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The
Japanese Arisaka Type 99
Rifle, manufactured 1939 to 1945 in
the Tokyo and Nagoya Arsenals,
Japan. It was the
replacement of the Type 38 rifle and was the primary Japanese battle
rifle until their surrender to Allied forces in 1945. The Type
99 is a variation of the Mauser design and early production models have
probably one of the strongest receiver/action of any military bolt action
rifles.
At the end
of WWII the chrysanthemum (mum) markings on the receivers of surrendered
Japanese rifles were removed. The sixteen petal mum is the imperial
symbol of the Japanese Emperor. Below is an example of one that escaped
being defaced.
http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/japanese_markings.html
Both the Long and Short Rifles were fitted with a sliding bolt cover
(which traveled in narrow grooves cut in either side of the receiver
as the bolt was worked) and a folding wire monopod pinned into a T-shaped
block on the lower band. The monopod and bolt cover were usually dispensed
with in battle. Later versions of the Type 99 may be unsafe to shoot
as the quality of the metallurgy began to decline sharply after 1942.
The later (1943-45) rifles are often identified as having a fixed notch
rear sight instead of the customary folding/sliding leaf sight, no provision
for attaching a sliding bolt cover or monopod or mounting an under barrel
cleaning rod and the lack of a chrome-plated bore. Check with a qualified
gunsmith if unsure.
The Japanese ideographs on the rifle receiver ring below the chrysanthemum
in the photo translate as "99 Type." Many of chrysanthemum markings
were ground off the rifles by surrendering Japanese troops because it
was considered a disgrace to hand over a rifle was considered the property
of the Emperor. An unconfirmed tale has it that General Douglas MacArthur
at war's end also ordered the chrysanthemum markings removed from scores
of captured Japanese rifles as part of the process of de-deifying the
Emperor. (contributed by Michael E. Kreca)
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