Small arms of the second world-Japan. Rifles of World War II

If you are at least a little interested in the history of the Russian army, then you can probably remember at least a couple of examples of foreign weapons. The machine gun "Maxim" comes to mind first, someone may remember the "Lewis", this also includes the English tanks "Vickers". But the Arisaka, a Japanese-made rifle, is not known to everyone. Nevertheless, these weapons played an important role in the formation of modern Russian statehood.

How it all began

In 1914, the Imperial Army quickly realized that it… simply did not have enough shells, cannons, cartridges and… rifles. The industry in those years could not arrange the production of the proper amount of individual small arms. The soldiers also played their role: history subtly “hinted” that the time of huge, but completely untrained armies, had finally passed.

A fact is known when one of the Russian generals, circling the positions left by the soldiers (they were afraid of the German offensive) found ... several hundred thousand abandoned rifles and tens of millions of cartridges. And this despite the fact that by the end of 1914 weapons were becoming scarce, the factories simply could not cope with the sharply increased output.

Economic vicissitudes

In a word, weapons were definitely not enough. And then the Tsarist government decided to turn to its yesterday's enemy, Japan. Japanese rifle"Arisaka" proved to be excellent during the years of that war. Even the brilliant Fedorov for the first time created his first machine gun in the world under her cartridge. In addition, oddly enough, it was the Japanese who turned out to be much more “generous”, not wringing exorbitant prices for weapons.

However, the Japanese should not be considered altruists: the fact is that initially more than 35 thousand rifles were intended for Mexican soldiers, but the US government gently hinted that the “Mexican order” should by no means be fulfilled. So the Land of the Rising Sun decided to get at least some benefit. One Arisaka rifle, sold under the original contract to Russia, initially cost ... 29 rubles. And this despite the fact that domestic factories offered "three-line" at a price of 41 rubles per unit. So at first the idea looked tempting.

First procurement problems

In total, almost four million rifles were purchased during the trading period with Japan. Only the first 35,000 units were delivered just in time. Problems soon began: Mikado did not want to sacrifice the mobilization reserves of his own army. With great difficulty, it was possible to agree on the supply of only 200 thousand units, and the conditions were mocking.

The Japanese used only 100 rounds of ammunition for each rifle. After numerous petitions, it was possible to increase this number ... up to 125 charges. A ridiculous stock, especially since all the cartridges were old, with an expired warranty period for storage. They were taken from the mobilization warehouses located at that time in Korea.

In the future, there were often deliveries of frankly worn out, old trunks of "very dubious dignity", as they were characterized in the army. But they were also a good help against the background of an extremely sluggish increase in production by the domestic industry. According to the sources of that time, the Arisaka rifle, which is described in the article, was in service with every tenth division. It is not surprising that the army team themselves jokingly called them "Japanese".

"China or rifles"

Soon, “diplomatic bargaining” broke out around the supplies: Japan at that time put forward the famous “21 demands” to China, practically offering the country complete surrender and recognition of the Japanese occupation government. Initially, Russian diplomats were against such arrogant demands ... but the offensive of the German troops in Galicia dictated its own conditions. With the tacit approval of the Tsarist government, China was forced to sign an enslaving treaty.

And after that, Japan took over our country. Inspired by the uncomplaining obedience of the tsar, Japanese diplomats began to put forward "mind-bogglingly arrogant demands", expressed, in particular, in "requests" ... to give up the entire Far East in exchange for an unfortunate million rifles. To the credit of the domestic diplomats, who could not stand such impudence, they did not even start negotiations on this. Moreover, a real scolding was arranged for the Japanese attache, after which the trading partner did not put forward such "projects".

Moreover, Japan agreed to a request for the sale of another million weapons. True, by that time each Arisaka rifle was already worth 32-35 rubles. But it was still cheaper than domestic models. In addition, the Japanese began to supply normal modern-style cartridges.

Interestingly, the Japanese Model 30 bayonet for the Arisaka rifle was, in fact, a slightly shortened dagger. Since domestic "Mosinok" traditionally had needle bayonets, soldiers armed with "foreign" weapons can be easily recognized in any photo of that period.

