The Arisaka Rifle

Bill Harriman

ago 2019 · Weapon Libro 70 · Bloomsbury Publishing

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Entering service in 1897, the Arisaka family of bolt-action rifles armed Japanese troops and others through two world wars and many other conflicts, including the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05.


Issued in long and short versions – the latter for cavalry and specialists – the Type 30 was the first main Arisaka model, arming Imperial Japan's forces during the Russo-Japanese War, though after the war it was refined into the Type 38, which would still be in use in 1945. The main Arisaka rifle of World War II though was the Type 99. Lighter and more rugged than the US M1903 Springfield rifle it would face in the initial battles in the Pacific, it was produced in four main variants, including a sniping model and a take-down parachutist's rifle.


Featuring full-colour artwork as well as archive and close-up photographs, this is the absorbing story of the rifles arming Imperial Japan's forces, from the trenches of Mukden in 1905 to the beaches of Okinawa 40 years later.

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Bill Harriman is Director of Firearms at the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, and appears regularly on British television as part of the team of experts on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow program. A former Territorial Army officer with 18 years' service, he is also a forensic scientist dealing with cases involving firearms, ammunition and other weapons.

Peter Dennis was born in 1950. Inspired by contemporary magazines such as Look and Learn he studied illustration at Liverpool Art College. Peter has since contributed to hundreds of books, predominantly on historical subjects, including many Osprey titles. A keen wargamer and modelmaker, he is based in Nottinghamshire, UK.

Born in Malaya in 1949, Alan Gilliland spent 18 years as the graphics editor of the Daily Telegraph, winning 19 awards in that time. He now writes, illustrates and publishes fiction (www.ravensquill.com), as well as illustrating for a variety of publishers (alangillilandillustration.blogspot.com). He lives in Lincolnshire, UK.