Arisaka Type 38 Short Rifle
Nagoya Arsenal · Rifle · Out Of Production · 1939
Also known as: Type 38 Short Rifle, Type 38 Shortened Rifle, Nagoya Short Rifle
Overview
The Arisaka Type 38 Short Rifle was a shortened bolt-action service rifle produced by cutting down standard Type 38 rifles, a conversion program carried out chiefly at Nagoya Arsenal during the late 1930s and early 1940s. Its barrel was reduced from 794 mm to 635 mm to bring the weapon down to roughly the size of the newer Type 99 short rifle while retaining the low-recoil 6.5x50mm Arisaka cartridge. Like the parent rifle it used a Mauser-derived rotating bolt feeding from a five-round internal magazine loaded with stripper clips, and retained the sliding sheet-metal dust cover, tangent leaf sight and imperial chrysanthemum crest of the Type 38 pattern.
Specifications
| Overall Length | 1113 mm (43.82") |
| Barrel Length | 635 mm (25.00") |
| Action Type | Bolt Action |
| Firing Mechanism | Striker Fired |
| Trigger Type | Single Stage |
| Magazine Capacity | 5 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Internal |
| Effective Range | 400 m (437 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Rifling Twist | 200 mm (7.87") |
| Number of Grooves | 4 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 6.5x50mm Arisaka · primary — also known as 6.5x50mm SR, 6.5mm Japanese, 6.5x50mmSR Arisaka, 6.5 Jap
Features
- Firing modes: Repeating
- Feed systems: Internal Box Magazine, Stripper Clip
- Safety mechanisms: Bolt Shroud Safety, Magazine Cutoff
- Features: Stripper Clip Loading, Sliding Dust Cover, Tangent Leaf Rear Sight, Imperial Chrysanthemum Crest
Base model
Service history
Operators
- Empire of Japan · adopted 1939 · as Type 38 Short Rifle
Conflicts
- Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
- World War II (1939-1945)
Production
Estimated total produced: 100,000 · Production years: 1939-1943 (approx)
Conversions of existing Type 38 rifles carried out mainly at Nagoya Arsenal; approximately 100,000 rifles shortened
Origin
Country of origin: Japan
Designer: Nariakira Arisaka
Discontinued: 1945
Notes
Roughly 100,000 Type 38 rifles were shortened into this configuration. No authoritative empty-weight or muzzle-velocity figure is published for the short-rifle variant, so those fields are null; the 1113 mm overall length is derived from the documented 794 mm-to-635 mm barrel reduction applied to the 1275 mm full rifle and is approximate.
Background
As Japan shifted to the shorter, more powerful Type 99 short rifle in 7.7mm, tens of thousands of long Type 38 rifles were cut down at Nagoya Arsenal to a similar handy length while keeping the gentle-shooting 6.5mm cartridge, producing a hybrid that blended the old rifle's action with the new short-rifle profile.