Overseas intermediaries

Also curious is the fate of 60,000 Arisaks, originally sold by the Japanese to England. The "Mistress of the Seas" by that time also found herself in a difficult situation, despite the full power of her metallurgical plants. But every "English" Arisaka rifle ended up in Russian arsenals anyway. The fact is that by the end of 1915, the Germans again stepped up their offensive, as a result of which the British government, extremely frightened by this fact, decided to "plug the Teutonic breakthrough with a Russian avalanche." Rifles went to our country.

Thus, by February 1917, a huge number of weapons and even more cartridges for them were purchased. But it should be understood that the “Japanese Arisaka rifle” is not at all a single model. Seven (!) of its various modifications were delivered to our country in succession, which created countless problems for the already overwhelmed suppliers. Interestingly, the last 150,000 Arisaks were purchased literally on the eve of the October Revolution.

But after V. I. Lenin's speech about "Peace and Land", the history of "Japanese women" in the service of the Russian army was far from over. It can be said that in the future both Red and White Guard units fought with them. And reviews about practical application of these weapons were very different, regardless of who they came from. But still, most of its "users" agreed that the Arisaka rifle (the photo of which is in the article) is a high-quality and reliable weapon. Note that the Japanese "kept the mark" until 1944, when, due to serious economic problems, the quality of weapons produced fell sharply.

By the way, what is the proportion of rifles used in parts of the warring parties during the Civil War? Here the information varies greatly. It is known that some units subordinate directly to Kolchak were armed with them almost without exception. But the number of "Arisak" from the Red Army in some periods reached 1/3 of the total number of individual small arms they used.

Gunsmiths also say that the notorious Latvian shooters were mostly armed with Arisaks. So the role of these rifles in the history of our country is very large.

What did the soldiers think about the Arisaki?

Miscellaneous. And it usually depends on technical level the fighter himself, his level of education, the type of rifle. If the “Japanese Arisaka rifle” was new, then there were practically no complaints in her direction. At the same time, it is known that the old carbines had an unpleasant property, expressed in the “sticking” of the shutter. Again, this is hardly the fault of the rifles themselves: most likely, the fighters themselves are to blame, who have not cleaned their personal weapons for months.

Recent use cases

After the Civil War, the Arisaka type 30 rifle was in service with many countries. Especially a lot of these weapons were in the newly-minted Finland and Estonia, where the "Japanese" almost without exception were armed with border services.

In 1941, "Arisaki" in the execution of the mobilization plan was sometimes issued to the militias and rear units, but they were not widely used. In the USSR, the production of weapons was put on stream, and therefore its shortage was not so acutely felt. It is possible that somewhere in the domestic arsenals there are still remnants of these rarities. It is known that the last batch of mothballed Arisak was sent for remelting by the Ukrainian Armed Forces back in 1993.

General technical information

Both in Japan itself and in our country, the most common were two types of these rifles: "Type 30" (the very first variety) and "Type 99". They differed in caliber. If the old “thirty” used a 6.5x50 cartridge of various modifications for firing, then for the “Type 99” a separate ammunition of increased power was developed - 7.7x58. Most likely, the caliber, unusual for the Japanese, was borrowed from the British with their Lee-Enfield.

In addition, in our country, until the very end of the use of this weapon, the Arisaka type 38 rifle was encountered. This is the second modification, the time of its development dates back to the beginning of the 1900s of the last century.

What's up specifications, then these rifles are quite typical examples of weapons of their time, which had some distinctive features. The bore is locked by sliding butterfly valve. The latter had two combat ledges. Initially, Colonel Arisaka, who was the chief designer of this weapon, wanted a design with three lugs, but production realities and the need to reduce the cost of the rifle led to some simplification of its design.

Other characteristics

There was a spring-loaded ejector on the front of the bolt stem. Since all the cartridges used by Arisakami had rims (like the domestic 7.62x54), a reflector (cut-off) was attached inside the receiver, on its left side.

The stock, stock for the receiver and lining on the barrel were made of wood. As a rule, they initially tried to use walnut for this, but in 1944-1945, when the economic situation of Japan at war was greatly shaken, manufacturers had to switch to the cheapest types of wood, and in some cases the stock was made from low-grade plywood.

