Yesterday's Weapons Forums

Hi All,
I just recently bought a Type 38 at a pawn shop by me, partly because I had never seen one and wasn't sure at first what it was (I went home and did a little web research to cure that), and partly because it had a few strange stamps on it.
First, apologies for no pictures as of yet....arcane FL gun laws are making me wait for the 3-day "cool-down" period before I can pick it up on Thursday. I'll post them as soon as I can.
Anyway, the stamp in question is a capital "S". It's definitely an S and not some strange kanji I'm not familiar with. Its near the front of the receiver on the left side just before and to the left the rear sight apparatus and the hand-guard IIRC. It looks to be just or nearly as old as the "38 Type" stamp on top.
Also, there is a little circle with a triangle inside it, one near the S and the other further back on top of the receiver. Its not a series mark AFAIK because its not anywhere near the serial number.

Ideas? Again, these stamps were partly the reason I bought the rifle....doing the research on individual rifles and determining their history is half the fun of owning milsurps!

Thanks, and I'll post pictures as soon as I can!
- Jeremy

the triangle stamp on top of the receiver ring is fairly common on type 38's. the "S" on the left side of the barrel by the rear sight is a proof. around the 800,000 s/n mark on the no series t38's, it changed from a "B" to an "S". hth, y'all have a good day, Keith