The "00" are to show your rife went back to factory for overall / repairs.

 

If you're trying to figure out the age of the rifle you do this by the symbols not the serial number and its usually a very large range. They lost much of the information on these rifles when they got bombed.

 

oldmilitarymarkings.com/japanese_markings.html

 

I have a Type 38 Arisaka and as mentioned above the website listed is a wealth of information.

https://oldmilitarymarkings.com/japanese_markings.html

Here are some pictures of my Type 38 6.5x50 semi rimmed rifle. From the serial number I believe my rifle was manufactured in the early 1920’s at the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal. The stacked cannon balls on the side is the code for the Koishikawa/Tokyo arsenal.



Here is a picture of my Type 38, the stock was probably refinished but it is still fun to shoot.

 

Here are some pictures of my Type 38 6.5x50 semi rimmed rifle. From the serial number I believe my rifle was manufactured in the early 1920’s at the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal. The stacked cannon balls on the side is the code for the Koishikawa/Tokyo arsenal.



Here is a picture of my Type 38, the stock was probably refinished but it is still fun to shoot.

The one I am working on has the 3 little cannon balls also. It is missing the cleaning rod, the bayonet, but it does have the bolt dust cover.

One question. I notice that inside the breach just behind the actual chamber, there are 2 little metal tabs (which are on opposite sides of the inside of the receiver wall) which protrude slightly into the breach. They don't look very "substantial" to me. What is the purpose of those 2 tabs ?

Thanks.

 

Can you post a photo?

 

No, I don't have a camera that would be capable of taking a photo that would be able to focus properly down to such a short distance and small area. Sorry.

 

I just checked my Type 38 rifle and I don’t see any tabs in the chamber. You can see the end of the chamber where the bolt lug and extractor with off side lug seat. Other than the two vent holes on top of the receiver behind the chamber nothing is visible in my barrel/chamber. My Arisaka has an after market cleaning rod which doesn’t seat properly under the barrel. I’ve only shot reloads in my Type 38 using 123 grain SMK bullets and PPU brass. My oldest grandson really enjoys shooting my Type 38.

Here is a picture of the defaced Mum on my Type 38, I think the characters represent the 38th year of the Japanese (rule) calendar or 1905 in the US. In the picture below you can see the two vent holes to vent pressure and gas in the event of a ruptured case.




The only other thing that comes to mind is if the barrel was modified to keep it from firing. I’ve heard where the receivers are drilled and pin welded blocking the chamber or blocking the chamber or bore with a welded metal rod.

 

Let me see if I can verbally describe what I am seeing. There are what I would described as 2 little metal tabs/protrusions - 1 coming up directly from the bottom area (6 o'clock position) looking thru the back opening of the receiver (bolt out of gun) and the other tab coming down from the top of the receiver (close to 12 o'clock position i.e. not quite directly opposite of the location of the bottom tab) and the place where these 2 tabs do NOT occupy leave an opening on the right side of the receivers chamber, which I assume is for the bolt's extractor to sit in when the bolt is pushed forward to the locked/firing position. Do you see the same thing I am describing on your 38 ? This appears to me to be a piece/part which is perhaps WELDED onto the front portion of the receiver to perform the extraction process, but it is NOT made/cut/MACHINED into the receiver itself. Thanks.

 

I looked at my Type 38 again. The ejector is in the rear of the receiver at 9 O Clock which is flat steel protrusion. The ejector pushes the spent cartridge case off the breach face when the bolt is cycled. I don’t see anything else in my receiver like you described. The only other visible feature on my Type 38 is the sear, when you pull the trigger the sear drops and a small pin rises further forward in the bottom of the receiver opening. The sear is at the 6 O Clock position and is visible with the bolt removed.

There are Japanese training rifles manufactured that fired wooden bullet projectiles. I’ve never seen one in person but the training rifles are very similar in appearance to the centerfire Type 38 and Type 99 7.7 Arisaka. The training rifles are common in the UK as they are not classified as firearms and are easier to obtain.

Without pictures it is really difficult to know what you have. I can PM you my email and you can email the pictures to me. I can then post the pictures for you on the forum if that is an issue.

 

Here a two photos (best I could get) with flashlight shining down the breach. I believe both of these show the bottom tab/protrusion I am referring to. The protrusion is the part that the flashlight beam is reflecting off of. Notice the right of that, the slot which the extractor sits in when the bolt is closed. Note of the first photo that the rear sight of the rifle is at the top. The second photo is taken from the extractor port - right side of rifle. Thanks. I could not get a photo of the top tab, too awkward to hold and get a photo of it at the same time.

Thanks.

 

Can you please post a photo of the receiver so I can see the receiver markings?

 

Can not get good enough focus for photo to tell what the characters are.

However, there are several in the area of the two blow holes on top which can be described as:

From left to right looking at top of receiver:

( with a small line at center pointing to right

another (

two small vertical (crosswise of barrel) lines followed by another slightly longer crosswise line

two () except with the bow facing each other - crosswise of the barrel

something that looks like KH with the bottom leg of the K missing.

I see NO markings that resemble any of the markings from the photos on that link.

So what does any of this have to do with the tabs protrusions inside the receiver ?

Thanks.

 

The OP's rifle is a fairly early one. I have one that my Uncle sent home from Okinawa in 1945 that's in the 1,033,000 serial number range. He was in charge of a unit tasked with picking up as many weapons as possible from the battlefields. He send six rifles home and gave me the last one he had, including a bayonet & scabbard, in 1960. While I was away, someone fired a corrosive cartridge in it and ruined the bore which had been mint. The mum has been ground off.

 

Markings too small for camera to get a readable picture of them. But they are from left to right.

two smaller font/size zeros or "Os", followed by slightly larger font, 8 5 0 1 6, followed by 3 concentric circles, followed by squared off circle with + in it, followed by what looks like an asterisk.

 

Look at the photos from the link below.

http://www.castle-thunder.com/model.htm

 

Just bought a type 38 myself, 4 cannonball arsenal mark, serial 64190, still got the mum too.