The shutter knob is interesting: it is very large, in its cross section it resembles egg. The choice of this form was due to the fact that in the tests it proved to be the most convenient. Interestingly, the mainspring was located inside the tubular part of the drummer, as a result of which it is perfectly protected from dust, moisture and dirt. This is the reason for the high reliability of weapons, which was repeatedly discussed by both domestic and foreign soldiers.

Again, because of this feature, the spring was more sensitive to contamination with its powder deposits (the very “sticking” that we already mentioned above). But still, to bring the weapon into such a state, it was necessary to “try” without cleaning for a very long time.

By the way, Arisaki had a special cover-casing to protect the shutter from contamination. But its practical significance was extremely small: the lid constantly rattled, created a lot of problems when carrying (there was a risk of losing it), and therefore many soldiers preferred to remove this part and put it in their pouches before the battle.

Protection against accidental shots

What else characterizes "Arisaka" (rifle)? "Button"-fuse - a very characteristic feature of this weapon. The mechanism of its action is interesting. To activate the safety when the shutter was cocked, it was necessary to press the "button" with a corrugated texture, located on back side shutter, and then turn it clockwise. At the same time, the protrusions cut out on the coupling reliably blocked the firing pin, preventing it from hitting the primer.

The striker was put into combat position automatically, when the bolt was cocked. Charging was carried out with the shutter open. This could be done both by one cartridge and by five, using special clips for this purpose.

It is also interesting that this weapon had that is, when the ammunition was used up, the shutter automatically became in its rearmost position, which greatly simplified the process of loading the rifle.

bayonet fight

As we have already said, the bayonet for the Arisaka rifle was made in the form of an almost full-fledged dagger. There are cases when such bayonets were used by our soldiers throughout the Great Patriotic War. The choice of the Japanese was not accidental: the concept of needle bayonets and baguettes, which guided domestic weapon designers, was already very outdated by that time.

On the contrary, it was very important for the soldiers to have a full-fledged knife with them, which could be used not only in battle, but in the daily arrangement of the camp. Due to the fact that the bayonet for the Arisaka rifle was made of high quality steel, it was very popular with soldiers on both sides of the front. In particular, many American veterans have in their “repositories” a knife from Arisaki, which was much more convenient and better than the American model.

And what are the Japanese soldiers armed with today? The individual firearm is the Arisaka assault rifle. She, like her many predecessors, is distinguished by high reliability and original technical solutions used in the design.

It so happened that weapons made in the factories and factories of Japan, with which the Russian Empire fought shortly before, served a significant role in military operations against Kaiser Germany, and then in the formation of Soviet power.

photo: Christopher Caisor, CollectibleFirearms.com

photo: Christopher Caisor, CollectibleFirearms.com

7.7mm rifle Arisaka Type 02 - collapsible rifle for paratroopers.

	Type 38 infantry rifle	Type 99 rifle	Type 02 rifle
Caliber	6.5x50SR	7.7×58	7.7×58
Automation type	1275 mm	1150 mm	1150 mm
Length	800 mm	656 mm	620 mm
barrel length	4.12 kg	3.8 kg	4.05 kg
Magazine capacity	5 rounds	5 rounds	5 rounds

In the 27th year of the reign of Emperor Meiji, or in 1894 according to the European calendar, the Japanese army began work to replace obsolete rifles of the Murata system. Colonel Narioke Arisaka was placed at the head of the commission responsible for the development of the new rifle. In the 30th year of the reign of Emperor Meiji (1897), a new Type 30 rifle and a 6.5mm cartridge for it (6.5x52SR) were adopted by the Imperial Japanese Army. Based on the experience of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, the Japanese decided to improve the rifle while maintaining the cartridge. Since 1906, the Arisaka Type 38 infantry rifle began to enter service with the Japanese, and then carbines based on it. In total, over three million Type 38 rifles and carbines were produced before the end of production. Based on the experience of the campaign in Manchuria, the Japanese came to the conclusion that the lethal effect of the 6.5x52SR cartridge was insufficient, as well as its low applicability in machine guns. Therefore, in the late 1930s, the Japanese developed a new 7.7x58 cartridge, which was actually an English cartridge. 303, but with a sleeve without a rim. Under the new cartridge, a slightly modified version of the Type 38 rifle was created, which received the designation Type 99. Such a jump in the name is explained by a change in the nomenclature - if the Japanese used to name weapons according to the years of the reign of the current emperor, now they considered the date from the creation of the world, that is, Type 99 denoted in fact Type 2099 from the creation of the world according to the Shinto calendar, or 1939 from the birth of Christ. A year later (1940), the Type 99 rifles were shortened to provide a single type of rifle suitable for replacing both long infantry rifles and carbines. In this form, Type 99 rifles were produced until 1945, their total production amounted to over three and a half million pieces. By the end of the war, Japan's resources had become seriously depleted, and the quality of Arisaka rifles, initially very high, had fallen sharply. The design of late-release rifles used low-grade steels, parts without heat treatment, so such rifles were often dangerous not only for the enemy, but also for the shooters themselves.

