Arisaka Type 99 Rifle

The basic rifle design is a product of the japanese army's search for a small caliber magazine rifle in 1894 to replace the obsolete Murata rifles. The commission for this task was headed by Col. Nariake Arasaka. The preliminary design (Known as Type 30 Rifle) were fielded during the Russo-Japanese war of 1905 and these rifles showed some problems and some redesigning was implemented and came out as the type 38 rifle (also known as Arisaka Type 38 rifle. Though featuring some unique features this rifle was heavily influenced by Mauser rifle designs of it's time.

Here are some pics from a japanese airsoft gun shop NoDaya

The Type 99 rifle design which is based on Arasaka Type 38 came out because of the japanese army's decision to boost the power and caliber of the Type 38 rifle after fielding the rifle in China.(type 38 use 6.5x50SR ammunition while the type 99 use the 7.7x58mm ammunition). The short version of the rifle was putted to use by the japanese army in 1940  to replace their long rifles and carbines.More than three and a half million type 99 rifles were produced between 1938 to 1945. Different variants of these rifles are used as sniper rifles (which were fitted with 2.5X or 4X scopes) and several take down rifles which were intended for paratroopers.

The Type 99 (and type 38) rifles are generally known to be very sturdy and strong rifles, But this is only true for rifles manufactured prior to the late stages of world war 2 were manufacturing quality deteriorated.

The Type 99 rifle was a manually operated rotating bolt design. It has Mauser type bolts and a non-rotating Mauser type claw extractor. Mauser type integral magazine capacity is five rounds usually loaded with either stripper clips or loose rounds. A unique feature of the the Arasaka Rifles was the sliding bolt cover, the purpose of these covers is to protect the  reciever openings from the elements. This feature was basically of little use so most soldiers removed this part from their rifles because it also rattled during bolt operation. Another unique feature of the Arasaka Type 99 Rifles was it's anti aircraft sight with lead bars, for the purpose of shooting low flying aircrafts. This feature was also of little use since the round of the rifle was too weak to cause any significant damage to WW2 attack aircrafts.

Airsoft Tanaka Type99 Carbine (MSRP 86.100 Yen)

Another airsoft gas type rifle produced by Tanaka which is a replica of the Arisaka Type99 rifle, which i'm sure will be another hit for World War 2 airsoft enthusiast and collectors. Based from the pictures i've seen of this rifle, It seems that this another must have for gas airsoft rifle fans. Looks like Tanaka, which is known for it's solid and dependable gas powered airsoft rifles (like the M700 and the Karabiner sniper rifle) have once again made another winner. The rifle is made from metal and real wooden stock with all the nice details though i don't think that it provided the sliding bolt cover feature of the real steel rifle. But none the less this rifle looks great and hoping that i would see some on action on the the playing field soon.