I managed to stumble across an auction lot of two type 99 Arisaka’s with the crates from 1946 they were sent home in. The auction details were fairly vague but after looking them over in person I knew I had to have them.
The first one is a late 6th series Nagoya that unfortunately had the mum severely ground off but is matching numbers and retains its cleaning rod as well as transitional serrated safety. It has been removed from the crate but is still coated in heavy grease. I have some minor rust spots that I need to preserve but would like to avoid braking the rifle down and fully cleaning it.
The second Type 99 is a series 25 Kokura that I’ve managed to confirm is numbers matching with an intact mum. This one is very interesting as it has not been removed from the crate it was shipped home in. It also still retained the bayonet and two separate capture papers. One was for the rifle and other was for the bayonet still affixed to the inside of the crate. While looking over the crate I also noticed what appears to be Japanese characters painted in the bottom likely left over from the crates previous use.
Both rifles were sent home by lieutenant George Orgalman. The only info I have found on him has been an obituary that states he spent time in Japan at the end of the war. One route I have been chasing as to were these may have come out of is the APO number which may lead back to the Philippines or Papua New Guinea. I may try requesting info on George from one of the archive sites to get a little more history to tell this story.
Now I have to work on figuring out a good way to display these together.
The first one is a late 6th series Nagoya that unfortunately had the mum severely ground off but is matching numbers and retains its cleaning rod as well as transitional serrated safety. It has been removed from the crate but is still coated in heavy grease. I have some minor rust spots that I need to preserve but would like to avoid braking the rifle down and fully cleaning it.
The second Type 99 is a series 25 Kokura that I’ve managed to confirm is numbers matching with an intact mum. This one is very interesting as it has not been removed from the crate it was shipped home in. It also still retained the bayonet and two separate capture papers. One was for the rifle and other was for the bayonet still affixed to the inside of the crate. While looking over the crate I also noticed what appears to be Japanese characters painted in the bottom likely left over from the crates previous use.
Both rifles were sent home by lieutenant George Orgalman. The only info I have found on him has been an obituary that states he spent time in Japan at the end of the war. One route I have been chasing as to were these may have come out of is the APO number which may lead back to the Philippines or Papua New Guinea. I may try requesting info on George from one of the archive sites to get a little more history to tell this story.
Now I have to work on figuring out a good way to display these together.
