[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

****the rifles were poorly made and dangerous to shoot...most ended up being scraped...***

I saw one of those late war Arisakas. No way I would shoot it. It looked more like a reject to be used as a non shooting training rifle.

But then I’ve seen some early war Arisakas and they were ok.

The Arisaka had the strongest bolt action of any of the rifles of WWII.
SMLE=best battle rifle.
MAUSER-best hunting rifle.
1903-best target rifle.

While shooting at the Red Castle Gun Club in Sand Springs, OK a few years back, some man and son came in, went to a prone position, and with a military Arisaka with the top handguard missing, proceeded to start knocking down the ram targets several hundred yards away. Open sights.

[Charles Martel]

SMLE=best battle rifle.
MAUSER-best hunting rifle.
1903-best target rifle.

I've always found this classification interesting, as the '03 and Mauser were so closely related. Better sights on the Springfield, I suppose.

Had the Swiss not been neutral during WWII, I suspect that their K31 would hold the "best target rifle" honors. It was really designed more like a light target rifle, disguised as a service rifle.

[jboot]

Not to be contrary, but most of the last-ditch 99s are safe to fire. Unfortunately, a minority of them are highly unsafe and the expertise to tell a sound one from a dangerous one is mostly lost, if it ever existed in the first place. Unless there is a known safe last-ditch from the same factory, date and serial number range, you should not fire the gun.

The Arisaka and the Carcano have the strongest actions ever fielded in bolt action battle rifles. Ironically, both types have an undeserved reputation for being weak and dangerous.

I agree with your rankings of bolt action rifles. IMHO, no bolt gun is quicker or has better balance and feel than an SMLE.