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The was a box-fed bolt-action repeating rifle that was the standard infantry rifle of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1897 (the 30th year of the Meiji period, hence "Type 30") to 1905.〔Honeycutt & Anthony p. 28〕 ==History and development== The Imperial Japanese Army began development of a new rifle in December 1895 to replace the Murata rifle, which had been in use since 1880. The project was handled by the Koishikawa arsenal in Tokyo under the direction of Colonel Arisaka Nariakira,〔Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. 437–438.〕 and was the first in a series of rifles which would be used through World War II. The Type 30 was first designed for the semi-rimmed 6.5×50mm Arisaka cartridge. The visor could be set up to . Besides the standard rifle, there was also a carbine version, 962 mm (37.9 in) long, which was intended for the cavalry and other troops who needed a shorter or lighter weapon.〔http://www.cruffler.com/trivia-September00.html〕 It had a visor that could be set up to . The prototype was called the "Type 29 rifle" and, after enhancements, was redesignated as the "Type 30". It went into production in 1899. This weapon could be equipped with the Type 30 bayonet. The Type 30 was used by front-line Japanese forces in the Russo-Japanese War. Although it was a major improvement over the Type 22 rifle (also known as “Murata”), it had some reliability and safety issues. Based on combat experience, an improved version, the Type 38 rifle, was introduced in 1905, although not all units received the new version and, as a result, a mixture of models was retained by the Japanese Army into World War I 〔http://members.shaw.ca/ursacki/t30rifles.htm〕 and later into World War II. Aside from Japan, the Type 30 was supplied numerous nations during and after World War I. The most predominant user was the Russian Empire, who ordered up to 600,000 Arisaka rifles, with at least half or more of those being Type 30 rifles and Carbines.〔Allan; White; Zielinkski. p. 90〕 Early in WWI Britain ordered Type 30, and Type 38 rifles and Carbines from Japan as a stopgap until the manufacture of their own Lee–Enfield rifle caught up with demand. Some of these rifles were handed over to the Royal Navy and to Arab Forces fighting with Lawrence of Arabia. The majority of these weapons (Type 30s and Type 38s) were handed over to Russia in 1916, who was far more desperate for arms. Russia in turn also bought many more thousands of Type 30s rifles and Carbines, Type 35 rifles and Type 38 rifles and carbines from Japan. A number of these rifles ended up being left behind in Finland or captured from Red Finns in the Finnish Civil War as the Soviets armed them with Arisakas. Later on Finland gave some of these rifles to Estonia who also received others from other sources. Estonia later converted some or all to take .303 British as Britain had also supplied Estonia with Vickers machine guns and P14 rifles. The Czechoslovak Legion fighting in the Russian Civil War was also armed with Japanese Arisakas, including the Type 30.〔Allan; White; Zielinkski. p. 90-95〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Type 30 rifle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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