TYPE 99 NVA SNIPER RIFLE
 

A friend of mine stopped by my shop today to show me a Mod. 99 Arisaka in 7.7 (.31 Cal.).

He said a friend of his he used to work with brought it back from VN. The friend said it was taken off of a NVA Sniper.

It has what appears to be a 4X scope. No markings. And ramped mounts. The bolt is bent, and looks to be as old as the other metal parts on the weapon.

But, because of the scope, rounds would have to fed one at a time. Also because of the scope the "palm" safety cant be accessed.

Can anyone shed any light on this oddity??

Arisaka
 

I have one of these, 7.62 Arisaka...The original blot handle was straight...I have everything but the butt and fore stock...

TG

I've read of straight bolts being bent to allow the use of a scope in other rifles. Straight bolts making contact with the scope being a problem in some cases. A turned down bolt and a 4x scope is correct for this rifle. Also a wire mono-pod and anti-aircraft "wings" on the sight, though sometimes they were removed. A 2.5X scope side mounted to the receiver is less common. The rifle was produced from 1939 to the end of the war (WWII). Is there an Imperial marking on top of the receiver, that would be even less common, they were ground off on captures. The SN and arsenal mark may be under the scope. The rifle is considered to be pretty good actually, chromed bore and Mauser type action among other things. There are different versions and mods, both long rifle and carbine, including an Italian version.

I'd think it likely the Vietnamese could have some since the Japanese did occupy for a time. If the rifle could talk, carried by WWII Japanese Infantry then Vietnamese and last brought to the States.

...articles and pics, there are quite a few more just google them.

http://www.gunsandammomag.com/cs/Sat...he+7.7+Arisaka

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...0/ai_114283920
/?tag=content;col1

http://www.angelfire.com/pro/graeylin/arisaka_page.htm

Would it be possible to get pics and post theme here?

If it retains all the Japanese markings you can get quite a bit more historical info.
I have used the following website for research in the past.
http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/japanese_markings.html

I know that Japanese rifles were manufactured in China for a time.
It may be possible that production continued after the war and then sold to Viet Nam.

Curved bolts are pretty common with bolt action guns that were adapted to the sniper role.
The Mosin-Nagant M91-30 for example.

Are the serial numbers on the weapon matching?
It may not be a big deal if they aren't as pieces usually get mixed up.
Especially in late war models.
If they do match it could be a purpose built sniper rifle, as opposed to a converted standard issue rifle.

I'll see this fella sometime this week. He's an old horse trading Fleet Marine. So, Ill have to give up something for a pic, even if its one 7.7 round.

Trusting a memory that has a shelf life of 8 minutes, I think it had the chrysanthemum on the receiver. I really couldnt swear to it though, the scope mount covered most of it.

swpa19,

Chew on this for while: www.oldrifles.com/japanese.htm

They were indeed left to the Viet Minh after WWII along with Mausers. The NVA followed and did use them for a time until the Mosin Nagant Sniper came along. The 99"s were reliquished to the VC. Later in the war when the NVA/VC got a little stronger they all went then to the SVD and the 99's were either detroyed through attrition or buried for future use.

Hope this helps you out?

MAB32

Looking at the site you included, the Arisaka my friend has is just about the same as the type 97, except that his in 7.7 cal.

The scope and scope mount are different than the one pictured. His also has a split buttstock, and there is an anchor branded in the buttstock toward the buttplate.

The wooden parts are pretty rough, but the action and bore are immaculate.

Thanks for the info.