On the basis of Type 99 rifles, several sniper rifles were created that had optical sights of magnification 2.5X or 4X, as well as a number of collapsible rifles for paratroopers - paratroopers. The first Type 00 assault rifles had a detachable barrel with a forearm, attached to the receiver with an intermittent thread. About 500 Type 99 rifles were converted to Type 00 collapsible rifles when it turned out that such a system was not strong enough. In 1942, the production of Type 02 collapsible landing rifles began, in which the barrel was attached to the receiver using a massive transverse wedge inserted from the side through the forearm, below the bore. Often, these rifles were also equipped with a folding wire one-legged bipod under the forearm.

The Type 38 and Type 99 Arisaka rifles have a Mauser-type bolt action with two front lugs and a non-rotating massive extractor. A box-shaped integral magazine, also of the Mauser type, held 5 rounds in a checkerboard pattern, and was loaded from lamellar clips or individual cartridges. A distinctive feature of Arisaka rifles was a movable bolt cover, bent from sheet steel, which moved forward and backward along with the bolt. The purpose of this cover was to protect the bolt from dirt and moisture in the harsh climate of South and Southeast Asia, but it also created unnecessary sounds during reloading, and the soldiers often removed it. The fuse had the form of a round swivel corrugated cover located on the rear end of the shutter, and having an indicator groove for determining the state of the fuse visually and by touch. Another one distinguishing feature rifles Type 38 - a very long barrel, which, in combination with a cartridge of low power, led to the fact that there was practically no muzzle flash when fired. This gave rise to a number of legends about the "flameless" Japanese gunpowder, but the same gunpowder in short-barreled carbines gave a completely ordinary muzzle flash. The sight of Arisaka rifles is open, adjustable in range. On rifles type 99 from the sides on the sight there were special folding straps for entering amendments when firing at low-flying aircraft. The usefulness of these rails when firing a repeating rifle at aircraft such as the F6F Hellcat or F4U Corsair was more than doubtful, so their usefulness was more mental than real. The rifles were completed with a detachable blade-type bayonet, worn in a sheath.

photo: Christopher Caisor, CollectibleFirearms.com

photo: Christopher Caisor, CollectibleFirearms.com

7.7mm rifle Arisaka Type 02 - collapsible rifle for paratroopers.

	Type 38 infantry rifle	Type 99 rifle	Type 02 rifle
Caliber	6.5x50SR	7.7×58	7.7×58
Automation type	1275 mm	1150 mm	1150 mm
Length	800 mm	656 mm	620 mm
barrel length	4.12 kg	3.8 kg	4.05 kg
Magazine capacity	5 rounds	5 rounds	5 rounds

The Type 38 and Type 99 Arisaka rifles have a Mauser-type bolt action with two front lugs and a non-rotating massive extractor. A box-shaped integral magazine, also of the Mauser type, held 5 rounds in a checkerboard pattern, and was loaded from lamellar clips or individual cartridges. A distinctive feature of Arisaka rifles was a movable bolt cover, bent from sheet steel, which moved forward and backward along with the bolt. The purpose of this cover was to protect the bolt from dirt and moisture in the harsh climate of South and Southeast Asia, but it also created unnecessary sounds during reloading, and the soldiers often removed it. The fuse had the form of a round swivel corrugated cover located on the rear end of the shutter, and having an indicator groove for determining the state of the fuse visually and by touch. Another distinctive feature of the Type 38 rifles is a very long barrel, which, in combination with a low-power cartridge, led to the fact that there was practically no muzzle flash when fired. This gave rise to a number of legends about the "flameless" Japanese gunpowder, but the same gunpowder in short-barreled carbines gave a completely ordinary muzzle flash. The sight of Arisaka rifles is open, adjustable in range. On rifles type 99 from the sides on the sight there were special folding straps for entering amendments when firing at low-flying aircraft. The usefulness of these rails when firing a repeating rifle at aircraft such as the F6F Hellcat or F4U Corsair was more than doubtful, so their usefulness was more mental than real. The rifles were completed with a detachable blade-type bayonet, worn in a sheath.

