My WW2 rifles and Pappy Boyington souvenir

[Jack_Dubious]

I finally remembered to bring my digital camera to my dads to take pics of the Japanese rifles Ive inherited from my grandfather. He originally recieved them as gifts from various people.

My grandfather got this gun from Greg "Pappy" Boyington, as a gift. My grandfather was a lawyer and had done some legal work for Boyington back in the day. (my dad said it was for a divorce...or possibly drunk driving )
...And yes I know the "G" looks like a "C" and "Boington" is missing a "y". But also my grandfather never was refered to as "Lu"....so Ill chalk that up as inept postwar engraving The rifle sat above my grandfathers mantle in his den, and pretty much forgot about...so thats why it is in such poor condition. (and it had been chromed for some strange reason)
The rifle also was never given the Japanese Chrysanthemum stamp in the receiver, so it was most likely a very late war model that was so poor in quality the Japanese wouldnt let the imperial emblem on it. In the picture below you can see the chrysanthemum on the lower gun. (that gun was most likely taken from the field)


The gun at the bottom of the picture above, has its chrysanthemum stamp filed off...(i have a pic but its too hard to tell). The Japanese filed this emblem off after they had surrendered, to save face.

I have a couple more japanese rifles not pictured, and a Nazi serving plate, just like in the movie American Beauty.

Anyone else got anything?


JDub

[-=Squid=-]

Super pimpola, can I have one?

[pbzmag]

Nice collection! I don't know that much about California gun laws, but bolt action rifles can be transfered to a new owner? I know high powered rifles like the AR-15 can't be tranferred or sold. I'm starting to get into guns. I can thank my friend for getting into them. He has a nice collection of rifles, pistols, and shotguns.

[TigerMan]

That's suprising the one with the cresamthamum still has it. Many American soldiers took it off also after the Japanese did as well. That pretty neat you've got those. Did your grandfather actually get those from actual battle?

[Jack_Dubious]

Originally posted by TigerMan
That's suprising the one with the cresamthamum still has it. Many American soldiers took it off also after the Japanese did as well. That pretty neat you've got those. Did your grandfather actually get those from actual battle?

They were gifts from other people for my grandfather. My grandfather was about 40 when WW2 started. The ones with the chrysanthemum were most likely taken from the field of battle, but I dont have any stories about them.

JDub

[TigerMan]

You should see if the History Channel is playing the episode of Tales of the Gun about all the Japanese arms from WWII anytime soon. It talked about all those. Unless that is you know alot about them already.

[HoppysMag]

u still got the imperial cersanthamum on some.... verry nice


is there a wood or metal plate on the but of the stock? and do the weld look like they were done by a school girl?

[HoppysMag]

Originally posted by pbzmag
Nice collection! I don't know that much about California gun laws, but bolt action rifles can be transfered to a new owner? I know high powered rifles like the AR-15 can't be tranferred or sold. I'm starting to get into guns. I can thank my friend for getting into them. He has a nice collection of rifles, pistols, and shotguns.

lol are you serious they considered the ar-15 a high power rifle! omg thats rediculous

[pbzmag]

I don't know if California deams it as a high powered rifle. I do know that any rifle that is semi-auto and has a pistol grip, including rifles with thumb holes, are banned and can not be tranferred to a new owner. My friend found out that there is a loop-hole in the gun laws. He said that you can get a Fal(sp) legally with modifications. The mods are: fixed magazine, and top loading. JS's rifles are legal since they don't fall under the banned weapons law. Big 5 sporting goods sells alot of old WWI/II rifles.

[devildog]

Maj. Boyington (ret) is my hero, he is the reason i joined the marine corps

[Army]

Any rifle not capable of full-auto fire, and is at least 50 years old, falls under the "Curio & Relic" catagory of transferable firearms. All of your rifles fit this criteria.

The Imperial Seal was ground off by US officials to further humiliate the Empire. The Japanese did not remove it to save face (this is an old myth), it was a US policy. All rifles that went through official post-war surplus dealers had the Seal removed. But many thousands were brought back during, and immediately after the war, as trophies and souvenirs by GI's and Marines.

Your Grandpa's rifle may very well be a Chinese re-bore. The poor engraving and phonetic mis-spelling on the plate heavily suggest this. (Members of the 214th were known to give away "captured", and stolen, "enemy" artifacts to Army and Navy personnel.) The Chinese re-bored untold thousands of captured Arisaka's to their proprietary 8mm cartfridge. The Seal would have been machined off, rather than ground away. The poor overall condition of the rifle also suggest misuse and handling by the poorly trained Chinese Nationalists.

BTW: Nothing wrong with the Arisaka action, even late war production. Gen. Julius Hatcher of the Army Ordnance did side by side comparisons with all the major combatants rifles after WWII. Blow-up tests proved the Arisaka to be the strongest design, by far, of them all.

[Jack_Dubious]

Originally posted by Army
The Imperial Seal was ground off by US officials to further humiliate the Empire. The Japanese did not remove it to save face (this is an old myth), it was a US policy. All rifles that went through official post-war surplus dealers had the Seal removed. But many thousands were brought back during, and immediately after the war, as trophies and souvenirs by GI's and Marines.

Your Grandpa's rifle may very well be a Chinese re-bore. The poor engraving and phonetic mis-spelling on the plate heavily suggest this. (Members of the 214th were known to give away "captured", and stolen, "enemy" artifacts to Army and Navy personnel.) The Chinese re-bored untold thousands of captured Arisaka's to their proprietary 8mm cartfridge. The Seal would have been machined off, rather than ground away. The poor overall condition of the rifle also suggest misuse and handling by the poorly trained Chinese Nationalists.

Ah that makes sense. Thanks for the info, Army.

JDub

[breg]

Wow,
Man, those are parts of history. Just think what those would say if they could talk...

My sep-father has an old .303 Enfield, and a couple of other weapons, and his father has an old Mauser 98. Again, parts of history.

Keep those relics safe.

Later,

Breg

[TransMan]

The only old gun i have Is an OLD single shot 12 guage that has been passed down from my Great Grandpa all the way to me its around one hundred years old