Jump to content

Type 38 Arisaka in shipping crate w/ capture papers (US Navy vet)


chils123
 Share

Recommended Posts

My newest rifle still in the crate the sailor sent it home in came this afternoon. This is one of my new favorite sets, as it's very complete and minus the stripped stock, it's in great shape.

The rifle was sent home by Antonio DeLallo, who served aboard the USS LST 869. This LST did not see active combat service during the war and was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East from October 1945 to April 1946. Mr DeLallo unfortunately passed away in 2006 in Connecticut. Here is a link to his obituary.

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ctpost/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=17522866

The crate is in great shape, and doesn't seem to have really been touched post war, minus a missing piece of wood on the side. It came with the original set of capture papers, with an interesting error where the typist wrote "10" instead of "(1) Japanese rifle". Kind of amusing. It also still has a smaller authorization paper that was stored under a piece of paper held on the crate with tacks. You can even see where the paper had the tack shoved through it and the rust over the years transferred to the paper. Despite it saying the firing pin was removed, it's still in the rifle. The crate has some nice postage and ink stamps still on it.

The bayonet is a nice Rock Star example. I'm not too familiar with them, but I understand they are pretty uncommon. This one is still coated in grease.

The rifle is a late Tokyo Arsenal example. Has a few matching parts, but the bolt and floor plate are certainly not original. The stock unfortunately seems to have been stripped and sanded. However, the vet didn't bother to clean off the grease on the metal of the rifle. Mum is ground off.

Overall it's a very nice set and I'm glad I was able to win it for a very fair price.

IMG_3159.jpg
IMG_3163.jpg
IMG_3164.jpg
IMG_3167.jpg
IMG_3171.jpg
IMG_3173.jpg
IMG_3176.jpg
IMG_3180.jpg
IMG_3181.jpg

post-175636-0-88281900-1528265365.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another home run. With as many of these as you have shown I was wondering whether you miss out occasionally on one you've spotted?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another home run. With as many of these as you have shown I was wondering whether you miss out occasionally on one you've spotted?

 

Thanks everyone. This is certainly one of my favorite sets now.

 

 

As for missed ones, I've been lucky and have been able to get every set I've bid on/been interested in at a show.

I passed on one example at Allentown a few years ago, because the rifle was way too far gone for me. And I recently missed out on buying just the empty crate that originally had a rifle shipped home by a Seabee. Rifle was stolen years ago by family members. Only missed that because it was in another state and the guy didn't want to ship it. He said someone local was going to pick it up. I saved the photos incase it ends up on an auction site with a rifle suddenly included......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

An observation about the typo. The " 0 " and " ) " share the same key. The typist just forgot to push the shift key and then backed up and re-hit the correct figure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a 7.7 arisaka with the mum intact. Under what circumstances would the rifle be shipped with the mum untouched and what would be the circumstances that would insure that the mum was destroyed. I'm sure that post war surplusing would result in many being ground. Thanks. Jeff

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...