Challenger Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 Well I talked to the seller and he said he was selling it for a friend who had owned it and shot it since he was a kid... doesnt say much just that it hasnt blown up yet. Also says he knew nothing about the heat treatment issues. My dad doesnt want me to shoot it (wont let me) so it seems I just wasted a bunch of my money. I just need to stop buying stuff based on someones word, never works out. Thanks Kiwi for the idea, might try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PanzerAce Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Does it have any arsenal marks on the barrel/receiver? It *might* have been worked over so that it won't go kB on you (though I don't remember what exactly the problem is with the early '03s). Edit: After reading that article linked earlier, I'd say go ahead and shoot it, just make sure you don't use any of the hotter commercial loads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woldson Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Don't shoot it. Brock is a master. It would be like thinking Braap could be wrong about a z head. Or JhonC not knowing about a fabbed part failling, or grumpy not knowing a V8 engine..........or......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 Haha, yeah.. wellmy instinct says dont shoot it, but my $200 says shoot it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PanzerAce Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Don't shoot it. Brock is a master. It would be like thinking Braap could be wrong about a z head. Or JhonC not knowing about a fabbed part failling, or grumpy not knowing a V8 engine..........or......... *rolls eyes* Did you even read the article? Less than 70 failures in over 1 million rifles. AND many of the problems could be traced to terrible ammo quality. Shoot light commercial rounds and it'll probably be fine. And you ever notice that all the 'masters' have a different opinion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 Well I havent only asked the masters. I went to 2 different gunsmiths, asked questions on 2 different springfield forums, and I got the same answer from all of them. Most springfield collectors wont even shoot the older ones period. Also, yeah 7 in 100,000 isnt very scary odds, but everyone is telling me I shouldnt shoot hot loads, even the seller told me that this morning. See you even say "shoot light commercial rounds and it'll provably be fine". And also even If I wanted to shoot it, my dad says he wont let me shoot it. So Im stuck either way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PanzerAce Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Well, the reason I say that is partly so that you can't come sue me if it blows up for whatever reason. If it was my rifle, I'd go shooting, and just make sure to have good glasses on. IIRC, that article mentioned that they broke some of them by pressure testing them on way over charged rounds, which says to me that not only is it hit or miss if it even blows up, but that most of the problems are going to be ammo related. And when I say light commercial, I basically mean don't go shooting any 200+gr soft points designed for bears. Stick with mil ball and similar, and I'd be willing to be you'll be fine. Also, some other thoughts: Advice is worth what you paid for it (though this works against me as well). And most 'collectors' barely shoot anyways, and those that do likely either have a 'beater' rifle that they shoot, or they aren't shooting the early ones so that they can sell them later. The fact that the USMC used 'low number' Springfield in combat without failure would also lead *me* to decide to go for it. Heck, that document earlier states that of 30 something Springfield receivers that failed, FOUR of them (over 10%) were because of using the WRONG CALIBER, which most likely would have destroyed even a 'high number' receiver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woldson Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 If the lottery was that good I would play!! Every gun is spcific to its history. This one has been checked. The military takes extream care of thier weapons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waddiejohn Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 The real question here is how lucky you feel and is it worth the risk to shoot it. Do you like your eyes? Every time you pull the trigger it's going to be in the back of your mind that this could be the time it blows. Have you even had the headspace checked? Would you let your girlfriend or your mom shoot it? What is the SAFE thing to do? How SMART is it to take the risk. The rifle is about or near 100 years old and $200.00 is a cheap lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PanzerAce Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 The real question here is how lucky you feel and is it worth the risk to shoot it. Do you like your eyes? Every time you pull the trigger it's going to be in the back of your mind that this could be the time it blows. Have you even had the headspace checked? Would you let your girlfriend or your mom shoot it? What is the SAFE thing to do? How SMART is it to take the risk. The rifle is about or near 100 years old and $200.00 is a cheap lesson. What does age have to do with it? I know people with original 30-40 krags or trap door carbines that they still shoot. Though I do agree you should get the headspace checked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waddiejohn Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Age does not necessarily have anything to do with it, but it's a 100 years that has passed and God only knows what it has been through. My Dad brought one of the Jap rifles back from WWII. He'd heard they blow up sometime so he tied it to an old tire and poured syrup through the barrel and lit it off using a piece of string. He said it didn't blow. Well, maybe it