You inherited this what do you do?

GilligansWorld

GilligansWorld

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Joined
Feb 21, 2020
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My Grandfather was a Seabee during WWII stationed on the Island of Tinian commissioned to construct the run way for the Enola Gay.

Anyhow he came back from war with this. If you inherited this what would you do with it?

Looks to be 4th series Arisaka 99 short. Don't know if serial #'s match but appears to have the series mark #4 - then serial # 89157 followed by the Nagoya Arsenal mark. If what I can piece together on the internet is true it would appear to be a gun that my grandfather got off of the island of tinian and broke down and smuggled back into the states as Chrysanthemum It's still very much intact.
b13b0676fb35a5002e19e8c2d061c477.jpg
4c545a3253b0dfaef8e2ff448d0020e4.jpg
09b86bd1056a42d9940ecf318b83cef8.jpg
b76815b2abc7f9e1f2cd317d94bc84be.jpg


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GilligansWorld said:
My Grandfather was a Seabee during WWII stationed on the Island of Tinian commissioned to construct the run way for the Enola Gay.

Anyhow he came back from war with this. If you inherited this what would you do with it?

Looks to be 4th series Arisaka 99 short. Don't know if serial #'s match but appears to have the series mark #4 - then serial # 89157 followed by the Nagoya Arsenal mark. If what I can piece together on the internet is true it would appear to be a gun that my grandfather got off of the island of tinian and broke down and smuggled back into the states as Chrysanthemum It's still very much intact.
b13b0676fb35a5002e19e8c2d061c477.jpg
4c545a3253b0dfaef8e2ff448d0020e4.jpg
09b86bd1056a42d9940ecf318b83cef8.jpg
b76815b2abc7f9e1f2cd317d94bc84be.jpg


Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I would cherish it
 
If you have kids, also think about them. I know that I am pretty nostalgic for things that belonged to my great grandparents and beyond, some who I never met. It’s a cool way to be tied to your heritage. So if it does not hold a lot of sentimental value to you, if it’s not too much trouble maybe keep it for them. It could be a cool way for them to connect to your family history and what will seem like a long lost era at that point.


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Pro953 said:
If you have kids, also think about them. I know that I am pretty nostalgic for things that belonged to my great grandparents and beyond, some who I never met. It’s a cool way to be tied to your heritage. So if it does not hold a lot of sentimental value to you, if it’s not too much trouble maybe keep it for them. It could be a cool way for them to connect to your family history and what will seem like a long lost era at that point.


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This. Things like this would mean something to my dad but he's not the type to actually hold on to it unless he can use it. Me on the other hand...well I said what I would do above. I expressed to my dad and grandfather that family heirlooms, if you want to call them that, mean a lot to me and that I want them.
 
I'm certainly not suggesting that you take it apart, in fact I'd probably restore it and try to use it, but those actions are actually pretty good. I inherited a .257 roberts of unknown origin from an uncle and took the scope rings off to mount a different scope and found the "mum" underneath. I know very little about gun smithing and sporterized rifles but that gun has been excellent. Very accurate and I read somewhere that those arisaka actions are very strong. The safety is a little goofy but the action looks completely natural with the stainless barrel it's mounted to. Just an Idea.
 
Take a 1980 or older penny and some machine oil and get that rust off. Then
order some ammo, site it in and go hunting with it this fall.
That's what I'd do anyway
 
FLAK said:
Take a 1980 or older penny and some machine oil and get that rust off. Then
order some ammo, site it in and go hunting with it this fall.
That's what I'd do anyway
Click to expand...

Please explain the old penny rust thing...
 
Have you looked under the butt plate? My cousin has the same rifle as you that his grandfather took out of a dead japs hands. Inside the butt plate was a picture of the dead japs wife and a letter she had sent to him. My cousins rifle is in excellent condition.
He put the picture and letter back under the butt plate and stored the rifle in his safe.
 
netman said:
Have you looked under the butt plate? My cousin has the same rifle as you that his grandfather took out of a dead japs hands. Inside the butt plate was a picture of the dead japs wife and a letter she had sent to him. My cousins rifle is in excellent condition.
He put the picture and letter back under the butt plate and stored the rifle in his safe.
Click to expand...
No but that is a touching story. Brings this back full circle. This gun came home because the owner didn't.

Thanks and great suggestion

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Macegl said:
Make an awesome shadow box for it under a picture of my grandfather, and hang it up in the front room of my home for all to see! Wouldn't change a single thing about it.
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Agree with this. You go restoring something like that to a “brand new” state and more than likely the value will decrease extremely quickly. I’ve been around some cases like this because of family members that are big collectors. In one case we knew of some guys that inherited a rifle of similar nature (but older) and re did the entire rifle and it immediately took the rifle sale value from like 25,000 to like $2,500. No joke. Any collector would tell you not to touch it. My .02


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