What makes a person a person? Mainly upbringing - culture is not inherited. That is, something, some abilities, inclinations, even habits are transmitted. But not the social personality as a whole. In England, an experiment was conducted at one of the universities: students entered the room one by one and had to put a vase of flowers on the piano. Everyone put it in the middle. A Japanese student entered and put it on the edge. The same was repeated in Japan and with the same result, only the proportion was reversed. That is, we are brought up in love for symmetry, they are for asymmetry. But what about technology then? What to pay attention to? And how did this, say, affect the creation of new samples?

A carbine based on the Arisaka "Type 38" rifle.

Well, with regard to weapons, the same Japanese at first had this - as soon as modernization began in the country according to the Western model, the Japanese military chose a Remington rifle with a crane bolt. She seemed to them more comfortable than the others. But already in 1880 of the 19th century, through the efforts of Major Tsuniyoshi Murata, Japan received a rifle of his 11-mm caliber system for flange cartridges with black powder. The rifle itself was a hybrid of the French Gras rifle and the Dutch Beaumont rifle, which received the designation "Type 13". This was followed by an improved Type 18 model and, finally, in 1889, the "Type 22" caliber 8 mm with an eight-shot magazine under the barrel of the Kropachek system - that is, again, the French Lebel was taken as the basis. With this rifle, Japanese soldiers defeated the Chinese army in the Sino-Japanese War, but it turned out that the rifle has many flaws, so to speak, of "foreign" origin. Like all rifles with a barrel magazine, it had a changing balance. In addition, the height of the Japanese soldier did not exceed 157 cm, and the weight was 48 kg, that is, they almost without exception suffered from dystrophy, which means that it was much more difficult for him to deal with this phenomenon than for Europeans. In addition, the recoil when fired was simply excessive for them, and the rifle itself was too heavy. Of course, recruits could be forced to eat a lot of meat and build muscle with dumbbells, and they did just that in the Navy. But in the army it was much more difficult to do so, so new boss Colonel Naryakira Arisaka of the rifle department of the Tokyo Arsenal (he replaced Murat, who by this time had already become a major general) decided to reduce the caliber of the future rifle to 6.5 mm. Again, they turned to the experience of Europe and found out that the Italian 6.5-mm cartridge from the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle was the most small-caliber and weakest in terms of recoil. It contained only 2.28 g of Solemit brand smokeless powder, which made it possible to accelerate its 10.45-gram (with a barrel length of 780 mm) to a speed of 710 m / s.

Rifle Arisaka "Type 30".

Arisaka considered that this cartridge could be even weaker, and placed only 2.04 g of nitrocellulose flake powder into it. The sleeve had a length of 50.7 mm, which made it possible to designate its parameter as 6.5 × 50 and as 6.5 × 51 mm.

Bayonet for the Arisaka rifle "Type 30". The rifle itself was shot without a bayonet.

At that time, many masters of gunsmithing with foam at the mouth proved to each other one thing - the advantages of a sleeve with a rim (flange), others - with an annular groove. Arisaka did not choose, but supplied his cartridge at the same time with a rim, however, a small one, only slightly larger in diameter than the sleeve itself, and a groove. The concepts of “big-small” are loose, so it makes sense to give data for comparison: the flange of the Arisak cartridge protruded by 0.315 mm, while the Mosin rifle by 1.055 mm. The bullet was traditionally blunt, had a cupronickel sheath and a lead core. The speed that she developed at the exit from the 800-mm barrel was 725 m / s. Gunpowder from the sleeve with such a barrel length burned out entirely, so there was practically no muzzle flame when fired, and its sound was quiet. This is how the Type 30 rifle of the 1897 model of the year appeared, with which Japanese soldiers entered the war with Russia. And immediately after its completion, namely in 1906, a new Type 38 rifle was adopted, improved according to its experience.

