Japanese Type 38 Rifle and US Springfield M1903 Rifle Comparison

Type 38-- Gift of Jesse Smith, 1999.055.001; 1903--Gift of James Roat, 2001.241.001

Both the Type 38 and M1903 Springfield were bolt-action rifles, fed from 5-round internal magazines. However the M1903 Springfield fired a much more powerful, 30.06 cartridge than the Japanese Type 38 6.5MM cartridge. The Japanese military realized the Type 38 was underpowered, and slowly began replacing it with the Type 99 that fired a 7.7MM cartridge, a round that performed similarly to the US 30.06 cartridge. The Type 99 never did replace the Type 38 completely, and the two rifles saw service throughout the war.