Newbie Questions for 7.7 Arisaka...

[CobraGT40]

Hello all

I'm brand new to this forum and brand new to reloading so please be patient... Recently, a few friends and myself purchased a press and dies and plan to load our own ammunition to battle the high cost of store bought ammo.

The other guys have some straightforward ammunition to load (i.e. 30-06, .308, etc.) but I plan to load 7.7 Arisaka for my grandfather's old rifle brought back from WWII. The rifle has always been a shooter since it was brought back but sat for about 25 years before my dad passed it to me. It had some rust issues but it actually cleaned up very well. I plan to use this rifle as a shooter and was wondering what hurdles I might be facing as far as finding brass, lead, primers, etc.

Any and all comments are more than welcome...I'll try and post some pics when I get the chance...

Thanks !

Scott

 

[LngRngShtr]

Re: Newbie Questions for 7.7 Arisaka...

Welcome to the forum, first things first,
After a trip to a gunsmith to check it over one more time since it sat for so long,... with chamber pressures of slightly less than an '06 you only get to do it wrong,...once.

Lets see... .311 bullets (as on .303 Brit), Large rifle primers, powders available,.. Brass,now that's going to take some work, try suppliers online for brass or,..

If you aren’t able to get any cases for reloading by using Norma ammo, you can easily form them from .30-06 brass using the regular 7.7 Arisaka (or 7.7x58) case-sizing die. You simply trim the .30-06 cases to 2.27 inches (that takes off about one-quarter of an inch) and then run them through the resizing die. The shoulder gets set back by about .130 inch, and of course the neck gets opened slightly to accept the .311-inch bullet.

I would load to the lower end of the manuals these old warhorses deserve an easy retirement enjoy your slice of history..

John

 

[comar4]

Re: Newbie Questions for 7.7 Arisaka...

Hello,
Nice piece of history you have there! The Japanese Arisaka rifle is a smooth and accurate shooter.
Did a quick search and you can find Brass here:
http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/category/categoryId/775

 

[samnev]

Re: Newbie Questions for 7.7 Arisaka...

If you can buy some Winchester Brass in 8mm they trim down much easier than 30-06 due to the much shorter length. I started trimming 30-06 but switched to 8mm and it worked out much better. When you trim down 30-06 you will have to re anneal the cases because of the amount of brass you remove. Otherwise they won't last vey long before the necks split. At least that's what I had to do.

 

[jet_lagged]

Re: Newbie Questions for 7.7 Arisaka...

Get some used .30-06 brass for cheap (or range pick-up)and try and do the trimming/resizing your self if you want to keep it on the cheap, as already mentioned.

Good advice about keeping the loads psi's down, as metalurgy towards the end of the war was not great. Something about B-29's making life difficult.

I have some already formed/ready to go that I got in a box of used reloading stuff. Send me a PM with a mailing address and I'll get enough to get you started when I get back in 2 weeks, if you can wait that long. Hate the principle of paying a buck a piece for oddball calibers....

 

[CobraGT40]

Re: Newbie Questions for 7.7 Arisaka...

Thank you all for all of your advice on my grand-dad's Arisaka rifle. I really look forward to giving it a go...especially when I can say I loaded the rounds myself. I've never fired it myself, but I remember it hanging on a wall when I was a kid. I will be sure to follow the advice to have a gunsmith take a look at it first. As far as what brass to go with, I still have plenty of time to make a decision...The rifle has sat for decades and I don't think it'll run out on me !

I'll add a couple pics...hopefully I got it right.

Jet Lagged, I'll be sending you a pm very soon, thanks again !