On the left is a cartridge for the Mosin rifle, on the right is a cartridge for the Arisak rifle.

Bolt for Type 38 rifle.

In that 1906, simultaneously with the Arisaka Type 38 rifle, a new cartridge was adopted by the imperial Japanese army, now not with a blunt, but with a pointed bullet weighing 8.9 g and with a cylindrical bottom. This bullet had a thickened shell in the head, but since cupronickel had a lower density than lead, the center of gravity of such a bullet shifted back, which had a positive effect on its stability on the trajectory and at the same time increased its armor-piercing properties. In 1942, the cupronickel shell of the bullet was replaced with a bimetallic one - Japan had serious problems with raw materials. A charge of smokeless powder weighing 2.15 g made it possible to develop pressure in the bore of up to 3200 kg / m2 and disperse the bullet to 760 m / s. Cartridges were produced with a tracer bullet (which was indicated by green varnish), with armor-piercing (black varnish), with a bullet having a steel core (brown varnish).

Sights for the rifle "Type 38".

Sights and the emblem of the arsenal of the manufacturer.

But this is what no other rifle in the world had: a receiver cover that opened it simultaneously with the movement of the bolt. That is, neither the dirt nor the sand that fell on the heads of the soldiers during the explosions of shells could get into the mechanism.

The shutter is closed.

Open shutter. The cartridge feeder from the magazine is clearly visible.

For light machine guns, special cartridges were made with a powder charge reduced to 1.9 g, which helped Japanese machine gunners carry a large supply of cartridges. Cartridges with a smaller charge did not differ from ordinary ones, but had a special identification mark on the box. Accordingly, for training shooting, a cartridge was used that had a short and light cylindrical bullet, with a tombac shell and an aluminum core. For blank firing, cartridges were used, in which the bullet was twisted from paper, and the same machine-gun cartridge had a bullet made of wood. In addition, special cartridges were used for throwing grenades from grenade launchers attached to the barrel. There were also five rounds in the clip of the Japanese rifle, as in the Russian one.

The shutter handle is up. The shutter is open with the cover.

]The shutter is open, the sight is raised.

During the First World War, the release of "Japanese cartridges" was organized not only in Japan itself, but also in England, where it was produced under the designation 6.5x51SR and exported to Russia, which bought Arisaka rifles in Japan. Under it, the cartridge was made and the world's first automatic Fedorov.

In 1915-1916. Type 38 cartridges were also produced in Russia at the St. Petersburg Cartridge Plant, 200 thousand pieces per month. Of course, this was not enough, but it was better than nothing.

Fly with namusnik (1).

Mushka with namushnik (2)

The handle, located at the rear of the bolt, made it possible to reload the rifle without taking the butt off the shoulder, so that the target was not lost from sight. The store hidden inside the box was well protected from mechanical impact and deformation. The rate of fire was 20 rounds per minute, that is, it was more than sufficient.

Purely subjectively, the rifle seemed to me comfortable and light, although its weight was 4.12 kg. However, at the same time, there was no feeling that they gave you a heavy iron “drin” in your hands, which immediately pulled them away. It was not difficult to carry it with a grip in the area of \u200b\u200bthe store and the bolt, that is, in the very center of gravity, and also aim it at the target. The semi-pistol neck of the buttstock has a very convenient shape and makes it possible to securely fix the rifle in the hands when aiming. It was alleged that the shutter cover loudly knocks, unmasking the fighter, and that the Japanese soldiers even removed it because of this. Yes, it clicks slightly, but not louder than the jittery shutter itself, but the advantages of such a solution are undeniable. Of course, it would be desirable to shoot from it, but what is not there is no more! True, I cannot help but note that of all the rifles described here earlier (except for the Martini-Henry!) This one turned out to be the most “applied”, and the worst in this indicator is the Mannlicher-Carcano carbine.

