1357 UNUSUAL JAPANESE PARATROOPER ARISAKA BOLT ACTION

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[?]Live Online Auction Starts In 2025 May 08 @ 10:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
Category Firearms & Military
Auction Currency USD
Start Price 1,500.00 USD
Estimated at 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD
RIFLE. Cal. 7.7 Jap. Bbl. 25 1/2". Blade front sight with protective ears. Ladder aperture rear sight graduated to 1500m with AA wings. Matching numbers on receiver, bayonet lug, extractor & rear half of assembly number. Firing pin & safety are mismatched. Front half assembly number appears unnumbered. This rifle differs from all known patterns of WW2 Japanese paratrooper rifles such as the Type 2 & Type 100. The rifle appears similar to a rifle pictured on pages 140 & 141 of Honeycutt's book "Military Rifles of Japan" but the rifle in the book serial 7 has a Type 44 style front end with folding bayonet. Rifle appears to have never had a mum or any maker's markings similarly to the rifle in Honeycutt's book. The only marking is the serial number "9" on left side rail. Bolt has a checkered handle similar to the Type 100 paratrooper rifle. Honeycutt also states that "Final development models of the Type 2 paratroop rifle featured the folding bayonet. The earlier development models are very similar but lack the folding bayonet feature having instead a conventional 3-screw front barrel band". It is this cataloger's opinion that this rifle is one of these earlier development models. Rifle appears to be a Nagoya product with rear sight base bearing a Nagoya inspection stamp. Blued finish. Asian hardwood stock set with two piece butt. Left side of butt has white paint rack number "9" (Which matches serial). Stock lacks Kanji markings also but hasn't been sanded. Left side sling swivels. Cleaning rod present. CONDITION: stock set retains a high degree of original Urushi finish with scattered dings & handling marks. Left AA wing is bent. Metal is turning gray with strong traces of original blue & scattered oxidation. Safety does not appear to be engaging but action is otherwise functional. Bright near excellent bore. (24-7157/MJC). CURIO. $3000-5000.