Norma 7.7mm brass is about $20 for a box of 20, but you can get several uses out of each case.Ī good set of dies will run around $30-$40 for good ones. Reloding dies are availible from several different US manufacturers. Just be careful of yanking the bolt too hard and flinging hot brass onto the guy at the next station If you get an '03 Springfield, you'll really like that too. 300 bucks, the dealer's non-prepped, out of the wrapper rifles were about 80 bucks cheaper. I saw a pro-prepped SKS (with the folding bayonet) at a gun show this spring. My Pop had been expecting a rifle in a bag tossed in a box, and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the rifle and it's packaging The rifle came with a very nice instruction manual, three color, and some other stuff. He's also found a source for military ammo (can't use the civvie primers I'm told, too soft) that's about 60 cents a round after shipping. I think prices went up slightly, but I'm talking 50 bucks or so. It took a few months to get it, but his was under 400 bucks. Mechanically no troubles except the gas tube will need re-tightening after every day of shooting, but since you're cleaning it anyway.Some of them still have cleaning kits in the butt, some don't
Plus all the numbers are proper for a WWII service rifle, according to the Garand expert at the club. Stock is slightly mismatched and has some scars, but this is how you'd pretty much get one in WWII I should think. My Dad got his just-better-than service grade Garand a few months ago. Especially with gas at $3 a gallon.Īnyway, On my ultimate wishlist are the Garand, the 1903 springfield, a Mosin M44, an SKS, Type 99 Jap, as well as a K98 Mauser.Įrnst_Rohr: What would it cost for me to get the reloading dies for the Type 99? Would I have to get them special ordered from Japan? Would I also have to get the ammo from Japan too?Īre you in the US? If so, check out the Civilian Marksmanship Program. I am dying to get my hands on a M1 Garand, but the funds are not quite sufficient just yet to blow $500 - $1000 on a gun. So far I have a Mosin Nagant M91/30, a M42 Mauser and a M48 Mauser as well as an English No.4 Enfield. In short, the 99 can be a nice collectable, definately is slightly expensive to feed, and absolutely should have a good going over before its fired! While not the most accurate battle rifle, its not bad, and a good example is a heck of a lot more accurate than most out of the box modern hunting rifles.
Recoil is noticable, and comparable to a K98 or M91, its a full power battle rifle round. The prewar guns being noticable better than the later war. The 7.7mm round is NOT common, and while you can find modern ammo for it (Norma and Old West Scrounger) it tends to be very expensive to shoot on a round for round cost.Īs far as performance, the 99 is a respectable shooter. Otherwise, if your going to shoot the 99, you need to seriously consider reloading. If you have one like that DONT shoot it! Its a real collectors piece.
Even more so if they sliding bolt cover, monopod, and cleaning rod are still there.
The biggest deal as far as shooting it goes, is to check the value of the rifle, assuming everything else checks out.Īn original, all serial numbers matching Type 99 with the Chrysanthemum crest still inact is a rare find. Two piece buttstocks are usually only found on late war rifles, but some early war guns that have been restocked occasionally have this as well. NOTE: another good thing to check on the 99 is the stock, if its a single piece, your ok, if it looks like the buttstock is a combine two piece unit, you may notice some issues with the stock not settling right. The 7.7mm round is pretty robust, while not uncomfortable in the standard rifle lengths, its can be quite sharp in the carbine. Late war rifles are usually easily spotted due to the the fixed sights, as opposed to the prewar/eary adjustable sights. Prewar rifles, and rifles up to 1942 are generally safe, 43 to 45 rifles need to be inspected carefully, the later in the war, the worse they get. First off, before you shoot it CHECK THE DATE!! Late war Type 99s had very poor heat treatment, and may be unsafe to shoot!