In 1914, Colonel of the Russian Imperial Army V.G. Fedorov carried out a full cycle of tests of the Japanese Type 38 rifle, which showed that it was very rationally designed, that is, all the best was really taken from different types of weapons. Further, in his review of the rifle, he noted that although it has excessive accuracy indicators (that's even how!), Its production is cheaper than Mosin rifles. Logically, after that, it would seem that we should have replaced our caliber with a Japanese one and adopted a Japanese rifle and Japanese cartridges, but it is clear that during the war it would be impossible to do this, and after the 6.5-mm caliber we “went ”, It again occurred to our new military that “our gun is stronger than the Japanese one” and to convince them V.G. Fedorov did not succeed! However, subsequent events in the arms world showed that a decrease in caliber is a necessary thing, so the Japanese were in the right trend, as they say now, it turns out, more than 100 years ago!

Arisaka type 99 rifle chambered in caliber 7.7mm photo. In the late 1930s, taking into account the experience of fighting in Manchuria and China, the Japanese military leadership decided to increase the caliber of small arms and switch from 6.5 mm to 7.7 mm rifle cartridges.

7.7 mm ARISAKA rifle

The grounds can be considered the need to increase the power of machine-gun fire and expand the range of special bullets. But I had to accept a new modification of the army's most massive weapon - the Arisaka magazine rifle and its variants. Colonel Nariake Arisaka at one time headed the commission for the development of the 6.5 mm Type 30 repeating rifle, and it is not surprising that all descendants of this rifle are known in the world as "Arisaki". Long combat experience created a good reputation for Arisaki, and with the change in caliber, the Japanese army did not abandon the already mastered system.

Arisaka TYPE 99 rifle chambered for 7.7mm rifle cartridge

The 7.7 mm caliber was clearly borrowed from the British, but as a result, three 7.7 mm cartridges of approximately the same power were adopted in succession, but with a different sleeve design. And I had to tinker with the rifle. Tests of rifles chambered for Type 92 with a low rim showed that it is not very convenient, the recoil and muzzle flash are too large.

from left to right, cartridge 6.5x50SR Arisaka 1897, cartridge 6.5 × 50 mm 1905, 7.7 × 58 mm sample 1932, for which the Type 99 Arisaka rifle was developed, magazine

In 1939, the Type 99 cartridge (7.7 x 58) without a rim appeared, which was to become the basis of a new infantry weapon system, which included new rifles and a light machine gun.

characteristics of various modifications of the Arisaka rifle 7.7 mm type 99

Arsenals in Nagoya and Kokura, on a competitive basis, began developing rifles with the task of creating a unified weapon for all branches of the army and navy. Since the carbine under the 7.7-mm cartridge, with the same dimensions and weight, gave a return that was too sensitive for soldiers of small stature and weight, they decided to adopt a “shortened rifle” instead of a carbine. At the end of 1939, the Ordnance Department selected a long and short rifle designed by the Toriimatsu weapons factory from the Nagoya arsenal. New complex The “cartridge-weapon” received the designation Type 99 (that is, 2599 - according to the system of chronology adopted by that time “from the founding of the Empire”, this corresponded to 1939).

Imperial 16-petal chrysanthemum, sign of emperor's property, and maker's mark

The Imperial Chrysanthemums (see above in the photo) were removed from the rifles by order of the emperor, when surrendered to the US occupation forces in Japan, under the command of Douglas MacArthur

With the general reputation of "Arisaki" as a convenient and reliable weapon, rifles produced in 1944-1945 were considered the worst in quality, simplification and reduction in cost by the end of the war, all participating states followed this production principle. Tellingly, this affected not only external characteristics, but also reflected in the combat qualities of the weapon, the rejection of chrome plating of the barrel and the absence of a shutter cover. After the war, the captured Arisaki were widely used by the armies of China and North Korea.

7.7 mm Arisaka rifle Type 99 military issue

, are often referred to as "Japanese Mausers", although their simple and rational design has many quite original features. The barrel bore is locked by a longitudinally sliding rotary bolt with two lugs made on the front of the bolt stem. A wide springy ejector is attached to the stem with a split spring ring, the reflector is mounted in the left wall of the receiver on the same axis with a slide delay. Operation with the bolt handle is facilitated by an egg-shaped knob. The helical mainspring is placed inside the tubular part of the drummer and is well protected from dust, moisture, powder gases. The cocking of the drummer occurs when the shutter is locked. The lock coupling serves as a fuse. The weapon is put on the fuse with the firing pin cocked - to do this, press the knurled head of the coupling with the palm of your hand and turn it clockwise, while the protrusions of the coupling block the firing pin and the bolt.

