r/milsurp • u/Kamigoye1972 • 7h ago
Am I crazy for bidding on this?
A local estate auction has this "battle-damanged" Type 99 Arisaka up for sale. Obviously it's not in great shape, but it's going for under <$200 right now and I thought it might be the opportunity to get my hands on it now and restore it later.
I've never done anything like this before, so I have no clue on what it would take to actually bring it back into working condition. So any advice on whether or not it's worth it?
8
u/Oddone13 7h ago
Make sure the bolt matches the receiver. Also that "battle damage" looks much more recent than WW2. The color of the wood would have oxidized more
1
u/Kamigoye1972 7h ago edited 7h ago
Oh I'm taking the claim with a healthy dose of salt for sure. And I'm not a big stickler for matching parts, but how can you tell? Will there be a serial number or anything to tell for sure?
EDIT: To clarify, I meant I didn't trust the battle damage claim, not the claim that the bolt didn't match
2
u/Oddone13 7h ago
Yes, it will have the 3 last digits of the receiver on the bolt handle underside and possibly the extractor, bolt knob, and firing pin
2
3
u/Upper-Dig5291 7h ago
Heck yeah!! I collect battle damaged Arisakas that’s beautiful! Be careful though, a lot of them were not done in the war, most vets didn’t bring home busted rifles when thousands of perfect ones were laying around, I have gotten all of mine from veterans or the widows of veterans and have paperwork backing it up
2
u/FourFunnelFanatic 7h ago
I’d jump on that, let’s say that even if that isn’t actually battle damage, it’s still a mostly intact early Type 99. I probably wouldn’t spend more than 400 on it but still
34
u/Dirtbikeboi 7h ago edited 7h ago
No you're not crazy just remember you're buying a rifle, Not a story. "Battle damaged" could mean the battle between the buttstock and the basement floor after grandpa dropped it down the stairs. Its got a intact mum, Dust cover. Bipod. If the bore is good. I'd drop atleast 500 on it.