Anyone reload the 6.5mm Arisaka?

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I have pieces of one I'm slowly rebuilding. When I'm done I have one box of ammo (Hornady) so I'd like some suggestions on decent reloads
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I don't actually load for that caliber, if you're already a loader with experience the following advice will be of no help. If you're just getting started always start low and work your way up using reputable published load data. I really like the Hodgdons online loading information but unfortunately they don't have anything for the 6.5 Arisaka. I'll dig into my loading manuals tonight and see if I can find anything.
 
Yeah - 6.5x50mm is a little different, and the long bullet makes sectional density higher. Just looking for a starting load/powder.

Long'ish barrel 28", so plenty of time to accelerate. Don't need super fast burn or big pressure spike. But don't want burning power out the end of the tube either ...
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Not a loader yet, but this one will make me one. Once I have enough brass, this is where I start.

Have Lee hand loaders for 303 and 30-06 in a pinch. But was given an old loading press a few years ago. Just cleaning up the pieces and getting it set-up this winter.

Gotta start somewhere, why not here... This seems to be the place to start for me
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Been shooting for 50 years. Friends always did reloading I needed it as they were into that. Now they have moved away or gone, so ...
 
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I have an Ariska with an intact mum, which i believe to be a bring back. I don't know which type i have.

I have no desire to shoot it, but i would like to have some rounds to go with it.
 
Arisaka came in two main flavors. Type 38 in 6.5x50mm and the Type 99 in 7.7x58mm. The 99's came in nice long guns and then toward the end, what's called "Last Ditch" (which my Dad brought home). There were variations along the way.

The Mum is a big'ish deal and raises the value. Lots were "defaced" as part of surrender. Since the Mum was the symbol of the Emperor and we were making sure they were going to democracy ... Needed to eliminate the emperors weapons. Easier to have them grind the Mum than to destroy millions of rifles, although there were some big bonfires to get rid of a lot.

I cleaned up Pop's Last Ditch and we've shot it. Been all over the 'Net looking for info, and as far as I can tell, the rumors about lack of heat treating are bogus big time. His has hard metal in the receiver. Won't take a center punch and has stood up to boxes of modern 7.7 BTW - That round shares bullets with 303
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Anyway, I have this old 6.5 I'm slowly fooling with. Adding LOP and sleeving the barrel (external),modified the stock, etc. Pure project rifle made from scrounged pieces. I won't need rounds until next summer at the earliest, but never hurts to gather info now
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I think the myth of the last ditch rifles blowing up came from people trying to fire live rounds through poorly made training rifles or re barreled training rifles. They are marked for training but some poorly educated fellow will not know the markings.

It doesn't really make sense to issue unsafe to fire rifles to troops, especially ones that were meant to defend the homeland.
 
I actually think the issue was firing live rounds through cast iron training rifles, no rebarrel ... The training rifles were supposed to be fired with blanks only to familiarize students with the sound of rounds going off, work on their trigger pull, etc.

90% or the good steel used to contain the detonation of a live round is the chamber end of the barrel. The receiver ring adds some, but not a lot. It's much thinner and cut with internal threads, bolt lock faces, etc.

The deal about heat treating receivers is as much about wear reduction as anything. Make them tough enough to handle many bolt operations w/o much lube and w/o changing head space ...

Last Ditch rifles do not seem to have any issues there
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Another thing concerning the training rifles being confused with last ditch rifles. The training rifles that could chamber and fire a round (not all could, leading to more confusion), were smoothbore. You will see multiple old accounts of last ditch arisakas being smooth bored, showing the confusion between the two and leading to the arisaka being called "junk rifles" I think the japanese training rounds for the ones that could fire were a very low pressure wood tipped one.

The Japanese clearly departed from the European model of having training rifles that fired smaller rounds such as the German KKW, Brit Enfield No2 MKIV, and the Mosin Nagant WZ-48. No way you could confuse those with a 8mm, 303, or 7.62x54R rifle if you picked one up.
 
Ah right, I forgot about the smooth bore... But I have one and it's definitely that way
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The weird thing is that the training rifle has a bigger, fuller stock that feels better. I could see why some GI would grab one on the way out the door ...
 
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Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Ah right, I forgot about the smooth bore... But I have one and it's definitely that way
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The weird thing is that the training rifle has a bigger, fuller stock that feels better. I could see why some GI would grab one on the way out the door ...


Only thing trainer related I have is a German parade bayonet from WW2. I bought it thinking it was for a standard K98 but it doesn't fit any of my mausers. The locking channel is just a tiny bit smaller. I later picked up a Kriegsmarine parade bayonet and unless you put them side by side you can't tell one is for a 22 rifle.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
How do i tell which ariska i have?


Take some photos and start a new thread. I can provide some details about it.
 
Not all Japanese rifles that could chamber and fire a round have smooth bores. I have a Type 38 "school" rifle that is fully functional.
 
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Originally Posted By: jjjxlr8
Not all Japanese rifles that could chamber and fire a round have smooth bores. I have a Type 38 "school" rifle that is fully functional.


School rifles are a totally different category among arisaka guys than training rifles. Again here the Japanese did something a bit different. Probably due to frugality as well as being a generally resource poor country with low production capability. That is why the rifles recruits and cadets used run the gamut from being completely made of wood, to being made to look like real guns but with low quality substitute metals (some of which shoot blanks,some wont even chamber a round), to fully functioning "school" rifles diverted from military service.

An example of one
http://forums.thecmp.org/showthread.php?t=122219
 
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Yeah, have to be careful of the difference between "training rifle" and "School Rifle" which were issued to military style academies ...

I just did BIN yesterday on an eBay Type 38 barrel with sights that was attached to a complete receiver with full Mum. No school markings. We'll see what it looks like when it gets here ...

It won't fit my Training Rifle stock as the rear tang is much deeper on the cast iron training rifle receiver and shaped differently. But, if it's in decent shape, I'll see if I can get a sporter stock for it and we'll shoot a few.

Another 6.5 to add to the pile
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I guess I'm not sure what the difference is between a "school" rifle and a "training" rifle. I thought they were all used in military schools for training. Some were fully functional, some where only used to shoot blanks, and some were drill props and not used for shooting anything.

I've got 3 trainers that I'll have to post some photos of when I get home...

1) Type 38 fully functional, marked "00" before serial number and rack number painted on buttstock
2) Type 38 smooth bore blank trainer, two digit serial numbers (atypical) and Japanese school marking on both sides of buttstock
3) Type 30 smooth bore blank trainer
 
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