US Troops using AK-47s

B2431 wrote:

From: "ian maclure"


Late war production weapons were like that.
Prewar or early war production are OK or so I understand
I gather the Arisaka/Type 99 was a popular conversion for hunting
rifles here after the war. Why, I cannot imagine.


Simple, there were a lot of them, the good ones are hard to destroy, the 6.5 mm
Jap was a tidy small hunting round and they were cheap.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

I was a part-time gunsmith from 1962 until 1976. In the early sixties
the local GI surplus store sold me entire cases of Arisaka rifles, 12 to
the case, mostly the 6.5, at 9 bucks each. I converted them to sporting
rifles, of a sort, and sold them for 50 bucks. Paid the same price for
long SMLE's, Carcano's, and the odd P-14 Enfield that came by.
Springfield 03-A3's cost me 15 bucks each as did 1917 Enfields. Local
navy base was mothballing WWII ships and would sell me large boxes, I
mean about 4 feet by 4 feet by 4 feet of carbine and 1911-A1 magazines
for 6 cents per lb. I could resell them for a buck apiece and make money
on them. Damned if I don't wish I had kept a bunch of everything until
today. Most people thought the Carcano rifle was junk but they made
excellent small caliber hunting rifles.

George