30 rifles from Japan to countries such as Russia or England. So, perhaps it remained in Japan for training or school issue, and possibly migrated East, in or after 1945. No import marks.
A few references indicate that many Type-30 infantry (long) rifle rear sights were either modified (notch cut into top of ladder) or replaced with re-calibrated sights when Japan opted to the improved long range ballistics of the spitzer bullet vs. round nose in the early 1900's. I couldn't find any mention that the Type-30 Carbine rear sight was also re-calibrated for the sptizer. And as the sight slide number matches the assembly number, it's a safe bet that it is original.
The bayonet is a later production, from Kokura/National Denki, and is in good condition. The cleaning rod is also a replacement, as the originals had brass tips. I can live with that.
Enough yakking, for now. More pics, and thanks for looking.
And just to throw in some extreme conjecture. I can close my eyes and picture this rare carbine sitting with a soldier on horseback across the Yalu River in North Korea, circa April 1904, and opposite this fully matching and original 1898 dated Russian Model 1891 infantry rifle.
They may have faced off on the battlefield! The Arisaka would have captured the Mosin Nagant, of course. (I can dream...)
A complete Arisaka Type-30 Cavalry Carbine, the first one I had seen outside of pictures, came home with me. Attrition, foreign sales and sporterization have reduced these specimens to an extremely scarce status.
Pretty good shape for a 110-plus year old gun.
Normally, I wouldn't feel the need to disassemble a gun. But I took this carbine down on the long shot that the assembly number on the bottom of the receiver would match the bolt. Rear sight and trigger numbers do match, but the bolt and other numbers are not even close. Most early Arisakas passed through several arsenal rebuilds, so I wasn't surprised.
The stock crack looks like it could easily be approached internally with a form of glue/pin/screw/dowel/clamp repair, if I so chose. But I won't be shooting it, so a future owner might be left with that decision.
Aside from the thin line of moderate pitting along the right side barrel/stock border, the rest of the barreled receiver is in amazing condition. Extremely fine machining and deep blue finish remain under the wood on this T-30.
There's not a plethora of Type-30 Carbine information available on the web (I know! Get some books!), but I was able to determine that this one was built approximately mid-way through the serial number range, at 25,906. Approximately 45,000 total carbines were produced between 1899 and 1905 at the Koishikawa (Tokyo) Arsenal. My particular carbine may not have seen any cavalry action in the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905), but it was more than likely in service at that time.
Even with the (mis-struck) concentric circle cancellation of the Mum, indicating that it was removed from Imperial Japanese Army service, it doesn't exhibit any characteristics of having been included in the WWI era sales of Type-30 rifles from Japan to countries such as Russia or England. So, perhaps it remained in Japan for training or school issue, and possibly migrated East, in or after 1945. No import marks.
A few references indicate that many Type-30 infantry (long) rifle rear sights were either modified (notch cut into top of ladder) or replaced with re-calibrated sights when Japan opted to the improved long range ballistics of the spitzer bullet vs. round nose in the early 1900's. I couldn't find any mention that the Type-30 Carbine rear sight was also re-calibrated for the sptizer. And as the sight slide number matches the assembly number, it's a safe bet that it is original.
The bayonet is a later production, from Kokura/National Denki, and is in good condition. The cleaning rod is also a replacement, as the originals had brass tips. I can live with that.
Enough yakking, for now. More pics, and thanks for looking.
And just to throw in some extreme conjecture. I can close my eyes and picture this rare carbine sitting with a soldier on horseback across the Yalu River in North Korea, circa April 1904, and opposite this fully matching and original 1898 dated Russian Model 1891 infantry rifle.
They may have faced off on the battlefield! The Arisaka would have captured the Mosin Nagant, of course. (I can dream...)
