An often overlooked but never-the-less effective firearm from World War II, the Arisaka Type 99 represents the end of a line of bolt-action rifles used by the Empire of Japan. Despite their merits, Arisaka-family rifles like the Type 99 were often treated with a bit of scorn, if not outright disdain, inside the American firearms community.
For one thing, the American public had little appetite for anything “made in Japan” after the war, though Imperial Japan operated arsenal and munitions factories outside of the mainland as well. At the same time, the U.S. government and military went to great strides to stress the superiority of American arms and manufacturing during the war. So, as large numbers of these guns filtered back into the states, many went unnoticed or wanted.
It may be fair to say the Type 99 was overshadowed by more modern wartime semi-auto rifles, such as the U.S. M1 Garand. But a fair assessment of the Arisaka itself may actually mark it as one of the best military bolt-actions of all time.