They were also used in the British Royal Navy, the Russian Army, and in Finland.īy the mid-1930s, however, it was clear that the design was becoming outdated, and resources were invested to create that would become the Arisaka Type 99 rifles, which entered production in 1939. In addition to being the standard rifles in pre-WW2 Japan, they were also exported the Czech Legion that fought in the Russian Revolution, for example, carried Arisaka Type 38 rifles, among other weapons.
A shorter carbine version of the rifle was also manufactured, used mainly by cavalry units and non-frontline troops the carbines were only 966-mm in length. They were the longest rifles among their contemporaries even before the 400-mm Type 30 bayonets were attached, making them rather unwieldy the length of the rifles reflected the emphasis of bayonet fighting in Japanese Army doctrine during that era.
Peter Chen ww2dbaseThe Arisaka Type 38 bolt-action rifles, also known as Meiji 38th Year (1905) rifles, were the standard infantry rifles of the pre-WW2 Japanese Army.
