I have, in my gun cabinet
An Arisaka 99 which has been sporterized.
No, not sporterized in the usual “bubba” way, sporterized by a professional. The stock is a Herters, (I originally thought it was a Fajen, but I found the Herter’s stamp on the buttplate) and it’s actually very lovely, it’s shape reminiscent of the early Rigby style stocks.
It has had a couple of issues since I first acquired it; it first had a broken bolt. I took it to Harry mcGowan and had him remedy that, he did (or, I should say, his sons) a remarkable job. The bolt is as smooth as silk and the handle is wonderful
I shot it a few times and let it sit in the cabinet, the front sight ramp loosened easily under firing, and the rear sight, a cheapass Lyman type, was cheezy and nasty looking.
Tonight I cleaned up the barrel where the front sight ramp sits, and the ramp itself, tinned them, and silver soldered them together. It’s a workmanlike job, and looks fine. next, I’m gonna put a three-leaf folding ‘Express” sight on it, from Jeff’s Outfitters.
Speaking of which, while you’re over at Jeffs , have a look around. The kind of stuff they have makes me drool involuntarily, and I’m looking hard at one of the nice canvas/leather cases for the Sabatti. They have a bucketload of very nice stuff.
Anyway, when this “Project” is done, i’ll have a fine, nice looking 30-06 bolt action that is durable and unlike most Mausers requires no tools to be broken down- the bolt can be disassembled with your hands, the magazine floorplate can be opened with your finger. I will never sell this rifle, it came halfway around the world with it’s chrysanthemum intact. I will not hand it off to someone who will drill a scope hole through it.
yes, 30-06. The US chambered a bunch of these for 30-06 to arm Korean troops. This may have been one of those; I know the rifling is perfect, and if I load it for 303-06, it shoots like blazes. You can’t resize the cases easily for 30-06, but I just neck resize them and they work fine.
Niiiiiice! I’m still hankering for a K31. Soon as I get some crap paid off….
Unless I buy that Saiga 12 I’ve wanted for years instead :)
That’s really nice. Even nicer that it survived since the 1950’s in its current state.
I was feeling sorry for you up until you said “30-06.”
I know a guy who has an Arisaka but can’t afford to shoot it.
I did my first deer hunt with a borrowed Arisaka that had been converted to 30-06 by PO Ackley. The safety sucked, but it was an accurate gun, and did me just fine.
Weetabix,
Isn’t Prvi Partizan loading 7.7 as well as 6.5 these days?
No… I see I was hallucinating.
I know Hornady and Precision Cartridge have both loaded it recently.
You can make 7.7 brass out of 30-06, though it’s not quite the right diameter. The 8mm mau conversion works pretty well too, some might say better.
yeah, the safety is icky. However, you can quickly learn to engage/disengage it with your thumb, and once you do, it’s pretty easy. You can also get a Timney (Which I may!) with a built in safety.