Arisaka Type 30

Arisaka type 30 stories

The first indigenous Japanese rifle became the "Murata Rifles" in 1880, a line of bolt-action rifles that saw action on the battlefields of the 19th and 20th centuries. The series was inspired by European developments and was fed from a tubular magazine, while the action of the bolt was manual.

This experience laid the foundation for a later, more modern rifle, the Arisaka Type 30, the first to bear the Arisaka name.

By the end of the 19th century, the Imperial Japanese Army was already looking for a successor to the Murata series and began work on this weapon in December 1895. Colonel Arisaka Nariakira directed their design (the prototype is believed to be the "Type 29"), and the gun was manufactured at the Koishikawa Arsenal in Tokyo. The rifle's original form was fitted for the 6.5x50mm Arisaka cartridge.

The action is still a manual bolt, and ammunition is fed from an internal 5-round magazine. Weighing 8.7 pounds, the overall length is 50 inches, and the barrel assembly is 31.4 inches.

Visually, this rifle took the form of those of the time - the long barrel's wooden stock made up the volume (and weight) of the long gun, and the metal parts were inlaid. The pistol grip is integrated as part of the stock and receiver.

Bands are placed along the barrel and front end to provide rigidity. The sighting device allows a distance to the target of up to 1,500 meters. Muzzle velocity is rated at 2,510 feet per second.

The Type 30 bayonet can be mounted under the barrel to provide a thrust weapon with a longer range than a combat knife.

After some improvements to the Type 29, this rifle was in service with the Imperial Japanese Army as the "Type 30" standard long gun (to commemorate Meiji 30, a common practice in Imperial Japan weapons). Service was actually 1899.

The

Type 30 was already used in the Boxer Revolt of 1899-1901, and later in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 - the latter ended in a Japanese victory to the surprise of many. A shortened model of the carbine was also produced to improve the weapon's maneuverability in confined areas or on horseback.

A total of 554,000 rifle designs were manufactured, with 45,000 carbines further reinforcing this figure.

Other Arizaka Type 30s are the Type 30 training rifle for blind firing practice and the "Manchurian Arizaka", which are the same Chinese made service rifle. A low-budget Manchu native derivative was also widely known and became the "Huabei 30" in carbine form - although it was switched to the German 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge.

The Type 35 Navy was the Type 30 in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).

However, actual use revealed some inherent shortcomings of the rifle, namely that it was chambered in a weak 6.5x50mm Arisaka cartridge, which had lower stopping power compared to its European contemporaries. Reliability is also a factor that some people despise with this long gun.

This led to a more refined offering of the Arisaka Type 38 (detailed elsewhere on this site) and newer guns as early as 1906 - although it continued to rely on the Arisaka cartridge. However, by the time of World War I (1914-1918), the sheer availability of the Type 30 meant that both the Type 30 and the Type 38 were in circulation and in service with front-line troops.

The use of the Type 30 was not limited to Japan and China, several other powers during the study period also received large numbers of guns. During World War I, Austro-Hungary captured a number of men in operations along the Eastern Front, some of them in local 6.5x54mm Mannlicher cartridges. The desperate Russian Empire ordered over half a million rifles, and the British ordered Series 30 and 38 rifles to support their own stockpile until Lee-Enfield had the required number (these were passed on to Russia in 1916). leave).

Estonia and Finland came out on top, with the former changing its stock to accommodate the British. 303 rifle cartridge instead.

The legacy of the Type 30 did not end with the end of the First World War in 1918, as the series had World War (1939-1945), Indonesian National Revolution (1945-1949) and Malayan Emergency (1948-1960).

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