didn't, but I wouldn't want to be shooting it after that. A latent failure waiting to happen????? Don't know. You are welcome to disregard anything I say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi303 Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 My Dad brought one of the Jap rifles back from WWII. He'd heard they blow up sometime so he tied it to an old tire and poured syrup through the barrel and lit it off using a piece of string. He said it didn't blow. The arisaka rifles are actually the STRONGEST bolt action military weapon of WWII, even better then the P14/M17 actions which were a magnum mauser action modded for military use. There was a wildcat cartridge maker named Ackley who tested actions to the destruction point to work out how hot he could load custom cartidges in those actions, the Arisaka took one hell of a beating to break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waddiejohn Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Hi Kiwi, As I remember, you are correct about P.O. Ackley and the Arisaka actions. After someone tried to blow one up though I'm not sure I'd want play with it much. On the other hand who really knows what any used gun may have been through. If I remember correctly ,Ackley used actions chambered for the 7.7 caliber. Wasn't the 6.5 believed to be weak? I also remember hearing that toward the end of the the rifles were more or less thrown together and that may have been a problem. I'm just unsure of the info on the Jap rifles. I've reblued a few 7.7's but they were never very popular here for sporterizing or doing much of anything. My point on the Springfield was that the rifle was made when metalurgy was not what it is today and the gun was known to have problems so why would a young man even want to take a risk. Isn't it better to error on the safe side? I didn't know that they had magnum actions when the P14 was made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 Just to let everyone know I did list it up on a 1903 forum. I will have lost a little money on it but not as much as I thought I would initially, there is a good collectors market for these and I have had interest withing a few hours of posting it. Im looking to either just save the money and get my wheels all set up for my car, or get some sort of pistol to learn to shoot handguns. At this point, I have and shotgun a my dad has a 300 savage so the only other genre of gun wed need is a pistol but who knows... Id like to get something nice which starts at about $350-400 so Ill probably hold out till after I get my car back on the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PanzerAce Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 The arisaka rifles are actually the STRONGEST bolt action military weapon of WWII, even better then the P14/M17 actions which were a magnum mauser action modded for military use. There was a wildcat cartridge maker named Ackley who tested actions to the destruction point to work out how hot he could load custom cartidges in those actions, the Arisaka took one hell of a beating to break. How did the Arisakas stack up against the Garand action? IIRC, didn't they once try to blow them up, but they ran out of case capacity before they managed to actually destroy the action? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi303 Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 How did the Arisakas stack up against the Garand action? IIRC, didn't they once try to blow them up, but they ran out of case capacity before they managed to actually destroy the action? It's been a long time since I read the article and I only skimmed, but I believe the Arisaka survived a compressed load of PISTOL powder. heres another look at them http://www.carbinesforcollectors.com/arisaka.htm the 6.5 and the 7.7 were BOTH extremely strong, the reputation of the 6.5 breaking would likely have been from the italian designed Type I in 6.5x50r which was bought during the Japanese chinese invasion before Europe started WWII. Those were a Caracano split breech design and were made to order in Italy for the Japanese army much like England in WWI had american factories make the P14 for the home guard and rear echelon forces since the British factories were full out making SMLE's for the regular forces. http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?action=printpage;topic=42665.0 Title: Re: Rookie Ballistics question 7.62mm VS 7.7mm Post by: hoplophile on September 06, 2008, 09:10:06 AM One more little gem of info about the Arisaka action's strength. There's a documented story about a former GI who had his Type 38 (6.5 X 50) re-chambered to .30-06. Somehow the bore diameter difference was overlooked in the makeover, and when he fired it up he said it kicked like a mule. No other ill effects were noted except a sore shoulder. He later noted discrepancy and stopped using it. Imagine the pressures generated in squeezing a .308 bullet down a .264 bore, and not just once but many times!!!!! As I understand, the NRA procured the rifle from him and did their own round of testing with it, and the same results were noted....also with no damage to the rifle. I don't recommend trying this one out yourself, but just wanted to put a little extra weight on the scales in favor of a very strong and remarkable design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 Thought Id update this. I did alot of research on guns and felt a little more prepared going to the gun show... I ended up selling the gun and getting most of my money back from it. I also ended up getting a Mosin Nagant m91/59 at the gun show. I here they are one of the better Mosin's and alot of people like them alot. Ive shot about 60rds so far out in the snow but I havent really been able to see if its accurate... Id like to get to a range so I can sight it in and really learn how it shoots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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