saw something really weird at a gun show yesterday. i didn't pick it up and look at it as was in a hurry and not in the market anyway but a cursory look at it laying on the table it "seemed" right. the tag said it was a jeffery, the express rear and banded front sights, the quality of the bluing, the shape and finish/checkering of the stock looked right, even appeared to have a real horn f/e. think the butt was steel but don't recall for sure.

but it was on an arisaka action. i know the UK builders after wwii were using anything they could get their hands on for actions so i don't dismiss it out of hand but this just seems a little too far out there. anybody ever seen another like this?

roger

Boy, I'm waiting to see the answer on this one! I can't see Jeffery being that desperate for actions, but you never know. Maybe Alf will weigh in.

That is just plain bizarre.

i'm seriously wishing i'd at least picked it up and checked the markings. it also had the bolt handle replaced. was low instead of straight and was not the original. or if it were the original, the knob had been totally reshaped. whatever the gun was it was done well and looked good but i likewise can't imagine their being that desperate. how long was it after WWII that Jeffery survived anyway?

roger

Desperate? How so? The Ariska was the strongest action make at that time.

quote:

Originally posted by stillbeeman:
Desperate? How so? The Ariska was the strongest action made at that time.

Although a little difficult to make into a sporter due to some of its' features, the Type 38 (6.5mm) Arisaka action can be made into a very nice piece. Did you ascertain the chambering of that rifle?

Everyone who has read Ackley knows how strong the Arisaka action is, that is not the point. The Arisaka is ugly, crappy safety, crappy trigger, so/so bottom metal. I am not aware of any top maker anywhere that builds on an Arisaka action and I doubt many would even if requested. If they were desirable from a sporter standpoint, they would not be available for $50-75 for chopped ones at almost every show I attend. If Jeffrey built one, I'd like to see it, it would probably be the nicest one ever made, but I bet even then, it cost more money than a similar, more desirable Mauser example.

i'm well aware of ackley's tests on blowing up actions and how well the arisaka did. by "desperate" i meant they had such a demand and such a shortage of actions they had to resort to something which must have been awfully unfamiliar to their typical customer base.

no, chambering wasn't marked on the price tag ($900) and since i didn't examine the markings i never determined that. the barrel was slender enough that i'd say it could have been the original bbl recontoured.

in shape, configuration, and quality of finish it was gorgeous. looked so "right" that it took me a second to realize what i was looking at. this show comes around here every month or so and always has the same people so i may get another chance to take a look at it.

roger

willmckee,

If you do see it again, try to get some photos and post them here. I would love to get a look at it. Pretty strange stuff.

I too, would love to see pictures. I have seen many "sporterized" Arisaka's, but never a top quality one! It might change my mind! Lee.

I have read Ackley and I have a few Arisakas.

Arisakas are not as good an action for safety compared to a 98 Mauser.
Gas is the issue.

Randy Ketchum made a benchrest Arisaka as a gag, but it shot well.

In 1959 I owned an early Model 38 Arisaka, opened up & re-barreled to .25-06 with a Varmint-weight Douglas Premium barrel by Micro-Sight, Timney trigger, Micro-Sight bolt handle, re-stocked by one of America's well-known better stock-makers Without the upper or lower tang entensions and fitted with a hinged floor-plate blued by Micro-Sight, and scoped with a premium quality scope. It was the most accurate .25-06 I have ever owned or seen.

It may not have been a Rigby, but it was one of a pair made for me and one of my rancher friends, and was a FINE rifle.