Picked this up recently, kind of an interesting Japanese Arisaka variant. Although no documentation has ever been found on these it’s believed that they may have been pre-production/test rifles or were intended to train assembly line workers while the Jinsen Arsenal in Korea was gearing up for Type 38 rifle production in Jan/Feb 1942.
It’s believed only about 400 of these were made/marked in this manner, with the highest reported SN so far being 371. This one I found is #364. Instead of the mum they are marked on the top of the receiver with the characters meaning “for education”. What’s also interesting on mine that certainly seems to support established theories on these being made during the early testing/training phase in production is the error someone made while cutting the dust cover groove. They started cutting it just a tad to high on the left side of the receiver as seen in the pic before making the correction.
Unfortunately this one came in a beat up and sanded stock that did not appear to be what it originally would have been matched with. Kokura arsenal provided a lot of rifle parts to get Jinsen up and running including stocks, so I was able to track down a nice looking Kokura donor stock. While not the rifle’s original, it at least makes it display better and although the gun is not perfect, I may never come across another one of these!
It’s believed only about 400 of these were made/marked in this manner, with the highest reported SN so far being 371. This one I found is #364. Instead of the mum they are marked on the top of the receiver with the characters meaning “for education”. What’s also interesting on mine that certainly seems to support established theories on these being made during the early testing/training phase in production is the error someone made while cutting the dust cover groove. They started cutting it just a tad to high on the left side of the receiver as seen in the pic before making the correction.
Unfortunately this one came in a beat up and sanded stock that did not appear to be what it originally would have been matched with. Kokura arsenal provided a lot of rifle parts to get Jinsen up and running including stocks, so I was able to track down a nice looking Kokura donor stock. While not the rifle’s original, it at least makes it display better and although the gun is not perfect, I may never come across another one of these!
