I hope the Japanese letters / characters are legible in this photo. If not, I'll take another one and try to post it.
Someone on a Japanese rifle forum identified this as a type 99, but said that based on the series, there are many rifles made later in the war that fire just fine. So, maybe I'll be shooting a combat rifle sometime in the relatively near future.
I need a gunsmith in the Lancaster County area to check this out for me and let me know if it's intact and safe. any ideas?