Shrapnel hit type 38 carbine

[burban89]

Here's an interesting one for ya. I picked up this little gem at a small gun show where a seller was liquidating a local ww2 Navy vet's estate. Among the various rifles was this little gem however it was missing the butt plate and cleaning rod so I used that to get the price lowered a bit and I walked out of the show with it for $300. It still has the mum and is matching aside from the dust cover which is only a couple numbers off. What struck me as odd was a hole in the stock near the muzzle end and after closer examination I found that there was a foreign piece of metal that had impacted and lodged itself in this carbine at an angle. I've tried using a magnet to see if it was magnetic but those results were inconclusive at best however it has hit in a way such that the cleaning rod catch doesn't function properly and any rod that gets put in it will not stay in. Also after finding a correct butt plate and screws I found out that not only were the screw holes stripped but the entire stock had shrunk due to improper storage. I managed to fix the screw holes with a little shaved wood clippings and a bit of two ton apoxy but I got the butt plate put back on. Later on while taking it apart I found an old field repair to the magazine follower spring that is being held together with a small chopstick and tightly woven wire. This definitely was a hell of a find for the show it was at since there wasn't much else there but now it has a great home in the collection.

[B32dominator]

Great little carbine. Looks like the original owner may have had a bad day. Have you taken the stock off to see what it looks like from the inside? Or are you unable to because the front catch won't depress due to the "foreign object?"

[burban89]

I haven't pulled it completely apart as at least the screws by the trigger guard are still staked and I'd hate to risk damaging them. Either way it displays well without a cleaning rod.

[Onikoroshi]

I have one that supposedly has been hit with shrapnel. Rifle was cheap enough to "buy the story".

[irateacher1]

I bet that rifle has some stories if only it could tell them.

[Geokop]

Is there anything a magnet reacts to embedded in the wood?

[burban89]

Is there anything a magnet reacts to embedded in the wood?

I passed a magnet over the wood and it did react to what was inside the hole. I also used a much smaller magnet to touch the foreign metal and it was magnetic but I didn't want to pull whatever was embedded there out so I carefully removed that magnet.

[Aladinbama]

I have a Finnish 91/30 with similar issues. When I git it a literal chunk of metal was sticking out of the side of stock just in front of the trigger area. It also had several blood drops on the barrel and bolt area. Kind of weird if these things could tell the stories.
I cleaned up the stock leaving said metal in place and had to clean the spots of the barrel and bolt. The spots on the barrel and receiver area left little pits - expected.