Arisaka rifle view from the side of the shutter

To protect against contamination, the valve is equipped with a movable cover. The cover, however, created a lot of noise, was lost when running, twitched when fired, and many fighters took it off before the fight. In the rear jumper of the receiver, grooves are made for the plate holder. After the magazine is loaded, the clip is ejected by moving the bolt forward. The magazine box is inscribed in the contours of the stock, the feed mechanism is assembled on the cover of the magazine. When the cartridges are used up, the magazine feeder does not allow the shutter to move forward. For quick unloading, you can open the magazine cover by pressing the latch in front of the trigger. The one-piece stock has smooth contours and a pistol protrusion of the neck. The stock is glued from two pieces of wood for greater strength. The back of the butt is reinforced with a metal plate.

Arisaka rifle detail

Arisaka rifle type 99 7.7mm photo consists of only seven main parts, the shutter - from six parts. The main innovations in the Type 99 were a sight and a lightweight folding wire bipod.

Arisaka carbine with unfolded bipod

The frame sight received a diopter rear sight, can be adjusted for lateral displacement and has an original device for "anti-aircraft" shooting - on the sides of the frame there are two folding notched pins that allow the shooter to take lead on a moving target.

Arisaka rifle sight type 99 for shooting at air targets

This device did not show practical value, and was rather preserved for “psychological” reasons. The bipod is attached to the lower stock ring (a bipod was not placed on a shortened rifle). The contours of a number of parts were simplified to reduce the cost of production.

arisaka has a bipod in the photo they are folded

In 1942 they took sniper rifle Type 99. The sight is mounted on the left side, the bolt handle is bent downwards so as not to cling to the sight. At first, the Kokura arsenal put a 2.5x optical sight on the rifle, then the Nagoya arsenal began to put more Type 2 4x scopes that met sniper requirements. It is indicated that no more than 10 thousand of these rifles were produced.

Arisaka type 99 bayonet

Arisaka rifle type 99 7.7mm photo for paratroopers, which appeared in 1941 (also known as Type 0) is generally similar to the shortened one, but differed by the fastening of the barrel in the receiver on a discontinuous thread and a split stock - the forearm was attached to the barrel, the butt with the neck to the receiver. This made it possible to quickly disassemble the rifle into two parts for transportation and landing in a special case. However, the barrel mount quickly loosened, and in the spring of 1943, the Nagoya arsenal replaced the rifle in production with a model developed by the 1st Army Technical Research Institute on the basis of the same shortened one and designated Type 2. The mount was strengthened and equipped with a wedge lock. A wire bipod could be placed on the Type 2.

Interestingly, Moscow militias with Arisaka rifles, apparently captured after the battles near the Khalkhin Gol River and Lake Khasan

The scale of production, it was planned that the long rifle would replace the Type 30, 38, “I” b.5-mm rifles in the troops, the shortened one would replace the Type 30, 38 and 44 carbines. However, the capabilities of the Japanese industry were too limited to completely replace the existing weapons with a new system .

rifle and bayonet knife, according to many, the Japanese and Russians most often used hand-to-hand and bayonet fighting techniques

Attaching a knife bayonet

The situation with supply, training and operation was mitigated only by the similarity of the device of 6.5-mm and 7.7-mm rifles and the fact that models of different calibers tried to be supplied to different units. The release of series 99 rifles from 1940 to 1945 was carried out by Japanese arsenals in Nagoya and Kokura, private arms factories: Dai Nippon Heiki Koge in Notobe, Kayaba Koge and Tokyo Yuki in Tokyo, Toyo Yuki in Hiroshima, and also the Korean arsenal "Jensen".

Weapons of the Japanese army, the bulk of the Arisaka type 99

In 1940-1945, more than 3.5 million Type 99 rifles of all modifications were produced. From the end of 1943, the finish and quality of weapons were forced to deteriorate. The grade of steels for the manufacture of parts has decreased. Rifles were made without bolt covers, the barrel bores were not chrome plated. Instead of a frame, a permanent diopter sight at 300 m appeared, shortened rifles also received short barrel linings. Cheap wood was used for stocks, and plywood instead of a steel butt plate was used on parts of rifles.