Type 97 Rifle

[cpc]

I recently picked up this rifle from a friend whose dad brought it home from WWII. His dad passed away a few years ago and he had to fly out to CA to clean out the house and sell it and believes he may have sent the scope to goodwill. Here is the rifle. As you can see the mount is broken, is there any way to fix it? I have not seen any repro parts like this online and I read that the mount was staked and it is very difficult to get off. In the future, no hurry, I would like to buy a correct scope for it. I know based upon my online research that there are only handful that have matching scope numbers. The best I can tell the rifle is all matching, at least the bolt parts match, but it is missing the dust cover and monopod. I have been using the Nambu World site for most of my info, the Kokura shown is only a few hundred numbers away so I have been using that as an example. Any comments are appreciated. I have a type 99 (non sniper) that i am more familiar with. Regards,

[jangle]

Congratulations on picking up this Kokura T-97. Hopefully your friend can locate the scope for it as well.
Over the years, I and a few other Japanese collectors have recorded any 97 or 99 snipers or scopes that we come across, in hopes of matching some rigs back up. We've been successful a handful of times. This is a new number for our files. The matching scope has not been reported that I know of.
You do not need to disassemble the scope base to install a new spring. Only the screw holding the spring needs to be removed. It is fitted in a dovetail, so doesn't lift straight out, just tap out towards the front using a small punch. A good friend makes high quality reproduction springs for just this purpose. You just have to let him known you need a scope mount spring and screw for a Kokura 97 scope base. Kokura 97 scopes are out there, but all are getting pricy!
His contact info is: Don Schlickman, dfsjpn@aol.com

Regards

[J-ROD]

Jangle beat me to it! Congrats on the Type 97, bummer to hear the scope may be sitting at goodwill, maybe tossed by someone who may think it’s an old crappy scope. If it was recent, I suggest begging your friend to run back and see if it’s still there or where it went.

I second Jangle’s suggestion on contacting Don for a reproduction scope release spring. He also makes an excellent reproduction monopod, I have one of his on my Kokura 97. I believe all Kokura rifles had them, Nagoya stopped putting them on around S/N 5,000.

The stock looks to have been sanded and refinished but hard to tell for sure (viewing on my phone), are the stock proofs visible behind the trigger guard?

Unfortunately scopes are not cheap unless you get lucky and find one at the local goodwill…sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Again, Congrats on a matching/mum’d Type 97!

[Singer B]

Thank you for this thread. I didn't really know much about the Type 97 and this helped to convince me to do some research on it.

[cpc]

I don't believe the stock has ever been sanded. I will not be home to after the holiday but have these photos that I have on my phone that are not very much in focus but look like there are some kind of marks or Kanji's. Are these what you are talking about? Regards and thanks to all who have responded so far and provided information. This is going to be a fun rifle to complete and learn about. Unfortunately, he picked up the rifle about 6-7 years ago and they were packing up the house and moving the items to goodwill. He is not sure if he or his sister packed the scope up. He just remembers it had a scope when he was a kid and forgot all about it until I asked about it. The rifle was just buried the back of a closet. Regards