Arisaka

The Arisaka rifle (有坂銃 Arisaka-jū) is a family of Japanese military bolt-action service rifles, in production and use since approximately 1897, when it replaced the Murata rifle (村田銃 Murata-jū) family, until the end of World War II in 1945. The most common specimens include the Type 38 chambered for the 6.5×50mmSR Type 38 cartridge, and the Type 99 chambered for the 7.7×58mm Type 99 cartridge, which was comparably powerful to a modern .308 round. Many thousands of Type 99s and other Arisaka variants were brought to the United States by soldiers as war trophies during and after World War II.

History

Arisaka (surname)

Arisaka (written: 有坂) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include:

6.5×50mmSR Arisaka

The 6.5×50mm Semi-Rimmed (6.5×50mmSR) Japanese cartridge, currently manufactured under the designation 6.5mm Jap, was adopted by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1897, along with the Type 30 Arisaka infantry rifle and carbine. The new rifle and cartridge replaced the 8×52mm Murata round used in the Type 22 Murata Rifle. In 1902 the Imperial Japanese Navy chambered its Type 35 rifle for the cartridge as well. In 1905, the round also came to be offered in the Type 38 Arisaka infantry rifle and carbine, both of which rendered the Type 30 obsolete in Imperial Army service. Type 44 cavalry carbines, first adopted in 1911, were also chambered in 6.5×50mm.

History

Early 6.5×50mm cartridges had a cupronickel, round-nosed bullet weighing 10.4 grams (160 gr) fired with approximately 2.0 grams (31 gr) of smokeless powder. This was later changed with the adoption of the Type 38 when Japan, in line with the other great powers around the same time, changed to the pointed or spitzer bullet in the first decade of the twentieth century. The Type 38 spitzer-bullet round fired a 9.0-gram (139 gr) bullet with a powder charge of 33 grains (2.1 g) for a muzzle velocity of around 770 metres per second (2,500 ft/s).