Posted on 09/17/2020 8:05:51 AM PDT by w1n1
The Type 99 is good as long as it isn’t a late war version. A chrome-lined barrel and a strong action. The sights on the early versions were gimmicky. The quality went down towards the end of the war and they took manufacturing shortcuts.
To fight a modern war you need industrial infrastructure and Mexico has/had none of that.
zero wasnt that great for the pilot
they didnt put any armor around the cockpit to protect the guy flying it
I was at a gun show in Tulsa years ago and one man at a table was buying all the Japanese swords he could find. He purchased one that was a real mess. Whoever had brought hit back did not know the value of it so he used it as a cane knife, sharpened it on a grinder, and when the handle came lose he wrapped it in friction tape.
The table dealer bought it because it still had a good hand stamped signature under the handle.
I had an old guy at church one Sunday before church say, come out here I want to show you something in my van. He opened the rear hatch and tossed back a blanket and a dozen rifles and shotguns were laying there and he said you want to buy them for $1200? I looked at a few and said how about $1000? Done! One of them was an Arisaka with Chrysanthemum stamp intact, hard to find now. He had several double barrel .12 gauges in the bunch. I was happy and his wife was happy he was thinning out his collection he liked to take all of them out and spread them about her kitchen and dining room for days to clean them lol!
My understanding is that the Carcano's problems were more about the poor quality ammunition they were manufacturing than any flaw in the design, although in combat it doesn't make a difference why your gun sucks.
During the '50s there was much discussion in the American Rifleman about the strength of these rifles, the general impression being that they were crap.
One gunsmith sent in a photo of an odd, elongated projectile s client had fired from his Arisaka. He had brought it, and the gun to the gunsmith, complaining that the gun kicked like a mule.
The smith inspected the gun and nearly had a heart attack. The gun was originally a 6.5MM and someone had rechambered it to a 30-06. That strange elongated slug was a 30-06 bullet swaged down to 26 caliber. The smith concluded the action was pretty damn strong. :-)
As a sidebar, those guns that still retained the chrysanthemum were valuable collectors items as they indicated they were captured. Those that were surrendered had the mum ground off.
The place selling the Araiskas by the barrel full was Potomac Arms, which closed about twenty years ago. It was the retail outlet of Interarms. I used to stop by often just to see what they were selling. They had unused SKSs for $70 each (bought a few), but I passed on the Araiska, some beautiful Martini Henrys, just like in The Man Who Would be King, a Dragunov with a long barrel and a scope, and more other rifles than I can remember. I regret most passing up batch of mint condition Red 9 Broom Handle Mausers selling for peanuts.
Unfortunately the Carcano did not fail on Nov 22, 1963.
***some beautiful Martini Henrys, just like in The Man Who Would be King,***
I believe the last batch came from an old arsenal in the 1980s or 90s, either Nepal or Bhutan. It was packed with old unused guns.
I bought a nice short sword a few years ago. I paid $100 for it. The furniture looked old and utilitarian, the blade was heavy and did not rattle around. It had a signature on the tang. For $100 I took a risk. I finally was able to authenticate it from the signature, it was made in the late 1680s to early 1700s in Edo by a well know and very prolific sword maker. The actual value was closer to $1100. Great deal right, well actual the rust on the blade meant it would have cost me around $1000 to have it polished. The seller knew exactly what it was worth and was being honest when he sold it to me. It hangs on my wall, I may get it polished to hand down to my son.
I agree. The Ariska rifle issued to the Imperial Japanese Army, when topped out with it’s bayonet was almost as tall as the average Japanese soldier.
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