It proved more reliable, but there were concerns about the relative low power of the 6.5 ammunition compared to other modern rifles of the time. It was simpler, safer, and had a dust cover to avoid dirt getting into the chamber. The bore is in great condition and it shoots really nice. It has the normal dings and scratches for a 70+ year old rifle. Overall, this Arisaka is in very good condition with no major flaws. In addition, there was apparently a conversion kit (extremely rare today) to make the trainers into air rifles firing small darts. The Type 38 rifle was a redesign of the Type 30 rifle, which proved unreliable during the Russo-Japanese war. Type 38 Series: 23 Caliber: 6.5 Jap Finish: Blued Barrel Length: 31 This is a Kokura Arsenal Arisaka rifle in 6.5 Jap. The trainers used the two gallery cartridges on the right-hand end of the photo. From left to right, standard Type 38 Arisaka 6.5X50SR round, early round-nosed Type 30 6.5 round, wooden bullet blank, paper blank, gallery round with short flat projectile, gallery round with round lead ball. The history of the Japanese Type 99 Arisaka converted to 30-06 for use by the Republic of Korea troops in the Korean War and by the Japanese Police Reserves Corp, is covered in depth in the Banzai Special Project 10 titled Rifle, U.S., Type 99, Japanese Cal.30 by Doss H. Courtesy of Teri, here’s a photo of the different types of 6.5mm Japanese ammunition: 6.5×50 Japanese. Presumably the recoil from these was light enough to safely use the bolt handle for locking. The trainers actually used gallery rounds with very small and light projectiles. My assumption in the video that this rifle fired blanks was incorrect – Japanese blank cartridges for the 6.5mm were fitted with normal-size wooden bullets (for use with cut-type grenade launchers). Kijiro Nambu (the same man who developed the Nambu pistols and machine guns) started the company to make training rifles after his retirement from military service.The company was eventually bought up and merged with other firms and went into manufacture of more standard weaponry. These rifles were made by the Nambu company, starting in 1927 and running into the early 1930s. While most of these sorts of rifles were designed for small rimfire cartridges, this one was instead chambered for 6.5x50mm blank rounds. Tanaka Works Replacement Magazine for Type 38, Type 44 Bolt. Discuss about Tanaka Works Arisaka Rifle Type 38 Japanese Cavalry Bolt Action Gas Powered Carbine with your friends and fellow shoppers. ID: 18646 (GR-Tanaka-Arisaka-38Shiki-Calvalry). Today we’re taking a look at a small-scale Type 38 Arisaka trainer, approximately 7/8 normal size. Tanaka Works Arisaka Rifle Type 38 Japanese Cavalry Bolt Action Gas Powered Carbine. These include France and Italy (with miniaturized Lebel and Carcano rifles), and also the Empire of Japan. In many countries prior to WWII, it was not uncommon to begin preparing children for military service at fairly young ages, and several countries produces small-scale rifles for training boys who could not yet handle full-size weapons.