Type 38 rifle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Type 38 Rifle | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Infantry Service Rifle |
| Place of origin | Japan |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Japan |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1905 |
| Number built | 3,400,000 |
| Variants | Cavalry rifle |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 3.95 kg |
| Length | 1,280 mm |
|
|
|
| Caliber | 6.5 mm |
| Action | bolt |
| Rate of fire | c.30 RPM |
| Muzzle velocity | 765 m/s |
| Feed system | 5 round |
The Type 38 rifle Arisaka (三八式歩兵銃 Sanpachi-shiki hoheijyuu) was a bolt-action rifle. For a time it was the standard rifle of the Japanese infantry. It was reliable and accurate. It was known also as the Type 38 Year Meiji Carbine in Japan. An earlier, similar weapon was the Type 30 Year Meiji Rifle, which was also used alongside it. Both of these weapons were also known as the Arisaka, after the inventor.
It used an indigenously Japanese designed 6.5 x 50 mm calibre cartridge. This cartridge produces little recoil when fired. However, while on par with the Swedish and Italian 6.5mm military cartridges of the time, the 6.5 x 50 was not as powerful as several others in use by other nations. The Arisaka Rifle was the longest rifle of the war, making it awkward in the typical Japanese soldier's hands. These two concerns (among others) led to the Japanese Army adopting the Type 99 Rifle, a shorter rifle using more powerful ammunition. Japanese authorities also wished to adopt a new longarm that needed fewer machining steps to be produced given Japan's then-existing metallurgic capacity.
The Type 38 Cavalry Carbine is a short-barreled version of the Type 38. It was used not only by cavalry, but also by engineer, quartermaster and other non-frontline troops. It was introduced into service at the same time as the Type 38. The barrel was shorter at 487 mm, giving an overall length of the rifle of 966 mm and a weight of 3.3 kg Another Type 38 variant was the Type 38 Cavalry Rifle which were merely Type 38 Infantry Rifles with their barrels shortened from 31 and a quarter inches to 23 and one half inches. All Cavalry Rifle receivers carry the arsenal and proof-marks of Tokyo Artillery Arsenal - the source of the original Infantry Rifles.
Other variants developed from the Type 38 were the Type 44 Cavalry Rifle, Type 97 Sniper Rifle, TERA Rifles and the final development, the Type 5 Rifle.
[edit] References
- Leo J. Daugherty III, Fighting Techniques of a Japanese Infantryman 1941-1945, ISBN 1-86227-162-3
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
| Japanese infantry weapons of World War II |
|---|
| Side-arms |
| Type 26 Revolver | Nambu Type 1 | Nambu Type 14 | Type 94 |
| Rifles & carbines |
| Type 38 | Type 38 Cavalry Carbine | Type 44 Cavalry Carbine | Type 97 Sniper Rifle | Type 99 |
| Submachine guns |
| Type 100 |
| Machine-guns |
| Type 11 Light Machine Gun | Type 96 Light Machine Gun | Type 97 Light Machine Gun | Type 99 Light Machine Gun Type 1 Heavy Machine Gun | Type 3 Heavy Machine Gun | Type 4 Heavy Machine Gun | Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun |
| Support weapons |
| Type 93 and 100 flamethrowers | Type 10 Grenade Discharger | Type 89 Grenade Discharger | Type 97 20 mm AT Rifle |
