Arisaka Type 99, 7.7×58mm Arisaka

The Japanese Type 99 was an upgrade of the older Type 38, and featured some accessories that can, at best, be described as “interesting”.

The wire monopod was carried over from Type 97, which was the sniper version of Type 38. It proved to be near useless in regular combat and would often be discarded by the soldier carrying the rifle, so it was soon discontinued. This makes these monopods very difficult to find, and the few that come up for sale will usually bring $200-$250.

Another new feature was the peculiar anti aircraft sight, unique to the Type 99. The idea was for the soldier to determine an enemy aircraft’s distance, and then adjust the elevation on the ladder type sight. He would then determine the aircraft’s speed, and use the “wings” on the sight for the appropriate lead. The practical problem is quite obvious: Once the soldier was done with all this, the aircraft would be long gone. This type of sight was soon deemed both fragile and useless, so just like the monopod it was discontinued a few years after its introduction.

This Type 99 is still equipped with both monopod and an entirely intact anti aircraft sight, which is rather uncommon. It is also equipped with a dust cover, although this is not numbers matching. The finish is largely intact with some light brown patina, the chrysanthemum is intact and the bore is clean and bright. The stock unusually clean, and shows very little wear.

An intact chrysanthemum usually indicates that a rifle was captured and not surrendered, and this one was allegedly picked up on Guadalcanal. This was the first major battle in the Pacific theater, which would explain how an early and complete Type 99 was captured in this condition. Unfortunately there’s no documentation to prove this provenance. Whatever the story may be, it’s nice and complete example of the early WWII Type 99 Japanese rifles!

C&R eligible. SOLD