Trego's Mountain Ear

I had never had a Type 38 in my hands when I got to Trinidad State – remember, I was teaching soil conservation there at Gunsmith U. and, following in places developed by P.O. Ackley, I learned that the Japanese Arisaka was the strongest bolt action he tested.  As I recall, he chambered the 6.5 mm barrel to 8mm Mauser, locked it in the test chamber, and somehow that 8mm bullet squeezed down and left the barrel without damaging the rifle.

So later, I got my hands on a Type 38 Arisaka – and learned that Jack Price had been hunting around Trego for years with one he brought back from the war in the Pacific.  While we know the rifle as an Arisaka, the Type 38 was actually designed by Kinjiru Nambu.  I remain underwhelmed by Nambu’s pistols – but he simplified and smoothed the Mauser bolt as he modified it for the type 38 – it’s down to six parts. 

Some have called Nambu “Japan’s John Browning.  So far as designers go, I tend to rank Finland’s Aldo Lahti as the only serious competition for John Moses Browning, and Kinjiru Nambu in a distinct third place.  On the other hand, both Browning and Lahti came from serious gun cultures, while Nambu was born Samurai.

My first Type 38 rifles had the worst bores I have ever seen – keyholing at 15 feet.  Bought cheap, sold cheap, but good experience.  I wound up keeping one that had been sporterized by Bubba.  Bubba had rechambered the rifle to 257 Roberts – and a .257 bullet rattles down a barrel that is sized for .264.   Seven thousandths of an inch isn’t very much – but he could have rechambered it for a 6.5 Swede and actually had a proper bullet to barrel fit.  Naturally, chambering the rifle for 257 Roberts left too much chamber and too little barrel to go back and rechamber for the 6.5 Swedish Mauser.  

Bubba did a nice job trimming the barrel and rebluing it.  It needed that work, since the emperor’s chrysanthemum had been ground away.    Then Bubba installed a quality Redfield rear sight . . . backwards.  I think I can correct the problems there with a little bit of drill press time – but the undersized bullets make me wonder if it’s really worth it.

The bolt has been elegantly changed to a butterknife style bolt.  Looks great, but it doesn’t quite fit with a bolt that cocks on closing.

My type 38 probably looked like this one before Bubba started working on it. 

Bubba didn’t try his hand at checkering – but he did set up a nice looking monte carlo stock, with an unusual schnabel forend and finger grooves around the wrist.

All told, it’s a decent looking rifle in need of a barrel that fits the cartridge.  It does shoot better than the loose bore/bullet fit first made me think – but I probably should rebarrel the rifle for use in its second century.